Lost Wax Casting Jewelry Class: Rings

I finally learned to make RINGS in my lost wax casting jewelry class! I adore rings and have been waiting ever so patiently. Here are my first two:

The process of making rings is similar to the sculpting I've been doing, but you use a mandrel (a ring sizer, shown below) to build off of. A flat piece of wax is wrapped around the size of your choosing and the red wax is then dripped on and built up until it is the desired thickness. You can then use a series of tools to add texture, cut our shapes, etc. or continue building wax drop by drop until a shape is formed.

These rings took me hours days to complete. Especially the delicate one, it broke many times in the process and took forever to make it symmetrical. It's still not perfect, but that is the beauty of working with wax. The imperfections show through making each piece a unique work of art.

The image on the left is the wax model that I carved by hand.
It was then cast into sterling silver at a foundry.

The gratification and awe of holding a piece of metal in my hand, that used to be a fragile piece of wax, is unreal. I made these! And they will last forever! It's quite amazing.

PLANS: I am signed up for the advanced class in a few weeks and am going to start working on a collection of pieces that I will mold/duplicate to sell.