Three Tones Braided Wedding Rings

Confirmed rings design before going to production

awesome pair

HIS ring

HER ring

“Love was a feeling completely bound up with color, like thousands of rainbows superimposed one on top of the other.” 

― Paulo Coelho

This assignment was recommend by a diamond supplier from Singapore (still have no idea who the person is :P) The bride - a very soft spoken young lady, went around Malaysia and Singapore to look for a capable goldsmith to take up this task. A three tones 18K gold rings (i.e. yellow, rose and white gold) with 76 pieces of 1.25 mm diamonds to be deliver in 3 weeks time. Nobody dare to take up the challenge due to lots of testing has to be done especially the three tones braided part and so many uncertainty in the production flow. 

Ok.....the design is something we always wanted to try on, plus we can imagine how beautiful the rings are going to be. These tempting facts make us just can't resist the challenges. 

My part is art work presentation, I took 2 days and nights to think and try on the weaving effect so it looks like hand braid. At the beginning, the HER ring is plain. Then she decided to add diamonds onto it to enhance it elegant.  And she is right, the micro pave diamond setting really create an awesome effect!

After art work confirmation, Chin start do some testing on the braid using silver cords. He did a few attempts before reaching a consistent and tide braid. Then worked on actual material - yellow, rose and white gold. The time is getting short! We were in tense when the cords broke during the braiding process - I meant a few times! (Due to too thin) Chin have to re-mill the gold cords then repeat the whole process again.  OMG!  

But still we manage to make it. Finally, the beautiful three colour gold cord were tide together in harmony. :D

The third challenge is the diamond selecting process. To match their budget, we try to look for the par rate diamonds. But they are too small (1 mm size - like dandruff??), too cloudy and yellowish in colour. Then we decide to choose the 1.25 mm diamonds with quality we can accept.  We make some adjustment on the diamond quantity but the cost is still within their budget.

Chin take almost 2 days just to set the diamonds. I told the ring owner, Chin make the rings with sweats and tears, plus his eyes were so stress and sore that he can feel they tend to fall off.  She just laughed :) The happy ending is the rings owner like them. She said they look even more beautiful compare to the picture - INDEED!

We finally did it - Wood Ring Project!

the raw wood before treatment

Two tone jewelry really looks wonderful

the wood natural grain enhance the beauty of the ring

All the while I think wood should be pair with metal to enhance its grain beauty as well as to make it more elegant. We were planning to make something out from wood only the matter of time. Finally there came this  lovely lady same "taste" as us who want to make the special wedding for her future husband.
I personally prefer Ebony wood but the colour is to dark for the customer.
So Chin went to source for different local hard wood and finally settle with "Chengal". This is a kind of wood with rich resin which means more "tahan lasak" to water. We did some treatment on the wood before going for setting. Chin broke 3 pieces of wood rings before succeed. To enhance the wood grain texture, we applied some wax on it. The wax will also act as a protector to the wood.

Source from Malaysian Timber Council www.mtc.com.my

Why Chengal hard wood ?

Chengal wood is one of the hardest wood found in Malaysia. It comes with densities of 800 to 1,120 kg per cubic metre at 15%, moisture content. It is naturally durable, containing substances which repel wood-destroying agents. It can safely be used without preservative treatment in all climates. Main uses are in heavy construction and flooring, railway sleepers, door and window frames.

On top of that, every piece of Chengal Wood Carving retain the value over the years, because  it is a piece of art work, not just a piece of wood.

simple wood ring sets with palladium silver

beautiful two tone colour design

The Most Expensive Souvenir

the sketch from customer using google sketch up and the final 3D art work  

the front view with hand writing font

This is a very special 21st birthday gift for a young lady. The designer is her handsome boyfriend with very thoughtful heart. 

80 x 30 x 2 mm is the dimension of the heart shape key. The base metal is brass with 999 gold and rhodium plating. Due to the dimension, the mould cost was high.  He emailed the sketch using google sketch up which he learnt when helping his girlfriend on some of her college projects. The draft was clear with precise measurements. The only thing unsure was the font and relief part. He decided to use his own hand writing for "JuYi" and "EK" alphabets. Two art works were presented before he agreed on the final 3D results. Today is her" BIG" day, so hope she likes this special gift (^L^)

Crazy Project - 700 Pieces of Brass Pendent Delivered In 10 Days!

the 1st art work presentation

the final product

Material: Based brass with silver plating
Necklace: 90cm length Stainless Steel 

 This mission impossible was completed in the month of early Sept, which is less then 3 weeks from design confirmation to final product. No doubt 3 weeks delivery is always our practise, but this time we are talking about 700 pieces of big and small pendants with necklace. In fact, from mold to casting then to the actual polishing was less then 10 days due to casting failure. Another challenge was the job has to be done with less then 2 and a half full time workers. All I can do was the CAD designing and the mold part, then the rest has to pass to Chin. He worked like zombie for 2 and a half week. The toughest part of the whole project was the 4 x 4 cm pendant finishing.The fishing task was 3 times of 2 x 2 cm one. If time was long enough, we will be able to produce a better results. Sign! So we decided to be firm next time, to make sure more time spear for the manufacturing process. One and a half month time, AT LEAST!

Corporate Gift - Celtic Cuff link Set with Cubic Zironia

I can not deny I love Celtic design. The weaving effect make the metal become soft and dramatic. The flow of the weaving band always capture my attention. Which suppose on the top and who should come first - I will really study it! 

The mold is done by JewelCad and MDX-15. The rest got to be handmade then send to plating. The curvature of the weaving is not as even as it suppose to be. I did it manually - move the CV points to create ups and down effect. I will recommend ArtCam to do this task and the result will be perfect!

There are two different quality for this pair of cuff link. Can you spot which one is the better quality one?