Waxing and Waning
The last thing I worked on for my Jewelry I class was a casting project. My original idea was to make a key but the processes of carving it out of wax didn’t work out. But hey it happens and sometimes you just have to move on. So instead I went with making a ring. The ring gives the illusion of being two rings instead of one.
This is because of the horseshoe shape that I gave to the body of the ring. This hides the band of the ring behind the finger it is on. Since the band of the ring was open it made two platforms that I could attach the crescent moons to. I found two flat donut-shaped pieces of wax which made it easy to get a symmetrical look. It just took a lot of filing to get the crescent shapes how I wanted them.
The wax ring was then cast with white bronze. There was a lot of clean up to get it to the final polishing state. I had to use several different methods of sanding and filing the little nicks out of the metal. Unfortunately, during the casting process air was trapped at the bottom of the band where the bronze entered the ring mold. This stayed in the band after it cooled and can’t be fixed by filing or sanding. I actually like these imperfections because it reminds me of craters on the moon.
I’m just really happy with this piece because it is my first casting that I can actually wear. I feel like I’m a little closer to being a jeweler and I can’t wait to learn more.
