The Round, Brilliant Gemstone Ring

Hello I'm Larry Knox.  I spend part of my time faceting gemstones and then I design and make custom settings for them.  I want to show and tell you about the ring I made with this round brilliant green gemstone that I faceted.

 Diopside  gemstone faceted by Larry Knox.

 I enjoyed the entire process of making a ring but the most exciting part is to cut the gemstone.  The thrill is  cutting the stone in such a way to bring the light in and to make it go back out again so that the stone sparkles. It's like performing magic. 

 Like all round brilliant cuts  this  gemstone has 57 facets. The finished stone is 22 carats which is a weight measurement reserved for gems.

I wanted to design a setting that would look elegant and show us much of the gemstone as possible. I introduced more curves into my initial drawings.    I drew inspiration for my final drawing from the arts and crafts movement and their organic shapes. 

Next,  I made a model of the ring setting which I carved into wax.

 Sizing up the wax ring.

The trick  in making a wax model is to design it  as closely to the finished product  as possible because  the cast silver will include every mark,   and every finishing touch that is on your wax model.

 Carved wax ring setting.

This is silver casting grain that will be used in the lost wax method of casting.  The wax will be destroyed in the process of make in the ring so the setting is truly one-of-a-kind.

 Silver grains will become rings.

After the casting process is complete,  the setting comes out looking dull.

 There is still work to be done!

The next step is to saw off the extra silver called 'the sprue'.

A lot of time is spent cutting, and filing.

The piece must be resized because the casting process reduces the ring size ever so slightly.

 Here is a video with some of the steps taken to make this ring:

 While I finish the details for the ring, Flora paints and we listen to music and podcasts on our iPod.

Green Willow Studio, Bear River, Nova Scotia.

 Measuring the setting for the gemstone.

The next step is to fasten the prongs around the gem stone.

 Setting the stone.

But we're not quite finished yet!  Because of the weight of the gemstone, I soldered a flexible gold band inside the silver band to help prevent the ring from 'flipping'.

 Finally, I polished the ring and off it went to her new owner.

 Round brilliant green diopside gemstone in a silver and gold band by Larry Knox, 2011.

And now it's back to the drawing board for me. Thanks for visiting!

 Pondering the next project.