Have a design idea?  Recently a couple came in with a sketch for an engagement ring.  After a meeting and brainstorming session, Paul knew how to satisfy every one of the ring’s requirements with elegance and innovation.  The man and his fiancée were thrilled with the transformation of the design from paper to metal.  Simply put, every great work begins with an idea!

Here’s the drawing, the initial idea:

The customers had a pretty good sense of what they wanted. They communicated their vision in a fairly simple sketch and in their descriptions to Paul.

Paul added notes and his own elementary sketch to prod his memory when he started carving the wax model.

The customers looked at some diamonds and selected one that they liked for this ring.

Working from the sketch and what the customers had told him, Paul carved a model in “blue wax” incorporating the customer’s diamond. The fiancée tried on the blue wax model. Paul made some minor changes to make it more comfortable on her hand and refined some curves in the design.

The next step was to cast the ring, using the model in the Lost Wax Casting Process; then clean up the rough casting, polish the ring, and set the stone.

Here is the finished ring:

Click on photos for enlargement.

On her hand it was gorgeous! Neither he nor she could stop commenting on it. What a happy occasion!

Later that day, we received this email:

“She and I have been marveling at just what a dynamic piece [the ring] is!  Every which way you look at it, it’s really a new experience.  So fresh, but balanced and fluid.  We just love it so much.  We can’t thank you enough for making sure we could fly home with it this trip.  I’m a bit concerned for her though, as she keeps bumping into things while admiring her finger.”

A fine testimonial!