Ring Masters
A few months back, I wrote about wanting to go to this great wedding ring workshop, where couples can actually design and make their own rings. I signed us up for the one in San Diego last weekend, and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. Seriously. All of you engaged people (y’all are dropping like flies… you know who you are), I highly, highly recommend doing this! Give up a day, be prepared to be patient (yeah, I am telling you to be patient; the irony is not lost on me) and go for it. As Bri said, “I really can’t imagine buying our rings any other way.”
All told, making our rings took 10 hours, start to finish (apparently, we picked the most difficult metal to work with), but it was super relaxed and fun. Jay Whaley is the jeweler who runs the workshop here in San Diego, and he’s just the nicest, most patient man ever. He teaches at UCSD, so he must be used to squirrely students using power tools for the first time (he didn’t look terrified when I picked up the blow torch). He was great about showing us what to do, stepping back to let us do it ourselves, then lending a hand when we got stuck.
OK, I’m going to drop a bunch of pictures on you right now because they tell the story better than I can. Ready… GO!
This is what we started with… just some lumps of metal
Fire, fire! Melting the metal into one piece
My little special ball
Brian’s perfectly formed ingot
Lots and lots of annealing– making the metal soft enough to shape
Flattening the metal in this fun press thing
Lookin’ good
Taking out our aggression and shaping the metal into ring form
Getting closer
Soldering time!
“Lord of the Rings” geeks? Kaila? Hermes? Anyone?
The neverending polishing process
Hey, everybody! Come and see how good I look!
Toasting our success with delicious almond champagne
Tee hee. So demure
Still in disbelief
Oooh, shiny
The final product, engraved and all!
Opa! Victory is ours!
11 comments
this is SO cool gill! either my tearing up is largely due to the fact that i’m starting my period in a week or it’s because i’m so touched by those pics! (probably both:-) i think it’s so cool that you’re able to document your experiences. i look forward to reading more about your awesome journey!!
Oh my God! You guys are amazing! That’s so cool. Your rings look great and Gill, your ring looks awesome next to your hott red rock. Now take ’em off, you two! No cheatin’.
And WHERE can I get my paws on some of this almond champagne?
OK, I think I am tearing up too. I want to do this! So cool.
Now I’m looking around at work to make sure no one saw me just now…
Aw, thanks! Sorry I got a couple of you a little verklempt (but don’t be ashamed– I cry at weddings even when I don’t know the people). I’m glad y’all like the rings! I was more than a little concerned I would screw up Brian’s ring (we made each other’s rings), but the expert jeweler Jay made sure I didn’t. We were exhausted at the end of the day– as you can see by that strung-out picture of me at the end– but it was so worth it!
Way cool! We had ours made by a West Marin silversmith with the unlikely name of Roger Peacock. He suggested a barter –the rings for work on his car — but Daddy didn’t have time to do that, so he just charged us a very reasonable fee. We told Roger what designs we wanted, and I still love the ring. It’s unique.
Very cool, Gillie! Can you make yourself a wedding ring even if you’re not getting married?! it looks like so much fun.
xoxo
Make me reader #3 (at LEAST – I’m sure a lot of y’all just won’t admit it) who teared up at the pictures. Seeing your hands with the rings put me over the top.
This occasion calls for a black and white soft-focus shot of your overlapping hands, no?
can i request those awesome glasses and goggles be sported at the wedding? because THOSE were awesome . . . almost as cool as the rings
That’s so cool – I’ve never heard of this kind of thing.
I love it! No blood diamonds either! You two are just so awesome. I’m totally doing this stuff. that is , when i get married on a commune in northern california. ha