From a bar of recycled gold to a finished solitaire in eleven steps and about nine hours of bench time. Elena Marlowe walks through it.
By Elena Marlowe, founder and head goldsmith.
People are often surprised that the workshop is in the same room as the showroom, a few steps behind the counter. I like it that way. You should be able to see where your ring is made and who is making it. Here is what happens to a solitaire between your order and your doorstep.
It begins as a bar
We buy recycled gold as grain and melt it ourselves into a short bar, about the size of a matchstick. That bar is rolled, annealed with a torch to soften it, and rolled again until it is the right thickness for a band. Gold hardens as you work it, so this heat-and-roll rhythm repeats all day.
Forming the band
The strip is cut to length for your size, bent round, and the two ends are filed until they meet without a gap you could see light through. Then it is soldered, hammered true on a steel mandrel and filed to its final profile. A good join is invisible. I still check every one under a loupe.
Building the setting
The setting is made separately, from heavier wire, to fit one particular stone. Claws that are a fraction too short will not hold; a fraction too long and they catch on everything. This is the slowest part of the job and the one I never rush.
Nobody notices a setting that is right. That is how you know it is.
Setting the stone
The diamond is seated so its girdle rests level in the claws, and each claw is eased over in turn, a little at a time, working across the stone in opposite pairs. Then the tips are shaped and rounded so they are smooth under a fingertip.
Finishing
Polishing takes four stages, from coarse compound to a soft mop, with a wash between each. The inside of the band is polished as carefully as the outside, because that is the part you will feel. Last comes the hallmark, any engraving, and a final check against the order.
Then it goes in a box
About nine hours at the bench, spread over three or four weeks so nothing is hurried. You are welcome to visit while yours is being made. Most people do, and most stay longer than they meant to.
