Aloha

My custom creation Aloha Tiki ring has been received and is already making a trip to Hawaii.

Cool client shot, right?

Stones > Beatles

D has been waiting and waiting for me to finish his full-custom silver turquoise gemstone ring and I’ve finally been able to deliver.  He had a specific design in mind and was inspired by my latest jade ring that I hacked up a few months ago with some Hong Kong jade.

D’s not a jade guy, but we set out to use a massive oval-shaped turquoise stone as the centerpiece.  We designed the shank together and the result is badass.

Doing a ring like this is always a dialogue between the stone and the silver.  We want the stone to be the star, but without a big gob of silver behind it, it isn’t a ring worth wearing.  You can buy all kinds of shitty gemstone rings with turquoise or whatever else in craft fairs all over the country.  The one thing they have in common: they suck.  Hollow-backed, shitty metal, etc.  Many of them are made with SILVER WIRE for the love of god.

Just like my skull rings, this all goes out the window.  Solid backed, cast as one piece, and heavy, this is a grown-up’s ring.

 

D was super patient and also contributed more than half of the design process.  Symbols and the bezel cup treatment were all him.  Very cool product.  I’ve had about a half-dozen emails since posting the facebook photos of this sucker asking about cost.  This is full-custom and takes a lot of work to create at this detail level.  The stones are individually selected by me based on the client.  So yeah, they’re expensive.  As I’ve made more of these, I’ve been getting better at balancing my time and production costs with the price.  I’ve finally figured out that these should be  $1000 with shipping included to your door.  I’ve made ’em for less in the past, but I’m shuffling priorities and these take SO much attention, I have to make some changes if I’m going to continue doing pieces like this.

I’ve had a few more pieces flying out of here.  A few class rings, actually.  Who wants a custom skull ring for a highschool ring?  Cool people.  That’s who.

  

That’s Jessica’s custom Big Voodoo.  Did a little voodoo in simliar form around the same time.

The skull rings I wear typically don’t have gemstones, but that’s my own thing.  I have a huge-ass piece of jade around my neck and another on my left hand, so I don’t need anymore stone bling.  But there’s no doubt – it looks awesome on the right design.

 
Last two projects I wanted to mention:

First was another Janis Joplin themed ring for Chris.  

Then a Mystery Cave combo.  I put this up because I don’t actually sell a ton of Mystery Cave rings.  Which is a shame.  It’s one of my favorite designs.  The people who want them and wear them are fanatical about them and I love that.  It’s a special ring for a very specific type of style.  I dig it with the men’s torque because it makes a similar shape to the balls on either end of the bracelet.