Testing, testing, 1,2,3...

#9

Hello People!

    I am thinking of [b]asking my [Girlfriend](http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=2512055&postcount=7631) to marry me [/b]:love:this Christmas time when we both go to Paris for her birthday. I don't want the standard "off the peg" engagement ring for her though. I'd rather have it custom designed if at all possible. I have never done anything remotely like this before, (strangely enough! :)) but have managed to enlist the help of a friend/ ex-lecturer who is a highly skilled goldsmith to make whatever is designed, (within reason of course ;).)

I have my initial meeting scheduled with this goldsmith on Tuesday to discuss ideas/ first impressions. But she suggested that I should design the ring (being a designer by education) and not her. This led me to thinking that perhaps I could get some C&C from CGSociety members as I go through the process before I get it built.

    I am going to [b][i]hopefully[/i][/b] have some first ideas on this thread by next week. I will then try and refine them into a final idea that will be produced in a couple of months time, (when I manage to save the funds up for it no doubt! :D)

I know that this is NOT stictly CG 3D, (more like real 3D!) but I am learning maya again at the moment and it would be cool to render up my final design to present to the goldsmith so she knows EXACTLY what I want.

    Would this be o.k. with the forum if I do a [b]WIP-MIKE'S ENGAGEMENT RING PROJECT[/b] on my thread here? She sometimes visits the site, so I wanted to do it in the restricted access area so she wont find out until the right time, (for obvious reasons.) :)
    
    Thanks and look forward to hearing any comments soon
    
    MIKE
#10

Hehe, congratulations in advance! I can’t speak for everybody here but I think it’s a great idea. :thumbsup:

You just have to hope nobody presents her with a CGS membership as a gift or something. :smiley:

#11

Lol! Ehhh… ummmm… yeah! Didn’t think of that… :scream:!!

She’s training to be an accountant, so she has no real interest in this “arty” stuff! :slight_smile: Hopefully that will be my saving grace…

Cheers for the positive feedback btw. :thumbsup:

#12

Hehe, maybe that’s the reason why the goldsmith wanted you to design the ring. :smiley:

#13

Lol! Yeah perhaps… :smiley:

#14

Let’s see a pic of the ring then!

Couple things you may want to think about though–

  1. Try not to make it too large. If it’s too chunky, it can be uncomfortable to wear. This also accounts for any protrusions from the surface. The inside should be flat and the outside area rounded along the Y axis, much more comfortable to wear. The design could be carved into this rounded area.

  2. You’re not going to be able to do anything too elaborate, make it simple. I met someone with a honeycombed ring once and it was beautiful. The honeycombed area was just a few cells in the front and each cell had diamonds in it. You could do something similar.

Come on…show us some concepts!

#15

Hi paperclip,

Thanks for not putting any pressure on me to design this thing well! :scream:

I’m going to talk to the goldsmith on Tuesday and see what she has to say, then on Wednesday and Thursday I will be trying to make some first stabs at a design or three. I will post them up here and see what people think.

This “honeycombed ring” idea sounds interesting, but I cant fully visualise it from your words. Perhaps a rough sketch might be more useful, (hint, hint… :D) for me to go from. I’m scratching about for ideas at the moment - trying to work out what is possible and not. I have some vague ideas of my own, but want to talk to the smith before putting them down on paper.

Thanks for all the advice so far - its a great help!

MIKE

#16

default.rol / Mike :slight_smile:

Welcome to the loony bin / flip side of CGTalk! Hope we don’t frighten you off! :scream:

Looking forward to seeing cool ring designs! :thumbsup:

Still in LA, having fun and recuperating from SIGGRAPH. I actually should have left yesterday, but, hmm, well, I’m happy to stay an extra day (Woo! Disneyland!) and basically catch up with some old friends and fart about LA.

See you around the forum! Welcome! :slight_smile:

~Rebeccak

#17 
      Not as much as I am RebeccaK...  I dont have a clue as yet. :D Been google searching for hours, but only seem to find standard/ uninteresting stuff at the moment to reference off. I Really need to find a custom jewellrey seller site somewhere.

Glad to hear you enjoyed SIGGRAPH, and now Disneyland. I always feel there is something a bit sinister about Disney in these more modern times. I cant put my finger on exactly what it is though. The early stuff was of course awsome, but I could never face visiting the themeparks, even when I was young. Perhaps I am just afraid of giant mice, dogs etc. :shrug:

      MIKE

EDIT:

Oh yeah, I hoped you have saved back $50 for me out of your spending money...  :scream:

rebeccaK’s challenge:

default.rol’s reply:

#18

This is just a general gist of how it looked. You may or may not like this sort of thing…


Please excuse the terrible still life type rendering, it was just a quick sketch!

