Various gold and gemstones, including 18k yellow,
14k white and rose, sapphire, white and yellow
diamonds. Approx. 5mm at widest. Beginning at
$1400. photo: doug yaple

Hummingbird Tongue Rings

These rings begin with gold ingots poured in my studio and then taper forged by hand before being carved and formed into rings. Everything with these rings (except the stones) are hand-made, including the tubes that hold the stones and even the delicate wire for the windings which is rolled from ingots and then and drawn down in the studio.

Comfortable and elegant.

Various alloys, colors and karats of gold. 18k yellow, 14k white,
rose or paladium white golds. Clear, champagne, yellow or even blue
diamonds. 5mm-8mm wide. Prices begin at $1600 (no stones). photo:
doug yaple
Price: $1600 up

Skin Rings

Maybe my most iconic ring.  I built the first skin for myself and that was many, many skin rings ago. Because of how they are made, the rolling edge in the "skin" of each is unique.  Each ring begins as several ingots of differnt colored gold, and  is rolled and forged then formed. The straps are added last. 

I most often make Skin Rings  on a custom basis. They can be sized but ideally a custom client will try on the "blank" ring, sans straps and stones. Once the fit is right, the straps can be quickly added.

Here's some more examples of commissioned Skin Rings . Long distance projects are no problem.

18k yellow gold, 14k rose gold winding,
.25ct diamond (pictured). 5.5mm at wide end.
photo: doug yaple
Price: $3000

Trumpet Bypass Ring

Gold ingots are poured and then each ring is hand forged to a taper. These heavy profile rings are tough to bend round. Once a ring is bent, the wide end is faced and the stone set. The delicate wire also begins with an ingot and is drawn, by hand, to its final dimension.

Different shapes and sizes of diamonds can be used and Trumpet Bypass rings can be made in other alloys and colors.

18ky and 14kw golds. 7-8mm wide. Prices begin at $1800. photo:
doug yaple

Canyon Rings

Canyon Rings are built from three parts: two sides (rims) and a contrasting "floor" or lining. Because of this, the overall width of the ring and the gap of the canyon can be customized.

Also available in a slightly domed Jagged Canyon version (below).

Sterling, 18k, diamnond. photo: Doug
Yaple

Sprig Ring

Entirely hand made, the body of this ring was forged and carved from a sterling ingot and then selectively textured with sterling filings fused to the surface. The "stem" is a hollow, tapered tube of 18k gold. I often use a version of this shank as a starting point when building rings. Check out Sprout and the Quill Rings. Even the Orbit rings have a similar sterling shank.

sterling, copper, ping pong ball.
Price: $800

Spiracle Ring

Ping pong balls respond to heat and can be cut in half and specifically manipulated like the Parasol earrings or pins or worked in the round, using the air trspped within the ball to push against.  Working the intact sphere is way less predictable.  

I enlisted the help of my wife in completing the ring. She said: "It's like setting a marshmallow".

Sterling, 14k rose gold, 14k yellow gold, copper,
plastic chicken. 2"h
Price: $1600

Ring-tisserie (Weber)

Entirely hand- fabricated, except for the chicken. The briquettes were fused together; the flames sawn from thick sheets of 14k rose gold and then carved and bent. Each side of the 14k yellow gold spit is threaded into the chicken.

Featured in the book Humor in Craft (Schiffer) along with the Chicken Choker and the winepull Unscrewable . 

Sterling, brass, 14k, 18k, bronze, lens. photo: doug yaple
Price: $2100

Loupe Rings

I often use lenses in my work to magnify a specific thing as in Pax, Tel and the St. Patrick bishop. The Loupe Rings were a way to share my jones for micro exploration by putting the magnifier right on the user's finger.

The pair can be found in the book 1000 Rings published by Lark. Strapped Loupe (below and on left) is still available.

Sterling, 18k, copper, carved copal.
2"H. photo: Doug Yaple

Masonic Ring

Mason bees are considered important pollinators but they are, in a way, un-beelike bees. There is no hierarchy of queen and workers, no wax, no honey, no hive or complex society: they are solitary insects. The female builds a little multi-chambered adobe structure of mud or clay (hence the “mason”) to hold her eggs and the cached “provision mass” that each larva will feed on.

