Custom Made Jewelry Handcrafted –Gold Jewelry

What is white gold made of ?

White gold is currently the most popular of all gold alloys, especially for engagement rings and wedding rings.

Fashion question certainly.

However, few people really know what white gold is made of.

bague en or blanc

January 30, 2024 — Nicolas Tranchant
Tags: Gold Jewelry

How to wear a signet ring ?

The signet ring is a jewel of ancient origin, historically used by both women and men.

This is one of the few jewels that had a practical utility function, as it served as proof of identification, like today's digital signatures, in order to seal the letters with a wax seal. and legal acts (marriage, inheritance ...).

large gold signet ring for men

If the wearing of the signet ring meets the aesthetic and fashion today, precise rules governed the wearing of signet rings for the nobles during the Middle Ages.

The wearing of the signet ring changes according to the country, the sex and the time.

Here's how you find it, starting with a review of the fingers of your hand 

January 29, 2024 — Nicolas Tranchant

Real diamond iced-out Rolex Datejust

Rolex is the biggest watch brand in the world, and the most famous one worldwide. Among the many iconic rolex watches produced up to now, the Oyster Perpetual Datejust is one of the most recognized and looked after.

Rolex watches are known for maintaining their value over time and many rolex owners and watch lovers like to customize their luxury watch to their own taste.

In the case of this project, we had to customize our client's Oyster Perpetual Datejust model that had already been personnalized in the past, as described below.

real diamond iced out custom rolex in 18k gold custom real diamond rolex watch for men
April 03, 2023 — TRANCHANT NICOLAS FRANCOIS RAPHAEL TANI8011158E6

Intaglio Ring: from Antiquity to the present day

Intaglio rings are not at all fashionable, they are not even known to the general public at all.

And yet, everything about these rings is fascinating, whether it's their method of manufacture, which hasn't really changed over the centuries, or their millennial history, which bears the traces of the many civilizations that have preceded ours and left their mark for the making of modern intaglio rings.

To open the chapter of intaglio ring is to delve into the history of the world and antiquity, myths and legends, a fascinating world full of adventures, fantastic beasts, gods, but also everyday objects and life scenes from antiquity in Egypt, Mesopotamia or the Roman Empire.

onyx intaglio intaglio singet ring in 18k gold

 

May 23, 2022 — TRANCHANT NICOLAS FRANCOIS RAPHAEL TANI8011158E6

Sapphire Stone Jewelry Guide

Sapphire is one of the four most precious gemstones (which are diamond, ruby, emerald, and ... sapphire) and certainly the best known with diamond. Blue sapphire is by far the colored gemstone the most used in jewelry.

For most people, sapphire means blue sapphire as this is the most famous type of sapphire stone. In fact, there are many varieties of sapphire gemstone that can be of any color, from white (or colorless) to green.

Sapphire is actually a variety of corundum with traces of other chemical elements that give it its color. It is characterized by a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, just after moissanite which has a hardness of 9.5, and below diamond which has a hardness of 10.

raw blue sapphire compared with cut blue sapphire

December 22, 2021 — TRANCHANT NICOLAS

Tanzanite : the origin of its price

Tanzanite stone is not a precious stone, within the meaning of French law, which only considers diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds as such.

However, the price of Tanzanite stone makes it a gemstone in its own right :

  • it is rare in geological sense (1000 times rarer than diamond)
  • it has exceptional blue / violet colors
  • it is in great demand in jewelry
  • we are already talking about the closing date of the only production mine

To better understand the fascinating history of this stone, we invite you to dive into the origins of its discovery.

Tanzanite ring

October 28, 2021 — Hugo Maherault

Bottom Up V3+ 3D printer build and test

As part of my jewelry business, I use 3D printing for the creation of Castable masters for some of my jewelry. Mainly making unique and complex pieces for my clients, I need to quickly and faithfully print wax masters for our creations.

I started my work on 3D printing in 2015 with the purchase of a 1200 Project 3DS printer, an honest review of which is published here (in French). I then changed my printer, for a Draken 3D printer from the company 3DFacture which is also an SLA type 3D printer offering a larger printing surface than the 1200 and the freedom to manage the light exposure parameters at will, allowing me to work with resins more economical than those of 3DS and especially castable.

 Then, I now turned to a 3D printer, still SLA, but of a new type for me since printing from the bottom up, unlike the two previous printers which are of the Bottom-Up type.

3D printer software

September 17, 2021 — TRANCHANT NICOLAS

Custom Family Crest Signet Rings

Signet rings are centuries old, and while they are not used anymore as seal ring as they used to be in the past, they are a symbol of pride and elegance nowadays.

There are still synonyme of durability and in most of the case are an heirloom to the future family generation.

3 family initials gold signet rings

We mary ancient craftmanship with modern jewelry tools as 3D rendering and 3D printing to get amazing results. We detail here below the way we proceed and the making process used to craft your bespoke signet ring.

We offer the best customizable experience as your are free to choose:

  • The form and size of your ring, no process limitation
  • The metal of your choice, it can be Silver, 14k, 18k or even 22k gold
  • Open or closed ring (heavier in metal)
  • Raised engraving or intaglio
  • Metal or gemstone engraving
June 16, 2021 — TRANCHANT NICOLAS

The different types of necklace chains links in jewelry

Faced with all the existing chain maille weaves for making chains, used both for bracelets, necklaces and anklets, it's normal that you feel disoriented when you search for an internet purchase.

To find your way around, we offer you this guide which includes most of the chain maille weaves used for bracelets, chains and necklaces.

big silver chain for men

In the menu that follows, you can click on the model that interests you to go to the related chapter, or see our summary poster at the end of the article.

