THE PROCESS

The Fundamentals

Through the art of Lost Wax Casting, the initial design is first carved in 'Jeweller's Wax'. It's soft and allows us to prototype and play with the piece before we begin making it in precious metal. The majority of our rings, especially our organic designs, like the Wing It signet or the Lava wedding ring, start out this way.

Getting Started

We've cast our wax design with our choice of metal. It's come out raw, nasty, and full of wonderful, amazing potential. Perhaps the most rewarding stage in the process. As a jeweller, even after so many years, seeing my raw casts never fails to excite me.

Let there be Fire!

Rings don't magically morph to our finger sizes! The soldering torch is essential in any jewellery workshop. We use a soldering torch to heat, anneal, solder, and melt precious metals. When we size your rings, we cut the ring shank, bend it to your appropriate size, and then use silver solder, flux, and our trusty torch to fuse it together.

Polish via a Thousand Files

To bring a rough, matte surface, to a beautiful, high sheen, we introduce abrasives. From a hard-cutting jeweller's file to grind away protrusions, to emery paper ranging from 180 grit to 3000 grit, we slowly, patiently, and very dustily, transform the ring from a casting, into a truly wearable piece of jewellery.

We've had the entrée, but where's the main?

Time for the star of the show! It's just a ring so far, but let's make it a signature. The centrepiece may consist of a gemstone, or we might recycle an obsolete watch mechanism, but at the end of the day, the setting is where the piece really takes on a life of its own. Our Mechanicum rings utilise vintage, defective watch movements, and are given another lease of life.

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall...

Remember when we said raw castings are the most exciting part of the process? Well, this is the other most exciting part of the process: the final polish. We use polishing compounds, like Jeweller's Rouge, along with a flex-shaft, polishing motor, and elbow grease, to bring the piece from 3000 grit polish all the way to a mirror finish. At a microscopic level, it's millions of tiny scratches, but for us humans, all we can see is potentially ourselves.

The Package is Secure.

The jewellery is finished. We've given it an ultrasonic bath, and we've packed it safely in its own custom jewellery box. It's the beginning of the end, or the beginning of a beginning, as the next stage consists of someone putting it on their body. Thank you for coming this far!