Rings for the finger

by George Frederick Kunz

SUCCESSIVE STAGES IN THE FORMATION OF A RING (MACHINE MADE) FROM THE SHAPED, BENT, UNORNAMENTED BAR TO THE FINISHED RING

In most cases when striking a signet-ring, the top is not cut out entirely. The gold backing of the stone is left, and the head of the ring is struck with a concave space so that when the two sides are brought down the space will remain flat. For transparent stones, the top is cut out of the setting entirely. When the rings are finally completed they are cleaned by what is known as a stripping wheel, the reverse of a plating wheel, which removes all the fire-markings, and all the other impurities that exist, leaving the metal clean.

The rings are then polished by rapidly revolving wheels of hair,—at times, of other materials. After this, the stones are set. If the rings need engraving, they are then passed to an engraver and are finally polished, leaving the metal entirely finished.

In former times, and now also, by hand methods one man would frequently make an entire ring. By modern methods, the ring passes through the hands of a number of workers: first, the blank-maker, then in succession the man who operates the drop press, the jeweller, the stone setter, the engraver, and finally, the polisher.

As to the statistics of ring-making, with the great demand throughout the United States a single factory has produced 3,000,000 rings a year, some selling for less than $1.00 each, and on up to $5.00 and $10.00 each; very occasionally for higher prices, up to $50.00 or $60.00. Recently to fill an order for a chain of popular shops, this factory turned out 2,000,000 rings to be sold at ten cents apiece. In the region of Providence, Rhode Island, and the nearby Attleboro, Mass., the total value of the annual ring output, which gives employment to some two thousand persons, is put at $5,000,000. In a factory of the largest kind, frequently the various parts for making up a ring may be kept in small boxes, because a stamper, in making an intricate ring, is able to produce more in one day than a jeweller can finish in a week. In simple rings, however, the jeweller finishes as many rings as the stamper can produce in a day.

There is no piece of jewellery that is more generally worn nor whose possession causes more joy, than a finger ring. And the proper fitting of a ring for comfort in wearing it, or to prevent its loss, which frequently would be looked upon almost as a calamity, is something that can be attained by careful adjustment to the proper size. Many fingers taper forward. In other fingers, the knuckle is very large and the third joint much smaller than the knuckle. Where the finger tapers from the joint at the hand to the tip it is frequently difficult to make a ring hold properly. But this can be done by wearing a tiny guard ring. In cases where the finger is much smaller between the third and fourth joint the ring will turn around, which is not only uncomfortable but makes the ornaments fail to show properly. This can be prevented by having the hoop penannular in shape, or by the addition of an internal spring.

To prevent the rubbing together of two rings worn on the same finger, and the resulting attrition, which in the lapse of years sometimes wears down a gold ring until the hoop becomes so thin that it may crack, a simple device has been patented. This is a narrow circlet which may be made of ivory or any other suitable material. It has a thin vertical flange just high enough to interpose between the rings that are to be kept apart, and two horizontal flanges to pass beneath the hoops of the rings.

To protect two rings from rubbing against each other, an exceedingly narrow gold circlet is worn between them. Where there is risk that a hard stone in one ring will come in contact with a pearl in the other, or a diamond with any other stone, necessarily softer, one or more very small beads are welded on that part of the hoop nearest to the setting. In cases where a treasured ring has worn almost to the thinness of paper, it is possible to strengthen it by adding gold at either side of the hoop.

THE “ALLEN RING GAUGE”