1 English chain 11 Spiral chain
2 Curb chain 12 American chain
3 Anchor chain 13 Mirror chain
4 Jaseron chain 14 Rope chain
5 Venetian chain 15 Bean chain
6 Snake chain 16 Gourmette chain
7 Palm chain 17 Polish chain
8 Horse chain 18 Rice grain chain
9 Coffee bean chain 19 Royal or Peruvian or Byzantine chain
10 Figaro chain 20 Industrial production of gold chains (video)

 

May 06, 2021 — TRANCHANT NICOLAS

Price of a custom signet ring

Men prefer signet rings to rings.

Wearing little jewelry, they are usually oriented towards making unique signet rings personalized according to their tastes. Of course, the price of these signet rings suffers and has nothing to do with the price of simple rings manufactured in series that are found in jewelry dealers.

Gold signet ring with black diamond

The purpose of this article is to explain what are the cost factors when making a signet ring in gold or silver and help you to mature your project.

Note that there is no more beautiful signet that the one that makes you want. A beautiful signet ring is one that brings together a style that suits you with the decorative elements that make you vibrate.

October 03, 2019 — TRANCHANT NICOLAS

Fire opal : iconic Mexican stone

Intriguing and mysterious, opal stone fascinates, on the one hand because of the multitude of colors and splinters it may have, but also because it remains a stone difficult to pin down by scientists and gemologists .

It is surely one of the few gemstones still being studied and the subject of theses to understand the chemical and granular composition, explain its lights and its mechanism of formation.

fire opals

October 03, 2019 — Hugo Maherault

African V-shaped ring making in gold

For the last 5 years, African jewelry is in fashion.

Driven by the appeal of ethnic art, new creations are emerging from patterns and colors of the black continent.

In this case, it is not a novelty since this design of African V-shaped ring is already well known, it is a classic.

By cons we will show you how is made this ring by hand.

African V-shaped ring

This African wedding ring is composed of two welded V connected by their ends.

Numerical modeling allows us to better understand the design of this ring seen from several angles.

September 23, 2019 — TRANCHANT NICOLAS

Fabergé egg : the price of excess

Fabergé, a mythical name.

Fabergé eggs : a world reference throughout history for fine jewelry.

Fabergé was an exceptional jeweler working for the greatest crowned heads and the most fortunate, yet his destiny brought him to ruin because of the Bolshevik revolution.

No piece of jewelry in the world has been surrounded by so much pomp, misfortune, chance and mystery following their sale, their loss and rediscovery.

Fabergé eggs are certainly the most intriguing jewelry pieces of all because of their fascinating history, from their creation to their record-breaking auctions.

Faberge egg with pearls

September 05, 2019 — Hugo Maherault

Catholic religious gold ring

As you certainly know, religion is a great source of inspiration for the making of jewelry and many museums exhibit ancient religious jewelry, evidence that over the centuries men have worn on their religious symbols under jewelry form.

The religious symbols are most often worn as a pendant, however, it is quite possible to gather some symbols into a coherent design for the making of a ring or signet ring.

In the specific case of this jewel, it is the making of a Christian signet ring with an oval-shaped tray for a man, gathering several Christian symbols engraved in relief on the plate and the amounts of the ring.

catholic religious ring in gold

The religious symbols found on this ring are numerous. We find there:

  • Chi-Rho
  • The eye of Providence
  • The M surmounted by a cross
  • The heart of Jesus and the heart of Mary
  • The crown of thorns

Chi-Rho is a primitive Christian symbol dating back to the fourth century AD, composed of the first two Greek letters of Jesus Christ and surrounded by alpha and omega.

April 10, 2019 — Nicolas Tranchant

Chakana: Inca cross pendant (22k gold)

Anyone who has traveled to Peru, especially to visit the Inca remains, has seen the pattern of Chakana ("Tawa Chakana" in Quechua) during his journey.

This square cross is a symbol of Inca culture that can be found both on ancient textiles, painted on ceramics and carved on secular walls.

Symbolizing the Southern Cross, it has a cosmological and religious meaning, it says a lot about the conception of the Inca world.

chakana cross from peru

Inca cross also called Chakana having served as a model for this making

As I have been traveling in Peru in 2007, I went to Cusco among many other places and enjoyed the discovery of Inca culture. That's why I am particularly excited to propose Peruvian jewelry on the shop and making this kind of typical Inca cross symbol through our service of custom made jewelry.

By the time, we had the opportunity of making a wide range of Chakana cross in different styles as shown here:

January 08, 2018 — TRANCHANT NICOLAS

Meaning of 24 karat gold purity

Gold is the most valued precious metal in jewelery, much more than platinum.

French demand for solid gold jewelry is 6 times larger than for platinum jewelery.

Given the respective prices of these precious metals, the purity index in gold - or platinum - alloys used in the manufacture of jewelry has a significant impact on the price of these.

Their purity is expressed in carats (historical measure) or in thousandths (official measure for France).

January 04, 2018 — Nicolas Tranchant
Tags: Gold Jewelry

The different colors of gold used in jewelry

If you are looking for a gold jewel and are looking to find out more about this precious metal, you may feel a bit lost in any of the colors that gold jewelry can take.

Indeed, depending on the composition of the alloy, the gold can be white, pink, green or even black if we consider the modern surface treatments.

These are in all 9 different shades given to gold according to its composition or the surface treatment received.

different colors of gold in jewelry

January 03, 2018 — Nicolas Tranchant
Tags: Gold Jewelry