Five Stone Ring

This is my final project in Stage 4 of the Silver Program at Jewellery Training Solutions. I’ve gotten a bit behind in my blog posts, as well as my projects for JTS. I still have a house full with six of us and a bunch of animals, so I spend a lot of my time tending to the needs of others, cleaning and cooking. Also, I had a bunch of custom orders (which is always a great thing), and I was busy with the virtual Central PA Festival of the Arts show.

This week I was finally able to get back to these projects. This one was a lot of fun, and another one I had been looking forward to.

What were the challenges?

While soldering this one was a bit of a challenge, the real challenge is getting all of the posts straight and uniformly spaced.

Where could I improve?

The last two sets of claws are too close together. Also, I don’t like the way the claws are bent over the stones. I’m looking forward to getting feedback on this one, to see what I should have done differently. I also think that the head of the ring should be shaped more - more curves.

What did I learn?

I learn so much with every project! I know I sound like a broken record, but it’s so true. Each one I begin with a feeling of total intimidation, and each one has such a huge sense of satisfaction when I actually complete it. This one I learned how to solder on all of the posts, and how to set stones with a shared post.