Ring Number One in 20K Gold

This week I started a yearlong project of making one ring per week for the whole year: fifty-two rings in 2020.

I just finished making Ring Number One. The inspiration for it came in from a few different places. The first is a rare antique drawplate for beautiful oblong shape wire that I recently purchased. 

Another inspiration is a response to my apprenticeship at Reinstein Ross and their use of 20k gold. I fell in love with the color of this gold and after researching different alloy recipes I created my own alloy successfully.

The last inspiration and one that is always on my mind, is Agnes Martin's line drawings. I have always been fascinated by her work and I'm certain that many of the pieces I'll be making this year will be influenced by it.

Drawings, 24k gold granules, and a drawing plate to make wire.

I was very excited to make this ring, have been thinking about it and planning it for a while. Throughout the process, there were some setbacks: the wire was not perfectly drawn so I decided to melt it and do it again. Also, while soldering, there were impurities on the bands and the solder wouldn’t flow all the way. So I had to spend a long time cleaning all impurities out and re-soldering the ring. 

I learned a lot of lessons from making this ring. Most importantly is to take my time and make sure every step is done the right way from the very beginning, or else it will take a while to correct any small mistakes previously made.

I absolutely love the way Ring Number One came out, it’s design, the color of the gold and how substantial it is. It’s nice and thick, feels really good and looks great on. How do you like it? Do you have any comments on it? Please share your thoughts below.

Looking forward to start making Ring Number Two tomorrow!!! 

Every week I will reveal a new piece, along with pictures of the whole process, the story, inspiration and thoughts of how the weekly ring came about in my newsletter.

Do you want to go through this journey with me? Make sure you sign up to receive the weekly unveiling of each ring and learn about its process, inspiration and story behind it. Click HERE and sign up!