What: Ring
Materials: Silver, copper, brass, hematite cabochon
Like the Ouroboros bracelet, this is a project from the metalsmithing course I took in college. This was our first major project, and the assignment was to design a ring. We had to have a cabochon and I think we also had to choose more than one metal to make the ring out of. The design is fun, but as far as practicality is concerned the ring is too tall to be used on my fingers, at least. It was made to be a thumb ring, and the height of the ring does constrict the mobility of my thumb's knuckle. This didn't count against the final score, since nothing was said about it having to be a wearable ring, but I was hoping for a little bit of functionality.
As far as motivation and artistic choices are concerned, I knew going into the project that I wanted to use three metals. I've always liked the look of stacked rings, but I wanted to play around with having infrastructure between the stacked rings. In retrospect, I would have played on that idea more in the design process, but I'm okay with the ring as it is because of its simplicity. I chose hematite as the central cabochon to tie the piece together because of its metallic luster and sharp contrast to the other three elements, as opposed to other metallic stones such as pyrite. I'm certainly a fan of pyrite, but the color would have been too similar to the brass and would have thrown off the balance of the piece, which I did want to maintain. Onyx was an option, but again, I liked the theme of metallics and wanted that unification to continue into the stone.
Truth be told, I'm not sure I ever actually named this piece. Not that every piece of jewelry needs to have a name or title, I just suppose that as my very first metalsmithing venture I should have been a bit more commemorative in its naming. I've had this ring for almost three years now, though, so it seems pointless to name it now. There will be more rings for me to name in the future!
