Turkish Puzzle rings

One day long long ago, a Turkish Nobleman was looking at his beautiful wife... thinking.

In his eyes she was by far the fairest of them all.

His heart skipped a beat with every breath she took.

But a restlessnes was creeping up from the depths of his lovestruck heart.

If he could see her divine beauty, so could the rest of the villages men.

Jealousy was rearing it's ugly head, like it does when beauty is strong.

The way this nobleman saw things was: either he takes out all the men in the village's eyes,

or he could devise a way to ensure she is faithfull.

And so he had the local jeweller make a ring to equal his wife's beauty,

but with a twist, if she took it off it

would fall apart, and if she did not know how to put the puzzle rings back together,

he would know she took it off and was posibly unfaithful.

Sounds like a fairy tale. Whether this is the real origins of the turkish puzzle ring is unclear,

but what is clear is that if someone hasn't shown you how to put the puzzle back together, you will struggle.

And they are beautiful, twisted, and if given to someone you intend to spend the rest of your days with, it certainly does symbolize the beautiful puzzle that life in a relationship is.

A couple of months ago, on a Saturday, I had a couple ask me if I can make puzzle rings. At that point I had never. But I told them to come back on the Monday and I would tell them if I could.

Over that weekend I searched the far reaches of google to see if I can find a tutorial. It seems those who know how to make them keep it a very closely guarded secret. The closest to a tutorial I could find was more for the clients benefit and very roughly outlined.

But a deffinite starting point for me. By ten o'clock Monday I had made a silver puzzle ring that even had a setting on for a garnet. Reverse engeneering Reinette Style.

It is hugely satisfying to look at the photos of the puzzle rings I have made, indeed I solved the puzzle of how to make them.

Russian princess, another Cameo and more

Hello again! I guess I need to get into the rythm of

when to post, and how long between posts, but

hey, I am not pretending to be some great blogger, I need to find my way

around it all still. I have been rather

busy, with some very

interesting designs, and some ultra mundane things that I dont really feel like sharing. The ring on the left is part of a whole bunch of things I am making for a new client, who is a lovely Boere- Russian princess. ('Boere' means 'farmer' in Afrikaans, but has been used to describe white South Africans as a whole, but mostly Afrikaans speeking people) Altogether I have enjoyed designing for this lady, we seem to have very similar taste. This ring was made in 9k yellow gold, and contains diamonds. Here are just a few of my work in progress pictures:

And some more pictures of things I am busy with Firstly a Kruger Rand coin frame for the same lady, made from 9k yellow gold, I will post pictures again when it is done.

And then another Cameo setting for one of my longest standing clients, another lovely lady with a selection of collectors jewelry to die for. I made this for her son in Cape Town.

And because I know you love it, some work in progress

pictures. On the second one you can see how I refine the design on the metal, I think better in metal, if that makes any sense.

Delicious Diamonds

A diamond is a piece of coal that managed to give its best under extreme pressure! For those that don’t understand the true significance of why the diamond is the most sought-after, cherished and popular gem world wide, the diamond is a small piece of crystallized carbon that is the hardest substance known to mankind, Right at the top of Moh's scale of hardness, the hardest substance in the world. As far as symbolism goes, the diamond is the perfect symbol for the everlasting love you promise when you get married. It can be past down from generation to generation and after having your great, great aunt spending years scratching in her potato patch, you inherit a diamond in perfect condition.

Before we started using diamonds to cut and polish the diamonds we mined, gem cutters would strike the stones with sharp blades to cleave pieces off, and thus “cut” them.

Once it was reserved for the sole use by kings but now we too can trundle off to our local jeweler to get one of our own. In the space of a year about a tip truck of diamond are mined on earth, of this only about a wheelbarrow are of a good enough quality to be cut and used in the jewellery trade.

In ancient times only when a diamond was freely given was it believed to bestow invulnerability on its wearer. The birth stone of April, it also symbolizes innocence, and when translated to Italian means “lover of God”. The Greek God of Erotic love “Ethos” used them on the tips of his arrows to get people to fall in love.

When purchasing a Diamond of any size larger than a quarter of a carat, please ensure that you are being supplied with a certificate for the particular stone. Not only does this give you a guarantee of the quality and size of stone you are purchasing, but it increases the value of the stone and ensures that you have a precise record of your particular diamond.

Us women have had stars in our eyes about diamonds since we first set our eyes on them, I guess it is the same sparkle we see in diamonds that intrigue us, and convinces us in no uncertain terms that they will bring us happiness.



Some of the most famous diamonds in the world include the Blue Hope diamond (45.52 carats),
the Great Star of Africa (530.20 Carats), the Centenary Diamond (273.85 Carats) and the Regent (140.50 Carats) but those are all stories in themselves, and belong on their very own blogpost.
Thanks for reading!