These are a series of pictures taken throughout the process of making a

ring with my most commonly used technique.

Casting Grain - 52563 bytes - Oct 22, 2004

It all begins with the raw materials. I use preferentially casting grain,
little gold pellets, provided to me by my refiner of choice.
I used 14k rose gold for this ring, thus the red-ish tone of the gold.

The Cuttlebone Mold - 36570 bytes - Oct 22, 2004

My prefered casting method is the Cuttlebone Technique, because of

the sheer simplicity of it. Take a cuttlebone (the calcareous internal shell
of a cuttlefish) of appropriate size, cut it in half, flatten and smooth the
surfaces, carve on the soft surface a negative of the shape of the ring,
bind the halves together with wire, voil�!, you got yourself a mold that
surprisingly will endure the high temperatures of molten gold. To me it
casts cleaner than pre-made iron molds and doesn't require expensive
special equipment like the Centrifugal Lost Wax Casting Process does.
It has its draw-backs though: It's very challenging to cast complex 3D
shapes, the mold is always destroyed in the process, and if something
goes wrong in the casting, you have to make a whole new mold.
To me, the fact that the mold is always destroyed isn't that big of a
problem, because I deal mostly with unique pieces of jewelry. So, you
will never see someone with an item alike yours if I made them with the
Cuttlebone Technique.
Geek Note: Have you watched The Lord of the Rings? In the beginning
when she's talking about the forging of the Great Rings of Power, the
casting they show is a cuttlebone casting. :)
In this picture, you can see the negative impression of the ring on the
cuttlebone, and those lines coming from it are the spur hole through
which the molten metal will be poured into the mold, and vent channels
so that the gases that will form in the mold can escape thus allowing the
gold to fill in the empty spaces.

Lighting the Blowtorch - 10886 bytes - Oct 22, 2004

With the cuttlebone mold secure in place, the casting grain in the
crucible, and a pinch of borax at hand, I light up my MAPP Gas
blowtorch. I love the sparks. :)

Melting the Gold - 8771 bytes - Oct 22, 2004

Aim the blue flame 'A' at the gold 'B' in the crucible 'C' and the gold will
melt. Add a pinch of borax 'D' at specific times during the melting
process to prevent the copper in the gold alloy from absorbing oxygen
and altering the color of the gold.

Pouring the Molten Metal into the Mold - 8360 bytes - Oct 22, 2004

When the gold reaches the proper temperature, it's time to pour it into
the mold. That requires some experience and a steady hand. Then give
time for the hot metal to cool down and....

Opening the Mold - 8829 bytes - Oct 22, 2004

...and open the mold to remove the ring from it. The insides of the
cuttlebone turn to charcoal and crumble as you remove the item from it
(thus the mold is destroyed).

Just Cast - 58657 bytes - Oct 22, 2004

That's what the ring looks like just out of the mold (after being rinsed
with water). The thick nub is where the gold was poured into the mold,
and the small 'antennas' are where gold flowed into the venting
channels, which is a good sign that the gold was fluid enough to fill in
every tiny space. The channels in the mold are designed so that metal
can flow into them but will never leak from the mold. They will all be cut
off to fine-tune the shape of the ring of course.

Taking Shape - 38690 bytes - Oct 22, 2004

The spurs from the mold are cut off, the ring is properly stretched and
made perfectly round on the sizing mandrel, then the final shape is
refined with jeweler files and a lot of patience and precision.

Checking the Size - 42367 bytes - Oct 22, 2004

I regularly check the size of the ring as I work with files on it, to make
sure I'm not taking away too much metal from the insides.
Once the surface is 'clean' enough and the ring is at the intended
shape, I use emery paper (fancy name for 'sandpaper') of different grit,
from 300 to 600, to remove any scratches left on the metal by the files.
Then comes polishing with polishing compound.
vFinished - 37024 bytes - Oct 22, 2004

I polish the ring first with Tripoli. It creates a lustrous surface on the
metal and removes all emery paper marks. Then I polish it with Rouge.
That gives the ring its mirror-like finish.

Packed - 48130 bytes - Oct 22, 2004

When possible (some rings are too exotic to fit standard boxes), I
deliver my rings in neat ring boxes adding to the professionalism of the
job. :)