#19

Paperclip,

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR DOING THIS FOR ME! :thumbsup:

I now understand loads better what you meant. Its amazing that old adage, “A picture paints a thousand words” literally does “paint a thousand words” doesn’t it! :slight_smile: Great quick sketch!

I like the idea, and the concept of a honeycomb across the top of the band inset with diamonds sounds really nice. I will definately be mentioning that one to the goldsmith. Its also made me think a bit more about what is possible.

GREAT!

Thank you Paperclip! :slight_smile:

MIKE

#20

oh yeah , just paperclip’s ideas are fun , :cry::cry:

and i still got this grrreat idea of a glass ring that would entwine
around the finger like a snake and it would be hollow and filled
with the other person’s blood ! coooooollll, huh !!!

and u could reinforce it with metals if u wanted to …

???

.

#21

Hi Squibbit,

Lol! Like I said, I’m open to ideas from the forum for this one… :scream: I would like to see a quick sketch of this idea - to show the goldsmith along with paperclips, just to see what she would say… :smiley:

cheers man - you rock on!

MIKE

#22

My first “throw-away” idea. Took all of about 10 minutes - just to show you guys I am thinking about this… :slight_smile:

I want something lots better than the image below...  just needed to get that first drawing out of my system.

[img]http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/5515/concept18yq.jpg[/img]
#23

I really like that sketch! The pointy bits might hurt/pinch flesh though? Not to nitpick, but you want to make sure it’s super comfy, especially if she’s going to be wearing it for the rest of her life! (A lot of women wear their engagement ring alongside their wedding ring) I like the idea of blending the two different metals together. I may actually post another idea I have for a design later, if you wouldn’t mind? :twisted:

#24 
Hi Paperclip,

I was thinking about those pointy bits myself… don’t want it to be too painful for her to wear! (tho a little pain never hurt anyone… <joke>;))

Will try to get multiple concepts out on here soon, probably in more detail than that last one aswell. (Though I dont want to get too bogged down just yet.)

Please feel free post another ring concept if you have time, I need all the help I can get :D... 

Thank you again - your a great help!

MIKE
#25

Here are some more “first impressions” for ths:

 Done at around 11:45pm GMT,well past my bedtime, while reading a book.  (I am also learning to multi-task at the moment! :D)

EDIT:

Dont know if there are any metallurgists amongst the CGSociety members :slight_smile: but here goes -

Does anyone know if you can electroplate gold? I was dreaming that I had made a ring that looked like white gold, but had a design etched into the surface that exposed the “yellow” gold underneath! It looked well cool!! :scream: I will be asking the goldsmith on Tuesday, but if anyone knows in advance then I would be more than interested.

Cheers

 MIKE
#26

You CAN electroplate gold, but it wears away after a while. (see electroplated silver jewellery, it wears away and looks awful) One option you could use is to use a mould and cast the ring in two stages. I like that idea though, the one of having an etched design. I also like your last design, it’s not as geometric as the previous ones and I think it looks more feminine. You will have to have a deep setting for the diamond though, they are not just glued in you know!!

#27

Wow Paperclip,

You are a mind of information on this topic - have you ever made your own jewellrey? :slight_smile:

My meeting is scheduled for 11am tomorrow with the Goldsmith, and she has got some stuff to show me that she claims will inspire me to new heights, (I hope thats true.)

I will also be taught the basics of ring construction including clasps for the diamond - didn’t know there are so many different ways to hold them things on with - glue sounds loads better! :smiley:

We will see what my next batch of designs look like then.

Thanks for the great C&C so far Paperclip - it is VERY much appreciated. :slight_smile:

MIKE

#28

Just got back from an inspiring morning with the goldsmith. She has shown me loads of really beautiful pieces from around the world, and some of her own works (see images below.)

  [img]http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/5475/francesjuliewhitelaw8xr.jpg[/img]

We are aiming to have this project completed for around the first week in December, so that we have time incase anything “random” happens during the process… :smiley: We went out on to the mean streets of Middlesbrough to look at the engagement rings there and to find out what I liked and disliked. I now know that I DONT want a broad band for the ring, and I am either going for 1 larger, or three smaller diamonds in a claw setting or inset.

We also had a quick “mind mapping” session and had some initial thoughts which I am going to draw up and post here, (and also send to her.)

  Will have these on-line soon (I hope) for the forum to C&C.
  
  MIKE

[b]EDIT[/b]: [i]Costing[/i][u]

Estimated from initial thoughts

[/u]White Gold and Yellow Gold (18 or 22 carat) £150 - 200

Diamond(s) £200 - 400 (depending on the 4 C’s - <cut, carat, colour and clarity>)
Her construction fees £130 - 200 (including Hallmarking)

So it looks like it could be anywhere between £480 - 800, (thats around US$860 - 1,430) depending on what I decide upon. Does that sound reasonable to anyone?