Manolo for the Brides

Kirk pointed me toward a collection of unusual rings created by designer and metalsmith Jana Brevick.

The above wedding ring set was created from sterling silver and serial plugs. See what they look like fitted together by clicking the pic!

And these were created using gold, sterling silver, and plugs with threaded sheaths. Again, see what they look like fitted together by clicking the pic.

Sure, they are a little bulky, as Kirk remarked, but they could make a sweet present for a technically-minded couple looking for something to set them apart.

And speaking of wedding rings, mine finally arrived today. It’s a good thing, too, as we were all set to cancel our order with our rather slow-going jewelrymaker. We even bought a set of plain gold bands so that we wouldn’t be left in a lurch if she didn’t come through. But here we are, scant days before the wedding, with a set of wonderful matte four-color, six-twist mokume gane bands. Yay!

Not so keen on a metal ring? You’re not alone. Some people don’t care for gold or silver or platinum. Others have pesky metal sensitivities that can cause icky rashes. Still others are looking for something exists outside the norms of typical commitment jewelry, but is still recognizable as such.

Woodworking artisan Gustav Reyes saw a niche and decided to fill it. After deciding that the initial monetary outlay required to create fine cabinetry and other furniture was just too high, he began to search for an alternative way to employ his skills. Rings, he noticed, were small enough to be crafted from found and salvaged wood and thus Simply Wood Rings was born.

Reyes’ rings are beautiful and they are inexpensive, but what appeals to me most is that they can be made from a variety of wood sources. In fact, he’ll make customized rings using almost any piece of 12″x1″x1″ piece of timber, and the technique he uses to shape the ring ensures its lasting structural integrity.

Wedding rings are the most common request but, Reyes caters to all sorts of ideas such as a mother who can’t part with her grown son’s baseball bat from his Little League days. Reyes even made a ring from ancient bog oak, a white oak tree that has been preserved in the bogs of Europe, carbon dated at 4,500 to 5,000 years old.

How cool is that?

If your honey loves nothing more than to stand at the sea’s edge for hours in the hopes that some unthinking fishy will decide to take booby-trapped bait, Reyes del Mar has the wedding bands you’ve been searching for.

All I can say is, “Heeeeeere fishy, fishy, fishy fishy! Heeeeeere fishy, fishy, fishy fishy!“

The always superduper Sterlingspider sent me a link to some truly fascinating rings last night. And by fascinating, I mean kind of icky but also sort of sweet in a weird way. A while back, five couples in the UK said “I do” and exchanged rings not of gold, but of bone.

Personally, I think it would be cool to get rings made of fossilized dino bones. But these lovebirds were swapping their own DNA in a very real way, because the aforementioned rings were grown using bits of bone tissue harvested from project participants’ jaws. The resultant symbols of their love were an idea hatched by BioJewellery, a group that “aims to create public dialogue with emphasis on communication and the accessibility of the scientific processes involved.”

The couples who took part in the bone-ring project helped design their own bands, though the one shown above is a mock up made using cow bone and sterling silver. Romantic? Maybe. But the technique used to grow the bones isn’t just useful for making jewelry…it apparently holds great promise as a way to grow new bone material for patients who need replacements. That, I can certainly get behind.

Ya’ll know by now that I adore the Mokume Gane. What *I* didn’t know is that there are patterns other than the standard woodgrain! I was reviewing sites by jewelry designers that work with the metal and found out that there is more than one way to mokume. Just look at these gorgeous patterns from Andura Designs:

The wave is pretty neat but I can’t get over the raindrop pattern. How cool is that? I do wish there was more info on the techniques used to make patterns like that, but it may be an industry secret kind of thing. Here’s a closer look:

I’ve recently fallen in love with Black Hills gold jewelry. What is Black Hills gold, you ask? Let me dazzle you with the backstory: In the 1870s, sometime after a prospector named Horatio Nelson Ross found a bit of gold in the waters of French Creek in the Black Hills of South Dakota, a French goldsmith named Henri LeBeauold (or LeBeau, depending on who’s telling the tale) traveled to the Dakotas to cash in on what is often called the last great gold rush in U.S. history.

LeBeauold’s skills as a prospector were not up to snuff, however, and he found himself parched and starving in the Black Hills. Fearing his death was imminent, he went to sleep. And, as he dozed, he dreamt of beautiful rushing stream with lush grape vines growing on its banks. When he woke, he climbed over a rise similar to the one he’d dreamt about and came face to face with the very stream and vines he’d seen in his dream.

In his gratitude, LeBeauold chose to dedicate his life to crafting jewelry in yellow, green, and rose gold that featured grape leaves, vines, and clusters…no doubt after he’d slaked his thirst and calmed the rumbling in his belly with hefty handfuls of ripe grapes. So, Black Hills gold refers to the design as well as its origin. Here is an abridged description of the Black Hills gold jewelry-making process from Black Hills Gold Outlet:

The process of making Black Hills Gold jewelry begins with pure 24 Karat gold. It is alloyed with exact percentages of other metals to achieve a more durable karat quality of 10K, 12K or 14K. The traditional pink and green color gold used for leaves and other details is made when copper or silver is combined with the pure gold. The resulting gold bars are then readied for rolling.

The alloyed gold bars are rolled by presses to different thicknesses for different types of jewelery. Component parts are carefully stamped, one at a time, out of the rolled gold sheets using patterns and dies. The solid gold leaves and other patterns are now ready to be added to a cast jewelry base.

Great for engagement rings or wedding bands. Provided the male component of the partnership is willing to do pink.

I like rings. I like ‘em so much that when the phone says, “RING RING!” I answer by saying, “Yes, please.” Of course, not just any ring will do. Right now I’m digging on Krikawa Jewelry Designs. Run by husband and wife team, John and Lisa Krikaw, KJD will knock your socks off. They carry a sweet selection of plain and diamond wedding bands, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Seriously. Have a look:

According to the site, this “mokume band arches above the ring shank to form an architectural window through the ring.” While the ‘window’ doesn’t really do it for me, I love the way the stone looks with the platinum Mokume Gane and the delicate detailing around the stone itself. All of their Mokume Gane stuff is excellent, by the way.

This modern puzzle ring is crafted with three diamonds in palladium and 18k yellow gold. Intended as a unique and unforgettable wedding band, there are both men’s and women’s sizes, with some differences in style. The ring shown is for all the ladies in the house.

Did I mention that the good folks at KJD will also create custom rings based on client specs? They will work with a stone you already have to create a beautiful design or work with you to draw up a design that suits you and your sweetie perfectly. This ring features a cognac diamond set in 18k yellow gold with six diamond accents. The most intriguing aspect of this ring (for me) is that the band was photo-etched with a pattern from medieval armor. Cool, no?

It’s that sort of attention to detail that really makes me salivate.

Ever been in love with the overall design of a ring but still wish you could change just one little teeny thing about it? Like the color, width, or type of gemstone, perhaps? With some jewelers, you have two choices: Accept the piece as is or move on. Should you choose the latter option, you could then get a ring custom designed from scratch - and potentially pay out the nose for the privilege.

Luckily for those in search of rings (wedding or otherwise), many jewelry designers offer their clients a range of designs with customizable options. Novell Design Studios makes all of their wedding bands to order and allows brides- and grooms-to-be to choose whether to have their rings crafted in platinum, 18kt gold, or white, yellow or pink 14kt gold. They can also personalize their wedding bands with decorative finishes, diamonds and colored stones. Features from different rings can even be combined to make an entirely new design. Cool, right?

This ring was supersized to include 15-point round diamonds and embellished with a 18kt yellow gold edge.

On this ring, the twisted inserts were removed and replaced with 2-point diamond channels.

And here, the original diamonds were switched out in favor of heirloom rubies belonging to the client!

Of course, it seems from some of their samples that customization is just another way for people to create huge, bling-encrusted jewelry that would simply consume a smaller finger. Thus confirming my theory that rings, in general, are getting out of control. What’s wrong with something simple like this:

Here is the deal. I have a HUGE migraine and my Imitrex is not working. And when I’m in pain and there is little I can do about it, I like to drown my pain-ridden brain in beauty. Since October’s birthstone is the iridescent opal, I’ve passed the time today perusing jewelry featuring this most unusual stone.

The name opal is most likely a derivative of the Sanskrit word upala, the Greek opallios, and the Latin opalus, all of which just mean ‘precious stone.’ I’m glad the name stuck, considering it might otherwise just be called ‘hydrated silica glass,’ which is a far less pretty moniker.

Here is some educational mumbo-jumbo about opals from wikipedia:

Australia produces around 97% of the world’s opal. 90% is called ‘light opal’ or white and crystal opal. White makes up 60% and all the opal fields produce white opal; Crystal opal or pure hydrated silica makes up 30%; 8% is black and only 2% is boulder opal.

The town of Coober Pedy in South Australia is a major source of opal. Common, water, jelly, and fire opal are found mostly in Mexico and Mesoamerica. Another Australian town, Lightning Ridge in New South Wales, is the main source of black opal, opal containing a predominantly dark background (dark-gray to blue-black displaying the play of color).

Boulder opal is found sporadically in western Queensland, from Kynuna in the north, to Yowah and Koroit in the south.

A source of white base opal in the United States is Spencer, Idaho. A high percentage of the opal found there occurs in thin layers. As a result, most of the production goes into the making of doublets and triplets.

Okay, enough of that. On to the opals!

This simple white gold opal ring would make a lovely engagement ring or even a wedding band, IMO.

Or, if white on white isn’t your thing, you could try a yellow gold and blue opal ring, which is a bit more striking.

But why limit yourself to finger candy?

A nice set of opal and white gold earrings can really compliment your wedding ensemble.