LOVE RING: This is no statement piece. It’s a declaration!

There was a terribly clever ring that came out of the workshop not too long ago – one we’ve been really meaning to share, but alas with a long run of holidays, events, (and perhaps a little procrastination), a quality post for this innovative piece had been regretfully delayed. So, while Valentine ’s Day has now come and gone for most, the chocolates have been unwrapped and flowers bide what little time they have left in water, Green Lake is still decked-out with its seasonal accouterments:  Hearts, displays, and quails of Cupid arrows. Which, in passing through the shop today, reminded me…“Hey, what about that crazy love ring?”

‘L-O-V-E,’ cast and polished into a wedding set sure to attract a lifetime of curious commentary. But perhaps even more unique to this custom piece is  the client who wholly conceptualized and designed it himself – while on a boat at sea (an aircraft carrier to be exact). It definitely marked a first for Green Lake; where not only was the job collaborated on from start to finish online, but the customer wasn’t even on dry land. (It opens up all sorts of ambitious opportunities for us as a shop, where some are already talking about designing rings for people in space…!)

Now, we’re accustomed to customers, both online and in-store, who have some bold ideas. Yet many only have but a few broad strokes of what they want in mind, and need a lot from us to fill in (e.g., the size of things, what gemstones to use, or metals look best). That’s really our job and it’s why we’re here. Though this particular customer required no help on the details: He had it all planned out to the millimeter, providing Green Lake designer Shelly Sutton with something more like schematics than rough sketches.

This customer had given his concept for wedding rings considerate time and creative talent.

The idea was pretty straight forward: Two rings that could be worn separately but when interlocked perfectly together communicated the treasured sentiment, ‘I love you.’ But making the metal pieces fit, hold the gemstones tightly, and sit nicely on the finger all required a bit of testing in both a virtual 3D environment, as well as with a physical model grow in resin.

Using state-of-the-art CAD software, the ring is reimagined in how it will perform with daily wear – calling in this case for a sturdier shank to protect against bending or warping over time.

Grown in-house with a 3D printer, these resin models serve as replicas of the finished piece and are used in the casting process to produce the final iteration in precious metal.

Cast in 14K white gold and set with a stunning 1.75ct marquis-cut diamond this ring turned out to be as big of a statement as it is in size, weighing in together at an approximate 36dwts of gold (compared to an average 3dwts for a typical diamond solitare). As unique as the wearers, this wedding set is unquestionably custom!

VOLUME 2: How one custom made ring can inspire another

Here comes the second installment of Green Lake’s process videos. This one shows how a ring we collaborated on in the past can still serve as potent inspiration for a new original. See how one custom designed wedding ring lends new direction and likable design cues to another:

GREEN LAKE: We’re ready for our close up!

NEW INDUSTRY BLOG: Jewelry Relish

Eric, an Artist here at Green Lake, has put up a pretty cool blog that will focus on some of the more interesting in’s and out’s of the custom jewelry world. If you’re thinking about making a custom piece, I think this blog lends both information and inspiration. Check ‘em out: http://jewelryrelish.com/

GREEN LAKE GIVES: Local school that teaches across the autism spectrum receives big support at fundraiser auction

Seattle’s Academy for Precision Learning recently hosted their annual charitable auction to raise funds for their unique program which caters to both typically developing children as well as those students across the spectrum of autism.

The evening event took place at Seattle’s premier waterfront convention center, the Bell Harbor.

For the event, Green Lake gifted an original 14k white gold and diamond  pendent. As with many of the charitable organizations Green Lake continually supports (such as Get Hitched Give Hope),  our designers pay special attention to the purpose of the piece to be auctioned – what is stands for, and what it’s intended to help with. For this piece, the interconnection of leaves represents a network of support and transfer of knowledge; qualities which mark a strong and successful center for education.

An original 14k white gold and diamond pendent reflective of both Green Lake’s identity as well as the goals of the APL school.

