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How Diamond Rings Are Made

Ever wondered how diamond rings are made?

If you have an engagement ring sparkling on your finger, you may have found yourself wondering how it was made.

One look at all the intricate, tiny diamond details on the ring’s band will tell you enough to know that creating jewellery as such takes incredible skill. Working with small and delicate materials takes great patience and a steady hand, especially when following traditional techniques.

These days, 3D printing has opened a whole new world of possibilities within the realms of ring and jewellery making. This means custom orders are produced and delivered a lot quicker, even if the designs are particularly tricky and elaborate. Let’s take a look at both the traditional and modern techniques used to make diamond rings.

Traditional Techniques

The first step to making a beautiful diamond ring consists of cutting the chosen metal to size. If any kind of texture is to be incorporated into the band of the ring, this is the time to do it. A mallet or hammer should be chosen depending on the style of finishing texture to be achieved in the ring band.  The jobbing hammer is a great two-in-one choice with a ball pein head and a flat head, which will allow for two different textures using one tool.

Once the metal is cut into the desired length and width, it is time to shape it using a ring triblet. Although there are plastic triblets available for fashion rings, a stainless steel triblet will achieve a sturdier shape. The metal is bent around the triblet and knocked into shape using a jewellery hammer; the more pressure exerted on all sides of the metal, the stronger and harder the ring shank (otherwise known as the bottom of the band) will become.

Now that the ring shank is shaped, it is time to design the claw that will eventually hold the diamond. This is done by cutting another strip of the metal into four divided pieces; the shape of these claws depends entirely on the diamond’s cut and will have to be adapted accordingly. The finished claw is then soldered on, filed, and polished. Any further shaping or bending of the ring will happen at this stage, once again using a quality triblet.

If diamonds or gemstones are to be set around the ring shank, this can be done with the use of a GRS engraving block – the most comfortable option for stone setting. Its exclusive shape allows the ring maker to angle the block as needed, providing more flexibility when it comes to setting delicate stones. The most common setting method is referred to as the “bezel setting”, which consists of drilling small holes into the metal. The stones are placed into these groves, and a “projecting lip” (a small edge around the groves) is created to keep them in place. These groves (also called concave cuts) can be made using a ball bur, a very thin and delicate drill available with a variety of different heads.

After another round of careful polishing, the diamond is then fitted into the ring’s claw, and ready to be slipped onto one lucky person’s ring finger!

Wax Casting

Another traditional form of ring making consists of wax carving and casting, a method that has been relied upon for centuries. In fact, the first use of this method dates to times of primitive craftsmen, only different materials such as plaster and stone were used as moulds at the time. Wax casting is still the preferred method to this day – not that you would ever know by looking at your ring. There is a reason this method is also referred to as the “lost wax process” – no trace of it will be left by the time you put your ring on to your finger.

Jewellery designers use wax to carve an exact model of the ring to be created. Once the model has reached its final shape, the designer will embed the carving in a metal flask which is then filled with a plaster-like substance. The model is left to harden, then placed in a special oven at extremely high temperatures. This is the actual “lost wax process” – the wax will be completely burnt away until all that is left is a hollow impression of the initial design.

Your chosen metal is then poured into the mould in its liquid form and solidified. Depending on the jewellery maker, this can be done either through centrifugal or vacuum casting. Once cooled, the mould is extracted and the plaster holding the ring’s shape carefully broken away. The ring is now ready to be polished and refined. If the ring is to be decorated with gemstones or diamonds this is the stage at which stone setting will commence.

This is the process we use to make our diamond rings at the Purely Diamonds studio in Hatton Garden.

We offer you stunning rings for the most important occasions: