shark bite ring

13Aug10

filigree. wow. it’s hard! especially with the tiny torch i have. i melted a few spots, but overall, i am happy with this first independent filigree adventure. i’ll let the photos (and the captions) do the talking.

read like a normal story, or just scroll past to use the gallery to look at individual photos. i don’t know what you prefer, so have both!! (just like dessert!)

making the bezel setting, the silver was too thick to bend down over the stone, so i had to saw it. i was inspired by the little triangular settings i saw in morocco, so i tried to do this freehand. of course, it turned out a bit jagged at first, but i liked it, and in honor of shark week (cause this was like, 2 weeks ago) i decided to enhance that toothy, bitten aspect, and just name it the sharkbite ring.

sterling silver and fine silver filigree, aventurine stone. 1.5 weeks, working 2-3 hours a day. riiiight. i think i finally figured out all the kinks to doing this at home!

a profile view of the ring on. it's quite tall, but lightweight.

this is not the best photograph, but i wanted to show you how thin the stone is - you can see right through it! i really didn't want to go with a traditional closed back bezel setting, which of course made my life a bit more difficult for a week, but the result is getting to admire this stone from every angle!

this shows the pyramid shape of the stone. it's aventurine, which is a type of feldspar. It's very thin and has nice striations, quite like marble, as well as some light reflecting inclusions.

this nicely shows the color of the stone. and reminds me how much i hate these curtains! but they were free and they do the job...

a view of the back of the ring. I put these little granulations (balls of silver on because top heavy rings like this tend to flop from one side to the other, plus I like to fidget, so this gives my thumb something to do. Plus if you slap someone, it will hurt a little more. Plus, now this ring literally has balls.

a view of the filigree from the side. The square wire frame is sterling, the small wires inside are fine silver. this was made flat, then formed.

a view from the underside. i love being able to see the stone from underneath as well as on top. the light passes through it so nicely.

a view from the underside. i love being able to see the stone from underneath as well as on top. the light passes through it so nicely. the ring almost meets on top of the finger, but doesn't completely, so it is slightly resizable. it's definitely a pointer finger ring though!

it's really very comfortable. i'm just showing off now.

and a profile shot. there is just so much detail, it was hard to capture it all. plus i like looking at pictures.

thanks iphone, for not ever focusing on what i want you to.

the stone doesn't stick very far up over the top of the setting. it's really very thin, therefore very light.

making the bezel setting, the silver was too thick to bend down over the stone, so i had to saw it. i was inspired by the little triangular settings i saw in morocco, so i tried to do this freehand. of course, it turned out a bit jagged at first, but i liked it, and in honor of shark week (cause this was like, 2 weeks ago) i decided to enhance that toothy, bitten aspect, and just name it the sharkbite ring.

sterling silver and fine silver filigree, aventurine stone. 1.5 weeks, working 2-3 hours a day. riiiight. i think i finally figured out all the kinks to doing this at home!

a profile view of the ring on. it’s quite tall, but lightweight.

this is not the best photograph, but i wanted to show you how thin the stone is – you can see right through it! i really didn’t want to go with a traditional closed back bezel setting, which of course made my life a bit more difficult for a week, but the result is getting to admire this stone from every angle!

this shows the pyramid shape of the stone. it’s aventurine, which is a type of feldspar. It’s very thin and has nice striations, quite like marble, as well as some light reflecting inclusions.

this nicely shows the color of the stone. and reminds me how much i hate these curtains! but they were free and they do the job…

a view of the back of the ring. I put these little granulations (balls ;) of silver on because top heavy rings like this tend to flop from one side to the other, plus I like to fidget, so this gives my thumb something to do. Plus if you slap someone, it will hurt a little more. Plus, now this ring literally has balls.

a view of the filigree from the side. The square wire frame is sterling, the small wires inside are fine silver. this was made flat, then formed.

a view from the underside. i love being able to see the stone from underneath as well as on top. the light passes through it so nicely.

a view from the underside. i love being able to see the stone from underneath as well as on top. the light passes through it so nicely. the ring almost meets on top of the finger, but doesn’t completely, so it is slightly resizable. it’s definitely a pointer finger ring though!

it’s really very comfortable. i’m just showing off now.

and a profile shot. there is just so much detail, it was hard to capture it all. plus i like looking at pictures.

thanks iphone, for not ever focusing on what i want you to.

the stone doesn’t stick very far up over the top of the setting. it’s really very thin, therefore very light.

footnote: serious apologies for the quality of these photos. the iphone is not made for this. i have charged batteries, and will be using my real camera from here on out.

Filed under: metalsmithing, rings   |  1 Comment