{"id":54,"date":"2011-06-17T23:45:57","date_gmt":"2011-06-17T23:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cicadajewelrydesign.wordpress.com\/?p=278"},"modified":"2011-06-17T23:45:57","modified_gmt":"2011-06-17T23:45:57","slug":"rose-gold-with-a-touch-of-onyx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/sako\/2011\/06\/17\/rose-gold-with-a-touch-of-onyx\/","title":{"rendered":"Rose Gold with a touch of Onyx"},"content":{"rendered":"

So what is this? 3 blogs in a week? I have 20 images and a video to show off a ‘step by step’ process of a ring I made. It’s a weird design a customer drew for me on a napkin which I perfected, tweaked to his liking, and eventually came up with this design below.<\/p>\n

But what the hell is onyx? It’s a Chalcedony Quartz gemstone that is mined right here in my home state of California, India, Brazil, and Uruguay. The name is derived from Greek legend which tells the story of Eros who used to clip his fingernails all over the floor without proper disposal (Talk about a slob). Because no part of a heavenly body can die, the gods turned the fingernail clippings into stone which later became known as onyx. And as final fun fact of the onyx, the stones are\u00a0 given out on the 7th and 10th wedding anniversaries and is considered one of the birthstone of December.<\/p>\n

Now back to my ring.<\/p>\n

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It has a curve to it that any man can appreciate… He wanted it in Rose Gold with a tube like shape. It almost reminds me of one of those crazy pipe organs you used to see in old school movies or at church. He wanted a piece of onyx cut to fit in that middle slot, flush with the tubes and curves with a high polished finish.<\/p>\n

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Here’s another angle from the side<\/p>\n

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For those who are not in the industry and are wondering what these holes are that are on top of this ring, the holes are indicators for future setting. For example, this ring was given to my diamond setter who mapped out where he was going to place the diamonds with pre-drilled holes for a pave setting finish. What is pave? Here’s a link and free plug to this random\u00a0website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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So I begin my search to find a thick enough onyx to put through my saw and cut a nice proportioned piece.<\/p>\n

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I eventually cut the onyx. I have to take into consideration that the ring is curved from the top and it needs to mimic the curvature<\/p>\n

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I put the tape on there as a guide while I am cutting the onyx out of its rough form. A little tip that works great!<\/p>\n

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Notice the bottom of this onyx and how I curved it out and shaped it out so it sits smoothly on the ring. I used a hand drill with various diamond drill bits to get the nice fit I wanted.<\/p>\n

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I take the onyx to my machine and grind it down.<\/p>\n

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Notice the round curvature on the onyx. This has turned into what I didn’t want my blogs to ever turn out as. A step by step, boring instructional video. There’s always an exception to the rule I guess.<\/p>\n

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This picture shows that I’m about to get this onyx down level with the top of the rose gold ring.<\/p>\n