Greetings Everyone,
I have been asked to make wedding bands for a young couple in the
area. They want the rings to be two-toned (silver & gold). I am very
new to jewelry and have never done two-toned rings before!
They want two matching bands without any stones that are pretty much
typical looking. If you can imagine the profile of the rings… they
want a hammered texture in the center with a depression on both
sides of that, which would be the gold tone and on the outside of
that, two raised rings caping both ends off. I hope I made that
clear enough to understand.
I tried to convince them to have the gold colored part recessed
below the surface of the profile so that it could be plated yellow
and not where off.
There is a cost issue so we won’t be making them out of white
gold… Silver is fine but silver is so soft and can tarnish
(Argentium is a possibility), I wasn’t sure it would hold up well
enough for wedding bands. Am I wrong?
The couple also suggested the possibility of stainless. I have a
Sherline metal lathe that I could attempt to turn the rings on and
then plate the recessed areas with gold. By the way, the females
ring will just be a smaller more ‘petite’ version of the males ring.
I’m asking for opinions and suggestions. What would you do if a
customer wanted silver “colored” rings but couldn’t afford white
gold… and also how would you accomplish the 'two-tone’
aspect…through plating? I do know plating wears off and that’s why
I suggested the plated ‘band’ be recessed so it doesn’t or very
rarely comes into contact with any surface.
I don’t really like the idea of making them stainless because of the
inability to re-size… and also… who wants stainless wedding bands
to symbolize marriage?
I much appreciate any suggestions. I have to have these done by the
first week in September.!!
Thanks guys!!!