Jewelry Lesson

Intermediate project.

I  was once in Cape Town, in South Africa, and in the window of a jeweler there was this ring that had a circle of diamonds that spun around. Totally fascinating, this kinetic jewellery type of thing. I wanted to make something like that. So I hunted down some small ball bearing races, and in my spare time, I concocted my first spinning ring. There were many uncertainties. The bearing, ( will it last, rust, seize? How does one fit it into a ring?

Anyway, I made my first ring and Anne, my wife, took one look at it and 'annexed' it. Okay, I figured since it was an untried design, and if it died, hey, no problem, my wife will forgive me! It lasted for nearly five years and only then I had to replace a locking component that held the bearing in. I thought the bearing would have failed before, but it lasted well. So this Hidi is about how I made the second ring. There are, of course many other ways of doing this job. It all hinges on the type of ball race you are able to obtain. Stainless steel for one, and the smaller the better. And if you have a workshop that has a lathe would help too. Anyway, this is the hand made version.

A picture of the first ring I made . The 'annexed' one..... To be honest, I like this one more than the second one I made.

I start of with a thick solid piece of gold and file the hell out of it. Once I have the basic shape, I drill a hole in it just slightly bigger than the bearing that I am going to fit in later.

Like this.

Then I solder a jump ring into the hole I have drilled. At the right height from the top, nice and level. This is where the bearing will fit, nice and flush.

Top view. The jump ring I soldered in stands a little bit proud.

This is the screw I made and the bearing that will go into the ring.

Just to give the size of the bearing.

Which goes in like this. I cut the keyway of the screw with a No.2 saw blade.

And this is a close-up of how the bearing sits.

Now, back at the ranch, I have been making this cover washer that is going to hold the bearing in and be screwed in position from two sides.

With itsy teeny screws like this.

The cover goes in like this and then the little screws hold it and by default, the bearing, in place.

So now we get to the 'spin' of the thing. This is the arm. The black coral is carved and fitted and two holes are drilled into it through the sides to fit two more screws that will hold it in place. The collet is roughly made. ( I have already cut the stone, a pink tourmaline, in the Wilf Ross cut) The center hole of the arm is also threaded.

Underneath, I put in a little extra. A little dolphin cut out with some bubbles.  Cute,   in' it? The thread can be seen of the center hole.

I also have, at the ranch, made a collet that holds a center stone. This will be the screw that holds the arm in place. This picture was taken of the finished collet with the sapphire already set. Notice the bump at 11 o 'clock. That is the locking bump.

So as the sapphire collet is screwed down, The locking bump 'clicks' into the indentations on the bottom of the arm. These indentation are made with a ball frazer. This locks it into place in a most secure manner. Notice the two screws that are holding the black coral in place.

Here the ring is assembled. The diamond in the coral is preset and then press fitted into the coral. I have only one chance to do this. I use a graver to raise 'barbs' on the sides of the tube ( similar to a fish hook) and then fit it into the coral, and once in, it cannot be removed without destroying the coral piece. I NEVER use glue for anything. The two little itsy teeny screws hold the cover washer in place and the bearing as well.

These are all the various components.

 The sapphire was bought from http://aussiesapphire.com.au and the the tourmaline rough was bought from  http://www.hassamventures.com/     The black coral is found coral from St. Vincent ( an island in the Caribbean)

Comments and suggestions can be sent to hansmeevis@gmail.com