In The Studio: Palladium & 14K Rose Gold Wedding Band

Palladium & 14K Rose Gold Wedding Band. Ring & Photo by Emily Wiser.

A bride-to-be recently emailed me to request a custom palladium and 14K rose gold wedding band. She had seen my 2 separate rings, and wanted the bands soldered together. Palladium melts at much higher temperature than rose gold. It was going to be a tricky business, but I finished it successfully! Here are some pictures.

Above: Cutting the 14K rose gold and palladium to size.
Shears, ruler, ring sizing chart. Photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: 14K rose gold ring on the soldering block. In the background is the pickle pot.
Photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: Lighting the torch. Yes, I did take this photo with a lit torch in one hand and a camera in the other!
Photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: Soldering palladium. High-heat soldering block. Photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: 14K rose gold and palladium ring is ready for sanding. Ring & photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: Sanding 14K rose gold & palladium ring. In a ring vise, sanding with a flex shaft. Ring & Photo by Emily Wiser.

In the Studio: Stacking Rings

Emily Wiser's Jeweler's Bench. Photo by Emily Wiser.

I'm in the middle of making a 14K white gold tube-set stacking ring with faceted gemstone and a sterling silver stacking ring with black onyx. Here's a picture of the rings in progress. You can see 2 3M radial bristle discs on mandrels. They're used for polishing. You also see large and small jeweler's files, a round-nose pliers, some scrap silver, and a 12mm black onyx cabochon.

Here's what the 2 rings will look like when they're finished.

Above: Sterling silver and black onyx stacking ring. Ring & photo by Emily Wiser.

Above: 14K white palladium gold stacking ring with sapphire. Ring & photo by Emily Wiser.

How Much Gold Is In 14K Gold?

14K Solid Rose Gold Stacking Ring. Photo & Ring by Emily Wiser.

Were you aware that the gold in jewelry is not pure gold? Pure gold is called 24 Karat (24K) gold. 24K gold is much too soft to make any durable jewelry! So, pure gold is alloyed (mixed) with other, stronger metals. So, if 24K gold is 100% gold, 14K is 50% gold, and 18K is 75% gold.

Gold is alloyed with copper and silver for strength. Rose gold is an alloy of gold and copper. White gold is an alloy of gold, silver, and palladium, nickel, zinc or other white metal. Green gold is an alloy of gold and silver.

Below: 14K solid gold bead ring. Ring & photo by Emily Wiser.

Spreading Happiness Through Jewelry

14K solid rose gold with 8mm aquamarine stacking ring. Photo & ring by Emily Wiser

Well, Etsy likes to send us tips on how to do business better. They emailed Etsy shop owners a link to this blog entry: The 4 P's. I was really inspired by the Philosophy section. It helped me articulate exactly what my business goal is: I want to make people happy by making great jewelry! People can wear my jewelry and take pleasure in it. They can give my jewelry to others and spread happiness. Well, anyways, that's my optimistic assessment of my philosophy. LOL

In the Studio: 14K Rose Gold and Aquamarine.

Here's a picture of the 14K rose gold with 6mm aquamarine setting being made. The swirl is the end of a rawhide mallet, a jeweler's tool. You see some 6mm aquamarines scattered about and part of a 14K rose gold bezel setting. It's all sitting on my jeweler's bench (which I carefully shield with cork lol).

Newsletter Give-Away!

I've just started a quarterly newsletter. It comes out each season (4 times a year) plus I send you a great coupon on my birthday. If you sign up for my newsletter by September 1, 2010, I'll enter you to win a sterling silver stacking ring. I'm giving away one sterling stacking ring. Just enter your email address here: http://eepurl.com/KruT

You'll learn tips on silver and goldsmithing, how to tell if gems are real, get peeks inside my studio, and learn of new products. And every season, you'll be automatically entered to win some of my jewelry!

Sterling Silver Stacking Ring Celebration!

I'm having a sterling silver stacking ring celebration! 9 sterling silver stacking rings for $45 plus free shipping to the U.S. and Canada. I love hammering out these little rings.

Do you want to know how I make these rings? Here's instructions on how to make sterling silver stackable rings!

Materials Needed:
16 gauge sterling silver round wire, half-hard
blow torch, propane or butane
fire brick or soldering pad
jewelry pickle (see my organic pickle recipe) in a crockpot
jewelry tumbler with steel shot and ivory soap chips
silversmith's anvil
silversmith's hammer
steel ring mandrel
jeweler's file
400 grit sandpaper
600 grit sandpaper
jeweler's cutting pliers or jeweler's saw
hard silver solder (you can use sheet, wire, or paste. i'm using sheet solder)
flux
copper tongs

Instructions:
1. With the cutting pliers, cut the length of sterling silver 1-2 sizes smaller for the ring size you want using a ring sizing chart.
2. File the ends of the wire with the jeweler's file.
3. Bring the ends together to form a circle.
4. cut a silver solder chip and put it underneath the ring.
5. spray the flux on the ring or dab flux on using a paintbrush
6. Heat ring with a blowtorch in a circular motion.
7. Wait for ring to cool, then put in hot pickle.
8. Once ring is shiny again, take it out of the pickle using copper tongs. You must use copper, not any other metal tongs, for this.
9. Sand or file any rough edges.
10. Hammer the ring on the anvil horn to get a rough shape
11. Hammer the ring on the ring mandrel to get the size
12. Lay the ring flat on the anvil. Tap it gentle to make sure that it is straight when it lies flat. This is called "trueing" the ring.
13. Put the ring in the jewelry tumbler half full of water and add ivory soap flakes. Tumble for a half hour.

Your ring is done!