seat of the student
it's been three years taking the seat of the student at forge & form, I've had an abundance of unfiltered education offered my way that I never anticipated. I learned to follow my instinct with each project, I learned to carefully listen to my guru as he guided me through each motion; in every mistake came a lesson, in every challenge came an outcome. I also learned to delicately handle customers, study their requests and familiarize myself with the daily rituals of running a workshop showroom in one of the most visited tourist attractions of Vancouver - Granville Island. However, I never quite expected creating a piece like I did this week!
this stunning bespoke piece is unlike any prior for me, she is a traditional design by my mentor Jürgen. I cannot take credit of her originality, I can however take full credit of her birth/composition.
her magnificence began with a unique alchemy of 58.5 (14k) white gold, forged, formed and finished to a flawless sheen, topped with a brilliant cut pink sapphire perched within her channel setting.
I have honed my skills for my three favorite gold alloys (dark yellow gold, red orange gold & green gold); but white gold is unfamiliar to me, her alchemy is made up of a destinctive mixture of pure gold, zinc, nikel & copper and not an alloy I was drawn to for the pure reason of being warned of her difficulty (hardness) to work with. Something changed in december, a customer's heart was set on a white gold sapphire ring, and so a new endeavor of studying this alloy and her dynamics challenged me, and the master once again guided the student towards her first white gold complex piece.
although she signifies a new journey to the strong soul that she was created for, she also played an integral part in finalizing my apprenticeship with Jürgen (but I'm not quite leaving him yet folks!)
the process is referred to as traditional goldsmithing (forging) and I slightly 'cheat' with a rolling mill along with a few other little tricks of handy tools but its all about the fire, hammers, files, precision, good ol' fashioned time accompanied with patience and some cuss words thrown in! and in the grand sceme of things, admitting that this beauty was an absolute gem to work with ♥
In the seat of the student, forever xo O
a tiny glimpse of the birth of this stellar ring:
january 2018