All and all we are happy it was a successful evening for the school and wish them and especially their students all the best in 2012!

To find out more about the Academy for Precision Learning, visit their website at www.apl.org

VOLUME 1: Rough casting to finished piece

How is a rough metal casting turned into a glimmering thing of beauty? Well, check it out:

GREEN LAKE VISITS CHINA: Owner Jim Tuttle connects with local silversmiths

When one of my key people in the shop up and moved to China with her husband who was working on an extended project there, I arranged for her to work and design with the Seattle shop remotely. That was no big deal – keeping talented people who really know their stuff in the Green Lake family continues as one of my biggest priorities. But since this person was literally family, my daughter, not having her in the day-to-day business was starting to bum me out. So I flew out for a visit…

Her Shanghai home was tucked into a megatropolis of vibrant bright lights and awe-inspiring sci-fi skylines. But with so much hustle and bustle, I was starting to get a slight ringing in my ears and it was time to hit the quieter surrounding countryside. We headed out to Tongli, a picturesque canal town that can only be described as the ‘Venice of the East.’

There we found a narrow back alley of artisan metalsmiths – my kind of town! One silversmith and hand engraver, named Feng Linhao, was happy to let me have a hand at what he was working on. I thought it would be easy. It wasn’t.

I thought it was pretty darn cool I was working at this tiny bench in a metalsmith’s shop in the Chinese countryside. The little girl pictured in the background, however, clearly thought her Yo Gabba Gabba show was much cooler than me.

With so many of the precision tools we’re accustomed to within the shop, it’s easy to forget how these things were originally made hundreds of years ago – all with crude tools and steady hands. It’s amazing! Setting precious gemstones into platinum is no easy feat either, don’t get me wrong, but getting my hands dirty in an old world craft brought home the skill this man was very capable of too. His engraving was top notch and I can appreciate the time he put into the center piece of his shop. Of course, I had to buy it!

This place was full of so much life and color. China may never be a place that will fit with our business model – but, man, it will make it on my travel itinerary again!

In the end, I returned to the shop. Not long after that my daughter did to. And as for that engraver Feng – not that he’d want to move, but we got to get him out here! Ha, ha…

PICKING UP SALES ONLINE: MJSA’s Custom Jeweler Magazine puts the Green Lake experience on the front page

For a local Seattle shop of primarily jewelers and craftsmen, developing a quality online custom jewelry experience required a lot of homework, tenacity, and a do-it-yourself mentality.  MJSA’s Custom Jeweler magazine recently highlighted the unique and personal approach to collaborating with out of state (and sometimes out of country) clients online – a body which is fast accounting for over a third of our local shop’s overall clientele.

MJSA’s reporting of Green Lake’s web interface describes it as a site which makes designing a custom ring simplified, but moreover, respectively personal.

Read more at the MJSA Custom Jeweler site. 

STATEMENT PIECE: Green Lake Designer Tomas Wittelsbach crafts wearable sculptures

Green Lake Designer Tomas Wittelsbach

A master sculptor and veteran of some of Hollywood’s most celebrated costume and set designs, Tomas Wittelsbach blends cutting-edge technology and a traditional sense of old-world craftsmanship into his fantastically detailed works here at Green Lake. Though much of his present focus is on a new line that plays on more delicate, feminine pieces which boast wild colored gemstones, it was this kind of burly skull ring which originally caught the eye of Green Lake’s founder Jim Tuttle.

“The level of detail he was using in these crazy Mexican Dia de los Muertos-inspired rings was really catching – and not only on a style sense, but for me, on a technical level. Getting something as crisp and intricate as his work display’s is no easy feat. I figured, if I had to have one, others may want one too – and his design aesthetic would be a great fit here in Seattle.”

Various skull-rings that each tell a different story; from bad voodoo accessories to post-apocalyptic chic. In sterling silver, these rings which are currently available range from $500-$700 (which represents a fun and accessible purchase in comparison to Tomas’ pieces in more precious metals that run $10,000-15,000).

If his designs come off like works of fantasy or seem eerily reminiscent of the darker inclinations seen in a Tim Burton film, it’s no coincidence. Tomas had a hand in several momentous projects that ranged from sculpting the serrated edges of the Batmobile to the grimy loot tossed about in Pirates of the Caribbean.

His approach represents a definite departure from Green Lake’s traditional offering of immaculate bridal pieces cast in platinum and encrusted in diamonds – yet speaks to an important group of non-traditional clients out there; those who would consult offbeatbride.com over Martha Stewart in planning their nuptials any day. While it’s unlikely a skull ring would make its way onto a ring bearer’s pillow, their counter-cultural appeal still serves as some potent inspiration for getting something just as custom.

So enamored with his ring’s complexity and accurate reflection of personal style, one fellow Green Lake designer took his custom skull out sightseeing.

Because these skull rings maintain their own one-of-a-kind character and represent something especially personal about the people who wear them, it’s been a tempting splurge amongst Green Lake’s design team to get one of their very own. They’re certainly a statement piece, and we look forward to seeing Tomas’ new line of bridal jewelry flourish with an equal amount of beautiful obscurity!

HOW TO GROW A RING: Green Lake prints jewelry in 3D

A recent TED Talk on trends in how things are made from Digital Forming’s CEO Lisa Harouni discussed the future democratization of 3D printing:  Digital data-fed machines that rapidly ‘grow’ physical replicas of virtual models microscopic layer by layer. Beyond the purposes of prototyping product innovations and scale models, 3D printing technology is enabling the quick and efficient production of designs-on-demand; creating totally custom, ‘just-one-of,’ personal creations.

And we’re not just talking about configuring something out of predefined parts and assemblies to somewhat reflect a personal style, as is presently done with cars and sneakers – we mean things that are made one time only, for really just one person only, and done so at a reasonable cost and convenience.

Grown in batches, X,Y, and Z axis information is formed with intricate exactitude.

Jewelry is an especially personal object, and as such, this kind of product customization continues to thrive in the industry. As Green Lake was originally founded in the idea that fine jewelry can (and should) be completely customizable at a reasonable cost,technology has been integrated and leveraged greatly within our shop.

Green Lake employs state-of-the-art 3d printing technology to create one-of-a-kind jewelry with unmatched detail.

How rings are made: Traditionally, blocks of wax were carved by hand into ring shapes and encased in plaster that was exposed to heat, where the wax was melted out to reveal hollow spaces with matched complexity. Those spaces were filled with hot metal to cool, and then finally a ring in precious metal would be revealed. Lost wax casting is ancient art used in very much the same way today.

Redefining the way things were made, especially jewelry, 3D computer aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technologies allowed for fast transfer of digital data detailing any given X,Y,and Z axis of a 3D model to a milling machine, which essentially removed excess material from a block of wax to reveal a shape in the same fashion an old-world craftsmen would have – only with significantly more precision and efficiency.

Still, contemporary CAD/CAM set-ups can only get so detailed in their carving of materials like hardened wax, and only so minute.  Rather than removing material, this new wave of growing models layer by layer in a 3D priniting environment achieves a crispness of detail and complexity that an artist may otherwise only be able to accomplish in a virtual environment – and let alone offer for a reasonable price.

Palladium ring featuring a black diamond and Nouveau raised patterns. The delicate detail in this piece that was cast from a grown model is evident in comparison to its demure dime-sized stature.

Assuredly, at Green Lake we take on projects that call for all types of wax model creation – from the old time-tested hand carving method to the efficiency of CAD/CAM technologies. We do it all. But 3D produces unprecedented precision, making some ideas that could have only existed in the mind, just as beautiful on the hand.

And while something so finite and mechanical can surprisingly produce pieces so romantically nuanced, we still have a hard time believing the dinner that might be printed in the future will be romantic at all…