jewellery article

The Hunt For Unusual Wedding Rings – A Bride’s Story.

If you are about to become a bride, this story may mean something for you. Jane and her fiance Mark were planning their wedding, and like most couples, they wanted to celebrate their marriage as something special. They decided they wanted their wedding and marriage to be unique. Yes their day would be special, their vows important, but they felt their weddings rings would be an everlasting symbol embracing how they felt.

They both wanted unique wedding rings, but unique is easy! They discovered there were many jewellers in Kent, where they lived, who could make unique jewellery, but Jane and Mark were looking for unusual wedding rings, not just unique. The problem was that whilst the overall design might be unique, the rings they went to see were still made out of gold, silver, white gold or platinum with just a bit of engraving and a jem or two as their claim to uniqueness. It was all basically running along the same old tracks.

Jane and Mark then turned their attention to contemporary, non-precious designer wedding rings, but they didn’t seem to have the enduring qualities they were hoping for. After all, they were planning on wearing their wedding rings for many years to come.

During their search for unusual wedding rings they discovered Mokume-Gane jewellery. It was stunning! Mokume-Gane, or ‘wood grain metals’ is a technique used to forge metals. Although no-one knows when precisely the Mokume gane technique began, history does tell us it was first developed by skilled Japanese metal-smiths that worked with Silver, Copper and occasionally Gold. It was this history which added at the touch of romance they were looking for.

By layering and fusing blocks of metals and then heating in specially designed forges, ancient jewellers perfected the art of creating intricate and unique patterns within the tablet of metal. A skilled jeweller can create exciting colours and patterns, and it is this which makes each Mokume Gane jewellery piece unique.

Today the Mokume gane technique is unchanged, but craftsmen have married this ancient art form with modern metallurgy by adapting it to be used with precious metals like Platinum, Gold, Palladium and Silver.

To give you the full impact, I have included a link to a photo album of Mokume gane jewellery at the bottom of this article. When you see the pictures, I’m sure you’ll understand why Jane and Mark set their heart on getting their designer wedding rings made created by a Mokume gane jeweller.

The skill in creating Mokume Gane comes from knowing how the different layers of metals in their unforged form will be transformed, to create the final pattern. Our bride and groom to-be were fascinated to see how many steps it took, and how the Mokume gane jeweller needed to envision exactly how the colours and patterns would emerge from the different metals which are layered and forged together.

The skill, and time which go into this complex technique to create the perfect Mokume gane jewllery piece, means that you should expect to pay that little bit extra and Jane and Mark felt the captivating results were well worth it.

What really decided them however, was that both of their unique and unusual wedding rings would be created from single piece. They would truly be a stylish and everlasting symbol of the special bond they felt.

Jane and Mark do have some advice for other couples thinking of getting designer wedding rings made using the Mokume Gane technique, and that is to allow enough time to explore the possibilities with your jeweller. There are infinite combinations, and your Mokume gane jeweller will want to get it perfect for you. These designs go way beyond what you might be expecting when you set out to find unusual wedding rings and it is part of the experience of creating your wedding, and your wedding rings, and you should cherish taking this time.

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