Show me your CS set in black rhodium or blackened silver, please!

[HollyC]

The designs are wonderful. Thank you for sharing them. I especially love the tsavorite ring. @Dr_Diesel

 

[SouthernGent]

Here are a few “Glamour Shots” I have saved on my phone. I’ll try to do more later in the week.



Most of them are blacker than they look in the photos, but the “glamour shot” lighting makes them look more gray

Dr. D, your rings are cool!
How well does black rhodium hold up to daily wear?

 

[Dr_Diesel]

Dr. D, your rings are cool!
How well does black rhodium hold up to daily wear?

Why thank you, sir!

Now it holds up quite well.

What I mean by that is that standard black rhodium would scratch very easily. I’ve since found a place that does black ruthenium plating. It’s both more black and more durable than standard black rhodium.

I also like to use textured finishes, which helps. They seem to wear more organically. Sometimes, if I do get obvious scratches, I’ll just use a polishing cloth and gently buff the finish to give it a more worn/antiqued look that exposes a whole spectrum of black to dark gray, light gray and bare platinum.

I kinda like the look as it evolves that way.

The very first photo (gray & red spinel ring) was taken after I applied that light hand polish.

 

[SouthernGent]

Why thank you, sir!

Now it holds up quite well.

What I mean by that is that standard black rhodium would scratch very easily. I’ve since found a place that does black ruthenium plating. It’s both more black and more durable than standard black rhodium.

I also like to use textured finishes, which helps. They seem to wear more organically. Sometimes, if I do get obvious scratches, I’ll just use a polishing cloth and gently buff the finish to give it a more worn/antiqued look that exposes a whole spectrum of black to dark gray, light gray and bare platinum.

I kinda like the look as it evolves that way.

The very first photo (gray & red spinel ring) was taken after I applied that light hand polish.

What base metal do you use for them?

 

[Dr_Diesel]

What base metal do you use for them?

2 of them are 18k palladium white gold (1st and 3rd photo) and the rest are platinum.

I use palladium white gold because I'm allergic to nickel. It's also a whiter (less warm) finish than 18k WG alloyed with nickel.

 

[Dr_Diesel]

2 of them are 18k palladium white gold (1st and 3rd photo) and the rest are platinum.

I use palladium white gold because I'm allergic to nickel. It's also a whiter (less warm) finish than 18k WG alloyed with nickel.

Correction: 1st & 4th photos (Gray & red spinel ring, offset/asymmetrical red spinel ring) are in 18kPWG

 

[RRfromR]

2 of them are 18k palladium white gold (1st and 3rd photo) and the rest are platinum.

I use palladium white gold because I'm allergic to nickel. It's also a whiter (less warm) finish than 18k WG alloyed with nickel.

@Dr_Diesel tell me more about the palladium white gold. Is it easy to find and resize? I have a terrible nickel allergy, you should see my ears after wearing white gold I have to do platinum

 

[Dr_Diesel]

@Dr_Diesel tell me more about the palladium white gold. Is it easy to find and resize? I have a terrible nickel allergy, you should see my ears after wearing white gold I have to do platinum

Easy to find? I guess that depends on where you’re at. I find that it’s less common in the US. It’s very common in Asia. In Australia, white gold alloyed with nickel is actually illegal because of nickel allergies.

You CAN get it in the US, however. Even Stuller uses Palladium white gold if you request it. Just ask your Jeweler and they should be able to find a casting house that uses it.

It’s a bit more expensive than white gold alloyed with nickel, but it’s just as easy to resize as any other form of gold… Much easier than platinum.

Due to the price of gold relative to platinum these days, if I’m making a piece that I think I’m unlikely to resize in the future, I definitely go with platinum.

 

[canuk-gal]

They are all my designs but made by different goldsmiths.

Sako made the tsavorite ring and the one with the fat pear-shaped red spinel.

The diamond (Octavia) ring wade made by CvB.

The sapphire ring it is pictured with was made by Marilu Designs over 20 years ago.

The others were made by a couple of Armenian brothers in Bangkok who no longer work with the public. I guess they got too big and now they’re only doing outsourced Manufacturing for large jewelry houses.

All stunning. I could wear anyone of them!!