As a custom jewelry and jewelry repair shop, sometimes we think we’ve seen every piece of jewelry ever created. And just when we get comfortable in that belief, someone asks us to repair a rare piece that even blows us away. As was the case with this hand-fabricated antique Korean ring.
A few months ago, one of our customers brought in a beautiful hand-fabricated white gold setting that was missing its original stone, and its craftsmanship blew our socks off. The ring was a family heirloom that had been passed down to our customer, but the stone had long been missing. Wanting to wear it again, she brought it into Custom to see if we could find and set a great replacement stone into the ring. As soon as we saw it, we answered with a resounding, “Yes, please!”
The thing that made this ring stand out among the many brilliant rings we see, is the fact that it was completely-hand fabricated, meaning, that every part of this ring was hand-made from an individual piece of metal and then soldered together to create its final form. While we employ this form of jewelry creation at Custom, on occasion, most modern pieces that have complex stone setting or filigree work will be wax-cast rather than hand-fabricated, since wax casting creates a more precise outcome. Which is why this piece was so intriguing. It had both complex stone setting and filigree work on the under-bezel, and the craftsmanship was so precise it looked as though the ring was modern and had been wax-cast. The hallmark on the inside of the ring proved that it truly was an original antique, but our eyes could have almost been deceived. Regardless, we were delighted to fit and find the perfect opal for this lovely antique setting, and couldn’t have been more pleased that she chose Custom to work on it.
