When our fashionable client came to us for a custom ring in coral we balked because large sizes are almost impossible to find anymore. Smaller cabochons on the other hand are abundant and made this project exciting and original.
This short video illustrates the size of the ring and how interesting it appears from different angles.
Originally the cast ring had no claws, then we realized that coral cabochons can be quite tall. The process of creating a CAD can often require creating multiple versions. Our motto is to “fail fast “so we don’t balk at having new castings made up to get the thing right.
CAD allowed us to create a seamless, smooth spiral for a dynamic design.
This casting was the first version when we thought we would make the beads in the traditional pave’ style. Two pictures down you see how we created seats for the coral cabochons by removing unwanted metal and isolating the sections that would become the beads. All this cutting is done with burs and gravers.
The casting has a reasonable enough surface texture that a bit of filing, sanding and polishing won’t bring it up to a nicely polished surface.
The thrumming ribbon that is sold under G&J Tools on this website is super handy to get at convex curves in hard to reach places. We have useful videos on its use, and simply charged up with your favorite compound a little friction does the trick to smooth out areas. Sanding strips, also found on this site, would be the step before thrumming.
The metal beads have been exposed by cutting away the surrounding metal.
In retrospect we eliminated this earlier style of setting for tall prongs because they allowed us to still keep the ring fairly thin and light weight and to hold the coral securely.
By far our favorite angle of the ring because it illustrates its dimensionality and graceful shape.
This through-the-finger view illustrates the use of the spiral to create a double ring for the finger as well as the central portion as a tall bridge-like design element.
The ring is oxidized sterling silver which is a great contrast for the coral.
Our custom boxes have a white clip that holds the ring nicely.
Reach out to us for pricing and your own custom design