This was a special challenge I took on a few years ago for my apprentice Emilyn's mom. She brought me 2 family rings.
One was a vintage opal ring that had been worn so much that the shank of the ring was worn too thin to wear anymore. Typically, when this happens you would get the ring re-shanked (a process where the thin back part is cut out and a fresh, thick new metal is fused or soldered into place) but the the opals can't take the heat and also risk being damaged if they were to be taken out and reset.
So, what do you do? Enlist creativity!
I love making cold connections like rivets, and this seemed to be just the answer!
You can see the original full gold band, the top half of the opal ring on top of it, and 1 of the 4 gold rivets in place as I started to work!
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Thank you!