Ring by Sam Patania
22 Karat gold is a wonderful material to work in. I have used it for bezels for years and received a commission to make a wedding ring in 22 K earlier this year. The client had strong ideas about what she wanted. In some ways, as an artistthis makes life easier. I am not good at drawing, I never have been. I used to think this was a failing but I have come to accept that I think in three D and that is good for a metalsmith. When a client wants a specific design I am not comfortable without first making a model to show them. I got this idea from the Orchid forum. I read a post from a goldsmith in England, and I am sorry I have forgotten his name, who always made silver models prior to crafting in gold. He kept all his models and so he had a metal representation of all his work. What a wonderful resource he had made for himself.
My client wanted a pink sapphire so I contacted Tim Roarke in Atlanta and got him to send me some stones to choose from. The center stone was the key to this project, the rest of the ring’s size depended on the center stone. I made the whole ring in sterling to show the client. Once she approved I went to work in gold. Making the model in sterling also taught me what engineering was going to be necessary.
I did not plan on doing the diamond setting myself. I know my limitations and one of them is knowing when to go to someone else for their expertise. I teach that to any apprentices who will listen, I don’t have the desire to spend the time necessary to diamond set in the way this client wanted. There are many things in this business and craft I just an not going to have time to learn, that is a strength of my art. I will always have techniques to learn, things to aspire to. I love that about my art. I don’t want my technique limitations to limit my designs. I find who is best at a technique and I let them help me. Working with an other crafts person requires talking to them to find out what their requirements are going to be and including them in my design. Rick Eckhoff at Abbott Taylor Jewelers here in Tucson did the diamond setting for me and advised me on what requirements he would need to do his job. Rick is a master goldsmith and a pleasure for me to work with.
After nailing down the design and engineering and including Rick in the mix I fabricated the gold and sent it to Rick for diamond setting. I set the sapphire myself prior to sending it to Rick. The client was not the one who ordered the ring, it was her fiance’ who was buying it. He had me deal with her to get the design but wanted to give it to her himself. She was very anxious to get this ring so I had to tell her it wasn’t ready yet, and of course I blamed Rick for that. Rick didn’t know and didn’t need to know, she didn’t know Rick so she had to deal with me. Her fiance’ picked up the ring a few days before giving it to her but broke down and gave it to her early, not wanting to continue the torture. She was very happy with the ring and I loved working for her and her fiance’.
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kaytaylor 11.26.08 at 4:18 pm
Nummmmm! And a great story, to boot, Sam.