The sterling shank was hand- forged and then fused with sterling filings. I carved a salvaged copal bead and then flamed the edges. A look down the hole in the end reveals a small but very sharp stinger (not shown in the schematic). Featured in Art Jewelry Today III (Schiffer)

Quill Rings. Sterling, 14k & 18k gold,
siamonds, porcupine quills. 8"H.
photo: Doug Yaple
Price: $1900

Quill Rings.

I built this trio of outlandish rings on a lark but I was surprised at how people interacted with them when placed on their fingers. Some demurely kept their "loaded" hand down at their side, others extended their’s with extreme care and caution. But a few were truly transformed, whipping their hand and body about, slicing the air rapier-style, with total abandon.

These were a challenge to make without hurting myself. I was careful, as always, to smooth sharp rivets and edges down on the sterling shanks (lest they catch) completely oblivious to the 8-inch quill that was the real danger!  After the trio returned from an exhibition, I built wall sconces for display with little mounts from which each could be removed. Forged and fused sterling, gold rivets and ferrules, diamonds inset into some quills.

Rooster (3 quills) was purchased, along with its sconce, for the permanent collection of Goshen College in Indiana.

Sterling, 18k, diamond. photo: doug
yaple
Price: $1200

Pucker

Cheeks and Pucker always raise smiles when I show them.  Both are a bit tongue in cheeks...(sorry). One of the few rings that involve casting, I carved the body of the ring from hard wax, hollowed it and cast it in the studio into sterling. The surface was fused with sterling silver filings and then the inside deck soldered on (like constructing a box or hollow cube). Finally, the little stem tube was fabricated, attached to the ring and the diamond set.

Cheeks, which was built first, now lives in Thailand

Sterling, 14k, 18k, opal, diamonds. photo: Doug Yaple

3 Krater Rings: Honeypot, Strata & Pool

I named Krater Rings for the Greek Krater  because, in profile, the ring shanks echo that classic pottery form. I often apply the visual language of larger pieces, like brooches and neckpieces, to the concentrated platform of these rings.

14k white and 14k rose gold, 18k yellow gold
shank, sterling, diamond. 22mm wide at top.
photo: Doug Yaple

Spiral Krater Ring

Entirely fabricated. The 14k rose gold spiral was forged, bent and then torch textured. The washer at the top was textured with a grinding wheel and then torch oxidized to a brown. I forged the shank in 18k yellow. All metal poured in the studio. I named Krater Rings for the classic Greek Krater pottery form: the ring shanks echo that in profile.

Sterling, 18k, stainless ball baring,
diamond. 11mm ball. photo: doug yaple
Price: $600

Orbit Ring

Orbit rings began as a sample that I made to show students the principle of compression as a means to hold something, in this case a 316 stainless ball bearing. The ball is pushed by the diamond (actually the compressive force of the ring shank itself) into the 18k hoop, is too large to pass through and so is trapped between the diamond and the hoop. Entirely built by hand (except for the ball), including the tube that holds the diamond. Forged and fabricated.

I have made this ring in 14k palladium white gold using a 14mm teal green South Sea pearl and a cognac diamond. Palladium white gold is a gorgeous gray to gunmetal alloy, perfect for anyone with nickel sensitivity.

14k rose and 14k paladium white gold, 18k
yellow gold shank, sterling, diamond. photo:
Doug Yaple

Shard Krater Ring

Entirely constructed. 14k rose gold was torch textured and then formed, the interior dish was added in 14k palladium whit gold and the bottom in sterling.  Finally the shank was forged in 18k yellow gold. I named Krater Rings for the classic Greek Krater pottery form: the ring shank echoes that in profile.

Sterling, 18k yellow gold, copper tube rivet.
Price: $515

Lotus Fragment Ring

I often apply a material or formal element across several platforms. The Lotus pieces began with earrings. Then I used the carved plastic buttons to make pins and brooches and, now, rings.  Lotus pins and rings begin as 1.5" buttons which I carve and contour. The material is amazingly durable.

Sterling, copper and brass rivets,found object.
Price: $585

Michigan Brick Ring

I received a box of assorted found objects scavenged by a friend from the shores of Lake Michigan.  Inside were corroded scraps of steel -- which became the neckpiece State of Affairs-- beach glass and these beautiful red brick fragments that had been tumbled to ovals in the lake.  I drilled through the brick with diamond bits and then tube riveted the bricks to forged and fabricated sterling shanks.