Sunday, July 3, 2011

Rose Quartz soft facet ring build

Step one... turn on some Miles, Bitches Brew....


This is another gem that I cut, inspired by the Herkimer Diamond.
Rose Quartz, cut from a big hunk of rough, with a soft pink hue.

Here are all of the materials I that I used for this build.



I started by soldering some fine silver mesh to the bezel.



All soldered up and ready to form the bezel wall.



Here I am soldering the bezel wall seam.
I chose to put the solder on the inside of the wall as not to disturb the mesh pattern.



All soldered up!



Time to solder the base. I like to put my solder on the inside and pull it out for a nice smooth seam.



I drew a line on the bezel so I know the max height for my brass posts.



Preparing to solder the posts. I do this by smooshing little pieces of solder wire so they are paper thin. Just sit the posts on the solder and no mess!



The solder is hidden under the posts.



Once soldered, time to draw out the shape and get to sawing...



All cut out...



Shank is tapered by hammering, then sanded and stamped.



Shaping the shank with the Swiss super shank shaper, for sure!



Shank shaped and a seat has been filed.



Getting ready to get my shank on...
I like to wedge my solder on the outside connection and concentrate the heat inside the shank. This pulls the solder in and creates a nice smooth seam.



Here I drew a line to let me know how far and where to grind the bezel down.



Bezel wall has been shaped here...



Oxidized with LOS.



Finish is complete for the most part. Time to set and final polish some highlights!



And there she is... in all her glory!
I'm diggin it :)

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