An Engagement Ring for My Son
I Skype with my son twice a week, and in the fall of last year, he tells me he needs a ring. Now my son does not wear jewelry of any kind, so I immediately knew that he was going to ask his girlfriend for her hand in marriage. He asked; she accepted. I am thrilled.
To protect their privacy, I will call her “Em.” Em sent me images of the kind of rings she liked. Em was also insistent that they would purchase the center stone — a Moisannite (lab-grown) diamond. Em, in particular, is concerned about blood diamonds, hence the lab-grown one. She was also very particular about the cut and size. I love the cushion cut she chose; I was able to convince her to go a bit larger. The diamond that was purchased is 6mm in length on each side.
From her pictures, I understood that the band (“shank”) would be constructed such that it would look like a braid. So, I twisted wire to the right, and then twisted the same size (“gauge”) wire to the left, and when laid together, they look like a braid. I think you’ll agree; see the picture below.
On the left in the above picture, there are two twisted wire lengths and they are separate. Towards the bottom of the photo, you see the braid soldered together and also soldered to a piece of sterling silver sheet. The reason for the sheet on the bottom is to give the shank some heft, thereby avoiding any deformation of the shank when worn, particularly for a long time. The copper ring I made so that I would know how long the shank needs to be when laid out straight.
Em wanted the back of the shank to be a solid piece, so that when she’s older and her fingers are larger, it will be fairly easy to have the ring re-sized. Below is a picture of the shank with a solid piece in the middle (which will become the back of the ring).
I purchased a 14KT white gold setting (“head”) from Stuller. The head has a flat back, and so I soldered some silver solder onto it. Then I soldered the head to the shank. Below is a picture of the completed ring assembly.
Once the head was soldered, I began the process of clean up, sanding and then polishing the ring. I then took the ring to the jewelry district in Philadelphia where I live and found a diamond setter. When I worked in the industry, I watched diamond setters at work, and I appreciate the skill required for this task. The diamond setter I found was excellent. With the diamond set and ready to go, I mailed the ring to my son; he and his fiancee opened the package together. And then he took the picture you see on the bottom, and Em told me she loves her ring.
