subject: "Gilding the Lily": Adding Meaning to Your Handmade Silver Ring [print this page] Although most of us have a native fondness for our handmade silver rings whether we purchased them ourselves or received them as gifts we tend to favour those handmade silver rings that have a "story" behind them. One of the most enduring, and beautiful, ways to immortalize such a story is by engraving a handmade silver ring with some synecdoche representation of the story or memory.
A handmade silver ring can be purchased already engraved such as a ring bearing a letter of the alphabet signifying your name or the name of someone you love or you can have it engraved. Handmade silver rings are often engraved with a name or initials, a date, a symbol, or a word or short phrase meaningful to the wearer. Among the words and phrases commonly etched on handmade silver rings especially engagement and wedding rings are "eternity", "I love you", "love everlasting", and "forever".
Two forms of engraving exist: by hand, or by machine. If you order a handmade silver ring to be specially made with engraving, the jeweller will engrave the band of the ring while it is still in a flat shape, before twisting it into a circular band. Hand-engraving is done using a small, chisel-like tool known as a graver. Different-shaped points for the graver enable the jeweller to make different types of marking on the inside of your handmade silver ring.
Engraving by machine is a power-dependent process based on a template or computer mock-up. After you've chosen an inscription or design, your handmade silver ring is placed inside an engraving machine, which automatically forms the appropriate letters and shapes.
Although hand engraving is more expensive than engraving by machine, both are usually priced according to the number of letters used or the intricacy of the design. Monogramming a handmade silver ring will thus be less expensive than engraving it with a long inscription of with hearts and flowers.
Whichever process you choose to engrave your handmade silver ring, ensure the professionalism and reputation of the engraver or jewellery store, by asking to see samples of previous work.
"Gilding the Lily": Adding Meaning to Your Handmade Silver Ring
