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So far in 2009, Andrew Nyce Designs has added three new Damascus patterns to the five other patterns that we offer. Art Deco was introduced earlier this year. The Woodcut and Cosmic patterns were introduced in late Summer.
The Art Deco pattern has bold rounded and linear elements that intersect each with other forming modern motifs. Shown below are two rings with the Art Deco pattern: a JET Men’s ring with a black oxide coating (top) and an Embraced Wedding ring with an 18K gold channel.
Woodcut pays homage to the thick, flowing lines of a woodcut print. The pattern also reflects more Earthly forms such as the furrows in a freshly plowed field. Shown below are two Men’s rings with the JET ring sitting atop a BOLD ring. Both rings have the Woodcut pattern and a black oxide coating.
The wider Cosmic pattern mirrors the vast emptiness of space punctuated by striking and beautiful interstellar bodies. Shown below is a JET Men’s ring with the Cosmic pattern and a black oxide coating.
All of these patterns are available for any ring within any of the Andrew Nyce Designs Damascus Collections.
Jewelry Studio Notes (a technical discussion of Andrew’s work on new Damascus patterns)
Woodcut and Art Deco are both produced from the same starting material. We use a stacking arrangement consisting of alternating layers of 316L and 304L stainless steel. This assembly is bonded using a proprietary process. Then, the material is forged into a round bar of a predetermined diameter, twisted, forged into a square and then machined into a round bar. The Art Deco pattern is found on the surface of the round bar. If, after the twisting step, the round bar is forged flat instead of into a square, the result is the Woodcut pattern.
The Cosmic pattern is similar in appearance to both the Wood Grain and Celestial patterns. The starting materials for Cosmic are parallel layers of Damascus that have been twisted to a 70-degree starting angle, forged into a square shape, and then machined into a round bar. Both the Cosmic pattern and subtle variations of the Cosmic pattern are found on the surface of the round bar. From a production standpoint, the Cosmic pattern is an undistorted Wood Grain pattern.
Andrew Nyce Designs has added a new Stainless Steel Mokume composition to our Mokume Gane Men’s ring lineup. Golden Light Mokume is composed of stainless steel and 18K yellow gold. Golden Light Mokume features a stainless steel channel, which is the standard for all Mokume Gane rings in the Men’s Collection.
Andrew’s research in the jewelry studio enabled him to engineer this innovative marriage of precious metal alloy and stainless steel. Like Shadows and Light Mokume, our stainless steel and platinum-enhanced sterling silver composition, Golden Light Mokume is made with a random pattern. Both the Golden Light and Shadows and Light Men’s rings are relief polished with an aggressive abrasive that erodes away the precious metal alloys at a faster rate than either the 316L or 304L Stainless Steel. The result is a contoured relief on the surface of the ring that accentuates the pattern.
The Golden Light Mokume Gane Men’s ring would be a fine accessory for stainless steel and gold watches. Andrew is currently working on a red gold stainless steel Mokume composition that we intend to add to the Men’s Collection by year’s end.
Andrew Nyce Designs announces the launch of a new Collection for our Damascus Stainless Steel rings. For those who prefer a classic, uncomplicated look, the Damascus Essentials Collection is a simple, yet elegant design. The distinctive Damascus pattern is the star of this design and can be seen from all sides of the ring. The Essentials Collection of Damascus rings is a counterpart to our Mokume Essentials Collection.
Rings in the Essentials Collection mirror the look of our JET Damascus Men’s line. However, Essentials rings come in a broader range of widths (from 4mm to 10mm) compared to the JET rings (8mm to 10mm), which are geared toward the wider aesthetics of a men’s ring. Essentials rings also do not have the black oxide coating, which is standard on most of our Men’s rings. The ring profile is typically domed across the top to maintain the rugged beauty of this collection.
