Aquadraco Ring - RG1180D1
At a recent open house a client brought me this piece of coloured glass and commissioned me to make it into a ring for her. The piece of glass was a particularly beautiful shade of green. It obviously had emotional value in order for her to pay me to make into a ring for her.
The original commission was for the simplest and cheapest bezel I could set it in.
Then the beautiful sea green of the glass caught my imagination. Every time I thought of the ring I thought of the sea. So I came up with a new design to compliment the aquatic qualities of the glass. Since the glass was transparent, I textured the back of the bezel cup with a scale pattern like that found along the spine of a large fish. I made the sides of the bezel cup with scalloped gallery wire.
Then I textured the metal of the shank with another scale pattern similar to the belly scales of another fish. I used patination to really bring out the scale patterns of the various elements. When I set the 'stone' I used optical quality glue to help the scale pattern in the back of the bezel cup show through the green of the glass. I totally loved the final result. I had put a lot more work into the piece than I originally planned, but it was an immensely satisfying piece from an artistic perspective. Equally gratifying was that the client understood the piece at first sight. I've made a lot of good pieces lately, but this is the most artistically satisfying in quite some while. 'Aquadraco' means waterdragon in Latin.
I had put a lot more work into the piece than I originally planned, but it was an immensely satisfying piece from an artistic perspective.
Size: 10
Weight:
Metal: sterling silver
Stone: glass cabochon