Abest Jewelry Design and Layout

There are predominately two factors that will influence the design of a piece of jewelry. In some cases, the gemstones are the emphasis and we design around the stones. In other cases there is a theme, such as this dragonfly. Here, the design of the dragonfly dictates which gemstones and materials are needed. In this first phase, the sketch and sapphires are laid onto the drawing to determine scale. Working sketches like this are often vague and are only basic layouts to explore feasibility and use of materials.

Crafting Jewelry From Drawing

Here is the finished conceptual drawing of a very elaborate sapphire and diamond dragonfly. In this illustration, you can see that the working sketch features only enough detail to guide the craftsmen through the project. The final product is the work of art.

Finished Plique a Jour Dragonfly

The sketches above may appear vague; however, they were all that were necessary for Jewelry Designs’ artisans to create this life size sapphire and diamond dragonfly. The stones are set in platinum and 18kt gold. The wings are laced with plique-a-jour enamel. This piece has appeared on the Today Show on two occasions, and was a feature attraction at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.

Detail Jewelry Sketching

In this sketch, the gemstone is the driving force behind the design. This drawing serves two purposes: the first is to help the customer to visualize the final product, the second is to guide the artisans as they craft the piece. In this situation, we can show the client a basic color rendition of the concept before the jewelers create the necklace.

Custom Tanzanite Necklace

The tanzanite necklace in this illustration features a top gem grade 19ct tanzanite elegantly surrounded by fine top gem white diamonds. Once again, it is evident that the sketch served only as a guideline for our designers. The real masterpiece is the final product.

CAD Design Jewelry

This rough sketch outlines the basic concept and the intended use of materials for our CAD designers. From the drawing they can see the intentions of the designer, and discuss feasibility and style before a computer-aided design model is started. At this stage the design can be easily modified to accommodate any style, durability, or tooling issues that the design team foresees.

CAD Engagement Ring

On this builder screen, the project is well under way. Stones are simulated to enable the operator to lay out exact tolerances for our stone setters. The computer is not the designer. It is a tool used to establish exact tolerances while our artists manipulate the program to stylize the forms that we conceive. Through computer-aided design, the technicians apply these tolerances to the setting to accommodate each of the small stones.

Finished CAD Jewelry Model

In this illustration, you can see the finished CAD model ready for milling. Our computer-aided design will be programmed into our milling machines and the model will be replicated in wax. After the wax is milled, our wax model makers will finish the carving process by carving the areas that the mill could not reach. The final wax model will be cast in platinum through the lost wax process.

Jewelry Rendering

From our finished CAD model we can render a photo-like image to simulate the appearance of the final ring. This computer rendition will enable designers and customers to visualize the final project.

CAD Diamond Ring

The finished ring was cast in platinum featuring a gem grade diamond weighing 3.09ct. The precision milling of wax was made possible through computer-automated design, but the elaborate hand-work, tooling, and diamond setting was done in the way of old world craftsmen.