Search This Blog

July 19, 2012

Herringbone Wrapped Gemstone Rings

Another trip, another style of ring.  This weekend, I combined two of my longtime favorite things: making gemstone rings combined with herringbone weave.  


The picture above shows some of my experiments.  I tried using silver wire with round smooth beads like  the rhodonite one on the left, and with round faceted beads like the garnet ring on the far right.  It may be hard to see, but I also wrapped the wire around the shank on the garnet one.  I wanted to see if it made a difference having a more substantial shank on the ring.  My verdict - it didn't make much of a difference in the comfort or wearability of the ring.



 I also made rings using flat stones with gold filled wire.  The one on the left has a 10mm brown striated botswana agate faceted coin.  

My favorite one thought has a hexagon shaped aventurine stone.  I have been wearing it constantly since I made it.

I used 20g wire for the ring shank and I think it was 24g wire for the herringbone weave. 

Making the ring size adjustable


As you can see from the picture, I experimented with making the rings adjustable by overlapping the wire in the back and finishing the ends with a flattened paddle.  The paddle is filed smooth so it does not dig in or irritate in any way.  I made the paddle using the distal end cutters I got from the orthodontist.

I like that I can wear the ring on multiple fingers.  I made all of the rings except the one with the coiled shank adjustable.  I will definitely make more of these in the future.  I am even considering making these my first 'for sale' items in my etsy store.












2 comments: