Custom jewelry is often desired to evoke an emotion or commemorate a special event in someone’s life. The client shares ideas and aspirations with the designer and sometimes sketches or pictures to develop a rendering that expresses the essence of the client’s desired unique design.
Step 2
The sketches developed with the client are used to determine the best method to make the customers dreams a reality. Some pieces are fabricated from the selected metal, some begin as a hand-carved wax sculpture and some utilize a CAD-CAM design process that generates detailed pictures from many angles for approval and allows for precise results.
Step 3
The wax model that results from hand-carving or computerized-carving is placed in a metal flask and surrounded with an investment (much like plaster). When the investment has hardened, it is placed in a “burnout oven” and heated for 6 hours to 1250°F, removing all wax, residue and vapor.
Step 4
The hot flask is then placed in a “vacuum caster”, creating a vacuum on all sides of the flask. The desired metal is melted and poured into the cavity that resulted when the wax was removed. This process is called “lost wax casting”
Step 5
The rough casting is now filed, smoothed and polished. Exterior engraving is done if requested. The selected stones are then set and a final polishing is performed. Interior engraving can be added at this point if desired.
Step 6
The finished product is examined by two quality control inspectors to ensure the customer receives blemish-free, one-of-a-kind exquisite jewelry.
