The process of making a ring

The process of creating a custom made ring is a series of precise actions carried out by meticulous craftsmen. Without going into too much detail, we will give a brief overview of the different manufacturing stages and the order in which they are carried out.

It all starts with an idea...  The creation of a piece of jewellery, whether it is an engagement ring, a diamond ring or a simple silver ring, starts with a drawing. A simple sketch defined by its details, shapes, choice of  metals and precious stones. It is not uncommon for our designer to create more than a dozen sketches before the custom-made jewellery can move on to the second stage.

The techniques of fabricating and creation for example of a ring have changed significantly in recent years with the arrival of 3D computer modeling. Flamme en rose is at the cutting edge of this new technology. From a sketch, the modeler generates a 3-dimensional image of the jewel. This step is very useful as it allows the ring to be visualized by all angles and in some cases approved by the customer. The model is then 3D printed, meaning that an exact wax replica is formed. However, this technique can not apply to every model. In some situations the ring must be hand carved and sculpted directly out of a block of wax. In other cases the skilled jeweler must fabricate the ring directly out of the precious metal chosen. In this case, a saw is used to cut out the shape, files, pliers and various tools are used to complete the shape. All of these techniques apply to handmade jewelry , for even once the computer generated wax is casted it requires the careful work of a skilled jeweler to assemble, set and finish the piece. Years in the business have proven to us that there are at least 5 good reasons to choose handmade jewelry.

Casting metal is a very complex and sometimes hard to understand technique, it refers to the process of turning the wax object into metal, also called the lost wax technique. In short, the jeweler puts the wax object, in this case a ring, in a metal cylinder. This metal cylinder is then filled with liquid plaster that will harden and dry, it will then be put into a kiln for hours at very high temperatures. It is at this point that the wax melts away leaving the empty cavity that is exactly the negative imprint of the ring with an opening for the melted metal to enter and take over the negative space.Then the metal is melted and injected by centrifugal force or by gravity to the cylinder and the empty cavity that was left behind by the now melted away wax is filled with melted metal that hardens very quickly. You dissolve the plaster in water to reveal the ring!

When the ring comes out of the casting process, the metal is dull. You  must first start by filing, sanding and polishing it. If need be, the parts are then soldered together using a torch, flux and solder. The flame will cause oxidation, therefore you must put the ring in a liquid solution called the pickle and that will clean it. The jeweller then rinses the piece, and makes sure everything is perfect for the next step. 

Setting is the action of fixing one or numerous natural or laboratory-created stones into a predetermined area on a piece of jewellery. The stone setter uses a microscope that magnifies up to 20 times our natural vision. With this tool, stones as small as one millimeter can be set with precision. For small stones, you must drill cavities and fix the stones with a drill bit adjusted to the size of the stone. When setting a larger stone usually they are set with claws, also called prongs or in a bezel setting. The setter, sets the stone in the setting, aslo used  a verb: setting the stone.

Once the piece has been set, the final step is to polish the ring. Technically the ring has already been pre-finished; the jeweler has filed it, sanded it and polished the places under the setting that will be impossible to reach once the stones are set. A polishing machine is used, also called a buffing machine. There are two rotating shafts to which different kinds of buffs are installed. Different compounds are used for the different stages. Once the ring is finished the polisher will then clean it by putting it in an ultrasonic bath. An ultrasonic bath is a metal recipient that contains hot water, soap and that creates ultrasonic vibrations that remove any leftover compound traces. The ring is then rinsed and passed under the steam machine.

The jewelry storeonline of Flamme en rose proposes a vast choice of models of rings for all the budgets and for all the tastes. All these models come initially from creation of ring on measure that we moulded in order to be able to reproduce them. The creation of custom rings will remain a real passion for us. Since 2009, we have created over 500 unique pieces. Watch the video below to see in detail the steps to create a ring with precious stones and come meet us to create a custom engagement ring to your taste.