This ring was born in our store this past month. It isn’t just a simple process of scraping a chunk of silver off a block and gluing a gemstone down inside. It takes just a bit more work (and equipment!) than that…
Here you can observe- in painstaking detail- the conception, gestation, and final delivery of a custom designed ring from Wexford Jewelers.
It all begins with a wax model. This is extruded sheet wax that has been bent into the primary form, cut to shape, cut to size, and ...
Remember this?
Part I of this series can be found here.
Part III of this series can be found here.
The molds that we left in the steam de-waxer have lost more than 90% of their wax. They are now ready to enter the next phase of casting! Here is the de-waxing machine:
Not very impressive by itself. Here is the inside, after a de-waxing. Note t ...
This ring was born in our store this past month. It isn’t just a simple process of scraping a chunk of silver off a block and gluing a gemstone down inside. It takes just a bit more work (and equipment!) than that…
Here you can observe- in painstaking detail- the conception, gestation, and final delivery of a custom designed ring from Wexford Jewelers.
It all begins with a wax model. This is extruded sheet wax that has been bent into the primary form, cut to shape, cut to size, and ...
“Just make me something pretty.”
The elderly lady was one of my spunkiest customers to date. Her eyes sparkled with dry wit, and her touch on my hand was kindly.
“What kind of pretty?” I asked, laughing, “Swirly pretty? Floral pretty?”
She shrugged and grinned at me,
“You’ll do fine. I know I’ll love it.”
Rarely do clients put their complete faith in my design capability. Most people have an idea, a thought or a stone for a basis, or at least a size reference. I appreciated her confidence in me, but felt completely at sea at to where to start.
A f ...
The year is 1,200 BC. A man sweats in front of a furnace, a huge pair of bellows resting in his scarred hands. Beside him is a scorched earthen bowl packed hard with sand. He has spent hours shaping a plug of beeswax into an intricate crescent moon shape for a wealthy woman. Afterwards he tamped clean sand around the wax, delicately at first, then harder and harder as the shape became covered.
He places the bowl into the fire, resting it against an earthen wedge so that it is tilted sideways. The heat burns his face and brings tears to his eyes, but he is used to it now. The fire wanes and the man works the bellows again, forcing oxygen into the blaze with swift and powerful strokes. The small plug of beeswax, visib ...
