Platinum Ruby rings custom made

1 his and her platinum rings

This is a solid platinum bar. Australian industry standard is most commonly pt950 (10 parts ruthenium)

2 ring component

As you can see, the platinum has been extruded to the correct dimensions to become components of two rings

3 ring bender

This is a manually operated cylindrical press, aptly dubbed the 'ring bender' (terribly creative)

4 ring bender

The stock is fed through as the handle is released and pulled. This gently curls the metal with minimal dents.

5 annealing

Whenever the metal becomes hardened by bending/working it, it's potential to crack increases. Heat is applied to soften, this is called 'annealing'.

6 ring shank

The ladies ring shank is ready for cutting and shaping.

7 rubies

The two rings will feature these marvellous 4mm pidgin blood (best colour grading) Burmese rubies.

8 components

You can see a variety of ring components ready. The gents ring shank was lathed out to save on metal weight.

9 back hole

It's always nice to decorate the hole under the stone, instead of just having a boring circle this ring will have a nice honeycomb shape.

10 honeycomb

There's the back hole all saw pierced out.

11 claws

The focus here is now on getting the big claw blocks on the gents ring.

12 annealing

Getting the platinum a bit softer for working

13 air cool

Typically you whence hot metal, but if you want it extra soft for hammering you will leave it to air cool from 500 degrees C

14 marking and cutting

cutting out the claw lengths for the gents ring.

15 ready for next stage

Claw components are ready for tapering and forging

15 ladies ring

That little bit of wire closest to us need to be made even thinner and longer to become the claw setting

16 rollers

It's put through successively smaller dies in the rolling mill and manually reduced

17 rollers

You can see it's getting longer and thinner

18 tapering

The gents ring claws have been hammered to a taper

19 taper

Here they all are in a row

20 curving

And now the tapered claws have been curved to the exact outer profile of the gents ring

21 claw setting

This is the ladies claws setting being bent into shape before soldering

22 soldered

The ladies ring setting has been half soldered together, and you can also see the top feature rail and shank are nearly ready

23 laser welder

I used a laser welder to tack the gents ring claws on, it really helps with accuracy because platinum isn't very forgiving when it comes to soldering.

24 soldering

Brought it to just under 1600 degrees C in order to melt some solder into the joins and get those claws on nice and strong.

25 soldering

This is the ladies setting being soldered at the base to form a four claw setting.

26 shaping

The setting needed a bit of bending back into shape after soldering was completed

27 sawing

The undercarriage need to be cut out of the ladies ring with a saw

28 components

The two last components for the ladies ring are nearly ready for assembly

28 soldered gents ring

And inside ring clamp holds the gents ring firmly while shaping is done to the outer parts

29 shaping

The shank need a good round profile to be sure it's comfortable for daily wear.

30 filing

Now you can see the claw blocks taking shape into the final setting design

31 top view

It's always good to lay your stone on top and make sure the proportions are looking spot on

32 papering

After filing, a bit of sandpaper prepares the surface for a polished finish

33 polished

Here he gents ring is polished and is ready for setting

34 components

Again, it's good to lay out everything to be sure you have it all lined up and looking good

35 soldering

The top feature plate is soldered onto the shank

36 shaping

The top feature plate is filled to shape, and he undercarriage properly filled out too

37 viewing

Centre setting is soldered in

38 viewing

Getting a feel for how to approach stone setting

39 testing

Measuring and seeing what height the stone will look best but also be practical and protected by the claws.

40 last view

Centre Ruby layer in behind to really decide on the height, this is a pretty important stage because you can totally ruin a ring by poorly setting the stone.

41 gents set

A whole lot of platinum is painstakingly hammer set over the fragile, incredibly valuable Ruby to ensure its safe and protected.

42 polished

In the sunshine after a polish

43 test run

Gotta make sure it feels good to wear ????

44 ladies set

The claws are equally as painstakingly levered over the stone to hold it tight

45 finishing

Claws are cut back and prepared for final polish

46 rounding

Tips of the claws are rounded and a final punch is applied to do that last little tighten

47 polished

At the bench

48 complete

A beautiful new platinum Ruby ring

49 complete

The gents ring worked out very well also

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