Made - gold ring

[KevinInColorado]

Hi all, as some of you already know, I've been working through the process of getting some of my gold dust smelted and made into a ring. Well, success is at hand!




PS shhh, don't tell her, I want it to be a surprise!

 

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[DesertNuggets]

Wow! That is awesome. Congrats!

 

[xr7ator]

Nice, Kevin! Tell us a little more, please. What is the purity of the gold and do I see stones?

 

[KevinInColorado]

The gold was smelted to 99% pure so the gold smith could alloy it properly to make a durable ring. Like most rings, it is now 14K. My wife wants a gold band to wear when she is being active so she doesn't worry about losing her diamond so that's what this ring is about. What you see on the band is freehand engraving of daisies...her favorite flower and what I gave her 32 years ago when we started dating seriously :-)

The finished ring weighs 5.5 grams so the gold content is 3.3 grams. To make a ring this size however, you need about twice that much gold so the smith has enough material to pour in the mould. You get the rest of the gold back as it's removed when they trim the ring before polishing.

It's been interesting to get this deep into the process of going from raw placer gold to a finished piece of jewelry!

 

[425jesse]

Wow Kevin, that is amazing. I hope to do the same for my wife for our 12th anniversary. She has come with me on nearly every prospecting adventure I've had this year and is a great sport! She has no idea that what we have found will soon be a permanent piece of her life! I really like the daisies too!

 

[B H Prospector]

Beautiful ring Kevin. Your wife is a lucky girl and you are obviously a very lucky guy that she agreed to be with you all these years. I know that is how I feel about my 35+ years. Many more years of bliss to you and your wife.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Excellent Kevin! Looks and sounds like you put a lot of thought into this little project. If this don't get ya some "Brownie Points" nothing will!

 

[River Rat]

Gorgeous, she's gonna love it.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Way to go Kevin!

Would love to do much the same for my wife, but still a long, long ways to
go.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Way to go Kevin! Would love to do much the same for my wife, but still a long, long ways to go.

...just keep diggin'!

And thanks everyone, I was almost as eager to show all of you as I am to surprise my wife with it! (But only almost )

 

[AzViper]

Kevin,

are you going to renew your wedding vows? Kinda cool and it should mean more to her than buying some over priced ring.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Kevin, are you going to renew your wedding vows? Kinda cool and it should mean more to her than buying some over priced ring.

Not vows but I am going to get down on one knee and re-propose

 

[jeff of pa]

Very Cool Kevin

 

[GoldDoozah]

Very cool. Is the process expensive?

 

[Jeff95531]

Very cool ring Kevin. The idea, work, memories and finished product all rolled into one band? Priceless. Congrats.
Background on the process was all brand new to me...thanks for sharing!

 

[Fullpan]

Congrats Kevin - since making rings from placer has been discussed here before, I was afraid to tell the guys that it requires over twice as much placer to produce the ring. It doesn't degrade the intent though if you just pay the goldsmith for the extra gold required to make the pour. And the jeweler
goldsmith usually just keeps the trimmings at little to no extra charge. Regardless, its a timeless keepsake well worth the effort.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Very cool. Is the process expensive?

Well...I guess that's a matter of perspective:
-smelting cost: a 12pack of craft beer ;-)
-goldsmith labor: $500 but that includes a lot of time for the custom engraving; a simple mold, cast, trim, polish would be less
- smile on her face when I give it to her: priceless!

Congrats Kevin - since making rings from placer has been discussed here before, I was afraid to tell the guys that it requires over twice as much placer to produce the ring. It doesn't degrade the intent though if you just pay the goldsmith for the extra gold required to make the pour. And the jeweler goldsmith usually just keeps the trimmings at little to no extra charge. Regardless, its a timeless keepsake well worth the effort.

Good points. I gave the goldsmith 7.25 grams to work with and 3.3 g ended up in the ring and 3.0 in the trimmings he gave me. The rest is in the mold matrix or on the floor where it will be swept up by the goldsmith. To us losing about a gram seems like a lot but that's how it goes.

 

[team sidewinder]

Wow that is beautiful. Lucky lady and lucky guy.