The Garden Strawberry Ring is one of my earliest designs. All of my originals are done in yellow gold, but recently, I had the chance to make a strawberry in a perfectly matching rose gold.
Introduction to lost wax casting
I make all of my solid gold jewellery using the lost wax method, which involves carving a model out of wax, then having the wax model cast in precious metal.
The original Garden Strawberry ring was carved in a size 4.25.
Scaling a handcarved jewellery design
As seen in the making of the Peony Ring, moulds are a tool which can be used to reproduce a design of the same size:
However, moulds are not always suitable for producing rings, which have many sizes and require designs to be scaled proportionately. To scale the strawberry ring up to a size 6, I created a new carving from scratch, with a slightly larger centre strawberry and broader leaves to fully extend to either side.
Sizing rings for lost wax casting
During the casting process, metal is heated and cooled, which can cause a small amount of shrinkage.
Although I carved the wax model in a size 6, the gold casting came back in a size 5.5. Bringing the ring back up to size required gentle stretching over a steel mandrel, followed by polishing steps which further remove small amounts of metal. You can see the full finishing process in this short video!
More about wax carving, jewellery design, and handcrafting techniques
If you're curious to learn more about my studio and jewellery making process:
Thanks for reading :)