Gold Belcher Sleeved In Silver
This ring needed to be sized down to fit a smaller finger and when faced with a size down, there’s two options: cut a section from the bottom of the band and solder the joint again, or create more material on the inside in order to bring the internal dimension to the desired size. The benefit of the first is it’s a fairly simple procedure. The downside to this option is you lose a small amount of material each time you do this, creating a smaller ring overall.
To avoid this something like a sleeve is a very good option. The sleeve can be made from any material and is often held as a desirable design choice when different colored metals are employed to create a two tone look. For this project the customer and I decided a silver sleeve was not only the most cost effective direction but would be more aesthetically pleasing and would also be entirely reversible if something changed down the line.
To begin I measured the ring in it’s current dimension and the size required after the process. This information is used when selecting the thickness of the silver sleeve to be used. The silver is bent round to form a tube shape and cut to length. The ends are filed carefully to ensure a tight joint and the ends soldered together. It’s at this point when the now silver tube is placed inside the ring and stretched from the inside using a ring mandrel to be a tight fit to the ring.
From here the excess material is trimmed from the sleeve so that it’s near it’s final shape once rolled. To roll the edges the ring must be held from the inside so the edge can be hammered over. For this, a special expanding ring mandrel was made from brass stock on the lathe to fit the exact diameter of the inside of the ring. This snug fit is essential to creating a positive connection for hammering. From there the edge of the silver is hit from the inside to begin bending it over and further locking the sleeve in place.
Once both sides are bent around the ring it must be filed and sanded to create a nearly seamless transition between the sleeve and base material. After filing the ring is sanded and buffed to ensure it’s completely smooth. It’s at this point where any final stretching would take place to ensure the ring is to spec and it’s off to the customer.
