Hand-carved rings: how Maria carves wax and gold

Look closely at a hand-carved ring from the studio and you’ll find the tiny marks of each cut, left where Maria’s tools met the wax or the gold. Her leaves unfurl under the bench scope, each one a little different from its sisters. We sat down with Maria to hear how a leaf finds its way onto a ring.

"Wax carvings begin on the bench from a little round tube of wax, which I hack away at with a wax saw before carving away the inside to get the correct ring size for casting. I mostly remove wax instead of adding it, unless a spot breaks or needs to be built up more for metal tolerance or to achieve a certain look.

The bands of the rings are what I carve the most, not the settings for the stones. I like to have those created in CAD programs after the stones are scanned into the program, so we can get as close and snug a setting to the exact stone as possible."

"After all the waxes are finished casting, I will carve into each and every one of them to add in even more details or re-sharpen the textures that may have been muddled by casting. No setting or amulet escapes my burrs at the bench."

"The creation journey of each piece depends on what we're wanting to achieve. Super precise and thin settings will be created in CAD entirely before being carved into at the bench, whereas more organic settings like the Inverness or the Hinterland will begin as hand-carved waxes.

Settings like the Spire Signet will be cast and then completely changed through my carving directly into the gold, though each one will be cast with raised lines I use as guidelines for where the carving should go. Carving directly into the gold has less room for oopsies, but the effect it gives the gold is so crisp and lush."

"I adore that each one is completely true to itself and unique. I don't think I could make something exactly precise and perfect if I tried with leaves, and I love that they look better because they're not perfect.

I love when the worst portion of the carving begins to blend with the best part and I can't tell which was what. That's when the magic starts to happen under the bench scope."

"I learned a bit of wax carving from the two goldsmiths I apprenticed under. They were absolutely phenomenal, but between all the sizings and polishings I was doing, we didn't do much wax carving. It's been many years now of trial and error at the bench, and I'm just now beginning to know what works best for my creations, even after nearly 15 years."

Send us a note at thenorthwaystudio@gmail.com. Tell us which setting has caught your eye and the leaves, ferns or sigils you'd love to see carved into it. Photos of our work that have inspired you are always welcome. From there, we'll talk through what's possible together.