Rotating Bezel Rings

The desire to encircle the fingers with symbols of love, loyalty, and power is an ancient tradition dating back thousands of years. Whether they are mementos of commitment to another or to oneself, rings are the most personal and coveted of adornments.

And what could be more fun than a ring that is also a toy?! In this virtual course, participants will create a unique, kinetic ring with a rotating or reversible bezel, inspired by ancient Egyptian and Roman rings. In antiquity these rings were used as seals or given as gifts to commemorate historic events. In addition to learning the fabrication process and mechanical construction for the moving parts, students will learn different surface design techniques, such as wire granulation and one-of-a-kind intaglio roller printing to make this style of ring your own. Intermediate experience fabricating and soldering with a torch are required.

This course will consist of two sessions. There will be a no-class day between each session.

There is an Open Studio Hour at 12:00PM Eastern Time on the no-class day (3/10/21).

Class will be held live via Zoom during the designated time frame. A link to the Zoom room will be sent via email. 

Each session will be recorded and you will receive a password protected link to the recordings that expire after 30 days.

Please read the Materials & Tools tab! 

Meet the instructor

photo of

Victoria Lansford works across multiple artistic media and is best described as a “one woman, big city, symphony orchestra.” Lansford has spent over 40 years working in the visual, literary, and performing arts to paint with fire, forge with words, and choreograph with color, line, and texture. Her award winning and genre busting art and fine craft combines centuries old techniques with cutting edge technology to create artwork that ranges in scale from wearable to hangable to architectural. Her painstakingly intricate art is made from precious metals, gemstones, ink, paint, skins, paper, hammers, punches, pliers, gravers, brushes, pencils, pens, or quills and takes many forms including art jewelry, craft objects, miniature paintings, calligraphic artist books, and metal screens. All of her designs revolve around the interplay of negative and positive space, the origins of the universe, and mythological archetypes to bring forth external displays of feminine power.

 

 

Lansford’s art has has been widely exhibited in galleries, museums, and publications, including the Lark 500 book series, Metalsmith and Jewelry Artist magazines, Repousse and Chasing (Brynmorgen Press), and on Home and Garden Television. She has created a world-wide renaissance for many, old world, fine metal techniques through her sold out workshops, videos, books, articles, and apps.

 

 

 

 

Lansford’s most recent large-scale commissions were for one of the world’s largest, bespoke, superyachts: a floor to ceiling, etched copper screen and Eastern repousse double doors, both depicting oceanic scenes. She won a 2019 Independent Publishers Award for Best Design and a 2020 e-Lit award for her ground breaking, animated ebook Giving Voice (Spiral Publications) with introduction by best-selling author of the Griffin and Sabine trilogies Nick Bantock.

 

 

 

 

Lansford lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Chris, son Skyler, and two Shelties Boudica and Elizabeth

 

 

Materials & Tools

The following supplies will be used for course demonstrations and objectives. A suggested item and/or vendor has been provided below for reference. Click the vendor name (in red) to be redirected to a page where you can find the item. The quantities needed for each item are listed first. If ordering, please be aware that some items may come in larger quantities than needed for this class. We recommend not opening an item's packaging until the day of the workshop. Student participation during or in-between class sessions is strongly encouraged but not required - observers are welcome.

Metal/raw materials (Note that if you have a disc cutter, you can cut from a 2"x3" piece of sterling sheet instead and not get pre-cut discs. You will also choose between materials for a twisted shank, a flat shank if you have a rolling mill, or a flat shank with no rolling mill.):

  • 1"x3" x sterling sheet - 24g dead soft (Rio Grande)
  • 2 x 5/8" or 3/4" pre-cut sterling discs - 24g (Rio Grande)
  • 24" x sterling round wire - 20g - for granulation (Rio Grande)
  • 24" x fine silver wire - 26g or 24g - twisted shank (Rio Grande)
  • 6" x sterling round wire - 16g - twisted shank (Rio Grande)
  • 3" x sterling low dome - #3 - wide flat shank (Rio Grande)
  • 3" x sterling low dome - #4 - narrow flat shank (Rio Grande)
  • 1"x3" x sterling sheet - 18g - no mill flat shank (Rio Grande)
  • 12" x easy silver solder - wire or sheet (Rio Grande)
  • 12" x medium silver solder - wire or sheet (Rio Grande)
  • 12" x hard silver solder - wire or sheet (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x small cabochon - 5mm to 15mm wide - any shape
  • 1 x piece fine silver or 22k gold bezel wire - to fit your stone
  • 24" x steel binding wire - 18g - for intaglio - optional (Rio Grande)
  • 4"x2" x scrap brass/copper - for intaglio - optional

A soldering setup:

  • 1 x fireproof torch area - steel baking sheet will work (Amazon)
  • 1 x Solderite™ pad or fire bricks (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x compressed charcoal block - for granulation (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x torch - acetylene/air works best (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x #0 or #1 torch tip - if getting Silversmith (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x soldering tweezers (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x AA style tweezer - not used for solder work (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x soldering pick (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x paste flux (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x copper tongs - for pickle (Rio Grande)
  • pickle - for non-ferrous metals (Rio Grande)
  • crock pot or tempered container with lid - for pickle (Amazon)
  • tempered glass container or sink - for quenching and rinsing
  • small brush - for flux

Hand tools:: ​

Forming tools:

  • 1 x medium steel block - small works too (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x round ring mandrel - recessed side suggested (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x chasing hammer - optional (Rio Grande or Rio Grande)
  • 1 x planishing hammer - optional (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x rawhide or urethane mallet - any kind (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x set of stamps - handmade or other - optional (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x jewelers anvil - optional (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x rolling mill - optional (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x texture plates or paper for rolling - optional (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x set of circle stamps or nail sets - optional (Amazon)
  • 1 x chasing liner or eastern repousse tools - optional (Rio Grande)
  • 1 x stamps - handmade or other - optional (Rio Grande)

Other/miscellaneous items: 

  • hard work surface
  • dust mask
  • Scotch Brite pad - green scrubby pad
  • safety glasses 
  • dental floss
  • fire extinguisher
  • metal ruler
  • screw driver - to make your own liner tool
  • circle templates - optional
Virtual Course
Tuition
$255.00
Instructor
Victoria Lansford
Level
Intermediate and above
Pre-requisites
Jewelry 2 skills required
Location
Virtual - Eastern Time Zone
Length
  • 0 days
 

Stay Connected