The following design options are available for rings in the Damascus Essentials Collection:
Adding a Liner
An inner liner adds to the strength and longevity of the ring and creates a two-dimensional contrast that complements the steel blue-gray of the Damascus band.
Adding a Black Oxide Coating
A black oxide coating creates a striking contrast for the etched surface of the Damascus pattern.
Please note that it is possible to order an Essentials ring with edges only. You must fill out a Custom Quote Form in order to select this option. Edges enable the Damascus band to stand out by framing it either in warm, vibrant colors (yellow or red gold) or cool, distinguished colors (white gold, platinum or palladium). Framing the band with gold, platinum or palladium only adds to its rarity, making it more of an expression of your personality and character.
An exclusive new Stainless Steel Mokume Gane composition, named Shadows and Light, has been developed by Andrew in his studio. The new composition, comprising 40 layers of 316 stainless steel and platinum-enhanced sterling silver, is made using our Contour (random) patterning technique. Rings made with this innovative Mokume composition have been selected to launch Andrew Nyce Designs’ newest line: the Mokume Gane Men’s Collection.
Typically, Mokume Gane utilizes alternating layers of precious metals including gold, platinum, palladium and silver alloys. Traditional Japanese Mokume Gane was made by combining various copper alloys. Other metals and alloys have been incorporated into modern Mokume compositions. However, Andrew is the first metalsmith to successfully marry 316 stainless steel with precious metals through the use of solid-state diffusion bonding, hot forging, and cold rolling.
Andrew Nyce Designs plans to expand its line of Stainless Steel Mokume Gane with an 18K yellow gold and 316 stainless steel Mokume composition. The new composition will be introduced in Fall 2009 as part of the Mokume Men’s Collection. It also will feature a stainless steel channel which is the standard for all Mokume Gane rings in the Men’s Collection.
Our new Mokume Men’s rings marry the ancient Japanese metalworking art of Mokume Gane with the craftsmanship of Damascus Steel. The origin of both these techniques is rooted firmly in swordmaking. Mokume Gane Men’s rings offer the strength and fortitude that mirror their history.
Jewelry Studio Notes (a technical discussion of Andrew’s work on Stainless Steel Mokume)
Leading up to his new development, Andrew reviewed the current research that touched upon a stainless steel and precious metal Mokume. In 2004, Jim Binnion demonstrated that 22K gold and pure iron as well as platinum and pure iron could be bonded and subsequently processed into twist patterned Mokume Gane rings. However, in his 2002 book “Mokume Gane”, Ian Ferguson stated that the fine silver and stainless steel Mokume Gane is not at all malleable: microscopic examination showed massive disintegration of the stainless steel layers. According to Ferguson, “in this respect, it cannot be considered a true Mokume Gane at all, as the pattern cannot be controlled. It must be deformed red hot using a power hammer and must be hot rolled, it requires; it requires frequent annealing, there is massive extrusion of the fine silver at the edges and often tearing through the sheet. It presents an interesting natural disintegrated pattern and can be patinated in a range of colors. Due to forming difficulties, it is recommended to use the material in the flat form.”
According to Andrew, “this prior work painted a very discouraging backdrop against which I attempted to bond 316 stainless steel to precious metal alloys. Binnion’s work using pure iron is impressive, but his results do not suggest that bonding 316 stainless steel would be possible. Pure iron is very soft and unlike 316 stainless does not form any oxides that would impede bonding. Stainless steel, on the other hand, forms a tough chromium oxide layer that makes solid state diffusion bonding problematic.”
Nevertheless, Andrew was able to use the metallurgical principles to successfully bond 316 stainless steel to platinum-enhanced sterling silver as well as to 18K yellow gold. “The melting points of the sterling silver and the 18K yellow gold were critical to the success of bonding with the 316 stainless steel. The annealing temperature of the 316 stainless steel/18K yellow gold and the 316 stainless steel/Sterling in between cold pressing and cold rolling must be high enough to anneal the 316 stainless steel, but not to melt the sterling silver or the 18K yellow gold. Metallurgical phase diagrams were used to determine feasibility of diffusion bonding and to determine whether any low melting phase would form during processing. Cold and hot forging along with cold rolling were successfully employed in producing both contour patterned Mokume Gane compositions.”
“I am currently testing these materials for use in making twist-patterned Mokume Gane. The use of carbon-containing protective atmospheres was shown to be a problem that was solved by “canning” the Mokume during annealing and hot forging. The bonded 316 Stainless steel and 18K yellow gold and 316 stainless steel and platinum-enhanced sterling silver could be cold rolled by as much as 15% between anneals without bond failure.”
These new Stainless Steel Mokume Gane compositions have the following advantages:
- They are inherently more wear-resistant because of the 316 stainless steel
- The 316 stainless steel imparts a color similar to platinum, but a luster that is richer
- A black oxide coating can be applied to the 316 stainless steel for added contrast
- They are potentially less expensive than a 14K palladium white gold and sterling silver Mokume composition
- The ability to etch either the 316 stainless or the sterling silver (Shadows and Light Mokume)
The potential cost savings, compared to typical precious metal Mokume Gane compositions, will depend upon our ability to find a company who can refine Mokume Gane compositions containing stainless steel. One refiner has turned us down, but another refiner has indicated that they will evaluate the feasibility of refining our scrap. If we cannot find refiners who are able to do this, Andrew Nyce Designs is committed to developing the technology ourselves.
Andrew Nyce Designs is now offering a new, lower cost version of our Ashes and Snow Mokume. Ashes and Snow Mokume comprises alternating layers of precious metals; specifically, layers of 950 platinum, 14K palladium white gold, and platinum-enhanced sterling silver. The new version substitutes 950 palladium for 950 platinum and 3% palladium sterling silver for platinum-enhanced sterling silver.
Normally, Ashes and Snow Mokume requires more time to make because of the number of steps and time involved in bonding the platinum layers to the platinum-enhanced sterling silver layers. Platinum has a much lower thermal expansion than sterling silver and if the Mokume is cooled too rapidly, the bonds break. Therefore, it is necessary to cool this Mokume composition very slowly after each annealing and forging step (Binnion, Nyce and Grice, Santa Fe Symposium, 2006). Bonding 950 palladium to sterling silver is not at all difficult and has been done by other Mokume artists so this is a logical extension of the prior art and lowers the cost of our Ashes and Snow Mokume.
We will continue to offer both versions of Ashes and Snow Mokume. Both versions will be available in all of our Twist (pictured above), Contour, and Banded pattern Mokume wedding and engagement rings.
Platinum is a luxury metal and has been extensively marketed by the Platinum Guild as the metal to use in engagement and wedding rings. In recent years, it has become the metal of choice for couples getting married. However, in 2008, when the price of platinum topped $2200 per troy ounce, a number of precious metal companies began developing and marketing palladium alloys to replace platinum as the metal of choice for wedding rings; they have been very successful.
Platinum has a higher density than any other precious metal, does not tarnish, and has a beautiful luster. Palladium is in the Platinum Group metals and it’s color, luster, and mechanical properties are similar to platinum. The main difference between platinum and palladium is their respective densities (21.46 grams per cubic centimeter for platinum vs 12.023 grams per cubic centimeter for palladium). Platinum rings feel much heavier than palladium rings. But, in our Mokume compositions, these density differences are not quite as noticeable.
Price is another divergent factor. For reference, the spot price of platinum on August 19, 2009 was nearly fives times higher than palladium ($1221 vs. $268). The price difference between the two versions of Ashes and Snow Mokume, now known as Ashes and Snow – Platinum and Ashes and Snow – Palladium, is significant. So, for those watching their wedding and engagement budgets, this new composition makes economic sense. Request a quote on both Ashes and Snow compositions and compare for yourself.
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