NATURE INSPIRED ENGAGEMENT RINGS MADE DIRECTLY FROM THE SOURCE

How They're Made and Why Olivia Ewing Engagement Rings Are Unique...

Nature as an inspiration and a source.

I've always been drawn to minute details in nature; I started collecting twigs, moss, bark and pressed flowers almost as soon as I could walk.  When I started drawing from nature as an inspiration for my jewelry, I knew I didn't want to just approximate the wondrous natural textures I'd come to love in my collections, I wanted to find the best way possible to replicate it exactly.

Why our engagement rings are different.

As nature-inspired engagement rings become more popular and ubiquitous, I see a lot of jewelers simulating nature's textures with computers.  My rings are entirely made by hand, every step of the way.  Each ring starts with a real twig.  To use my customer's words, "It looks like nature kissed my ring finger!"

How our nature-inspired rings are made.

Each nature-inspired engagement ring starts with a twig that I've selected for its beautiful and unique texture from a place with special meaning.  A lot of my collection comes from twigs from Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens (two natural havens that were very important to me when I lived in the city), the coast of Maine ( a state that I love and that I've visited every summer of my life), around my childhood farmhouse in New Jersey and my current farmhouse in New Jersey.

This particular custom engagement ring is being made for a customer with special ties to Sedona, Arizona and the east coast.  For his ring, I sourced special Ashe Juniper branches from Arizona and found a beautiful Birch twig from my Maine collection.

I look for twigs with consistent width, interesting texture and nice bud detailing that will translate well into gold.

Using the traditional lost wax casting method, I'm able to cast each twig directly into silver, a pliable metal that I can use to begin the initial shaping of the ring.

Once the twigs are rounded, I create rubber molds and replicate the twigs several times each into wax.  The wax is then shaped by hand into the ring design and a hand-carved stone setting is added.

This wax design is then cast back into silver, which allows me to round out the shape and perfect any details before the final gold ring is made.  During this stage, I smooth out the inside and polish down any natural rough edges of the twig.

When small details are lost from the initial wax sculpting, I go in by hand using small diamond bits and files and carve the texture back into the ring, following the guides of the natural twig as closely as possible. I try not to enhance any details- I love the subtltly that nature provides.  My goal is simply to restore the twig back to its natural state.

After it's completed and polished, the silver ring is an exact replica of the final version.  I take another mold of this ring so that I can cast it into the final gold and set the diamond.  I keep the silver sample of every single custom nature inspired engagement ring that I create so I can go back any number of years later and sculpt matching g wedding and anniversary bands.

Meet the Author: Olivia Ewing