Ever wonder how a ring is resized? Wedding Rings Direct handcraft their own rings from their workshop in Brighton, England. They can resize the majority of rings bought from them so it fits perfectly. Here Wedding Rings Direct have opened up their workshop in Brighton to show us how they do it.
Rings with Stones 1. The ring is tapped using a raw hide mallet on a cylindrical rod known as a triblet to
make sure the ring is perfectly round.
2. The ring is then heated up, or 'annealed' as it is better known in the jewellery industry. Annealing is done to make the metal more malleable and makes it easier to work with. It also helps to avoid making the metal brittle when resizing. This also allows the jeweler to see if the ring has been resized before.
3. A cut is made through the metal, either at the same point as the original solder join, or making a new one, being careful that the hallmark and any engraving is not going to be interfered with during the resizing process. The cut is usually made centrally at the back of the ring.
4. The ring is then opened up to just under the new size that is required.
5. A piece of 18ct white gold will then be shaped appropriately and curved to fit in the
opening that has just been created.
6. One side will then be soldered, and the ring realigned to ensure that there are no gaps at all and the metal insert is flush with both joints.
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| preparing solder piece |
7. The hardest solder is then used to solder both sides. (There are different types of solder that melt at different temperatures; hard solder melts at 1425F. What solder is used will depend on what metal the ring is.)
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| soldering |
8. The inside, outside and sides of the ring are then filed followed by being buffed with
two grades of emery paper; one medium, one course.
9. The stone setting is then checked to make sure it is tight.
10. The size is then checked; if it is out slightly, it will be placed on the triblet and knocked up slightly using the raw hide mallet again.
11. The ring is then buffed using fine emery paper and polished using a bristle head on a
polishing machine; the brush rotates very fast as the ring is against the brush.
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| Polishing motor |
12. The ring is then polished inside and out using a course, abrasive and hard mop head around the polishing motor's spindles. This is then repeated with a fine calico mop and rouge polish.
13. The ring is then cleaned using an ultra-sonic machine followed by steam cleaning.
14. The ring is rhodium plated and rinsed followed by another steam cleaning to a dry
finish.
Plain Rings A plain ring such as a wedding band which needs resizing up or down one size is altered using the following steps:
1. The ring is annealed to make the metal easier to work with.
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| heated ring |
2. The ring is then either stretched or compressed using a manual ring sizing machine. (Rings with stones cannot be resized this way).
3. It is then polished to return it to its finish.
4. If the ring is a white gold metal it will then be rhodium plated followed by cleaning in an
ultra-sonic machine.
Before You Go: ______________________________
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