A finished bezel set ring!

My first bezel set ring is finished! It was another fun day in class. I finished setting the stone and polishing the ring. It's actually shinier than the photo appears. I also learned to make hollow metal beads that were soldered around a center seam; of course mine didn't fully solder around the entire seam though. I still need more practice with that technique. I also pierced and sawed a little more in preparation for a pendant. And I learned some different techniques for riveting!

My bench neighbor made a beautiful opal ring, but she ran into quite a few problems during the process. She spent the whole day patiently working on the ring, eventually with great success. But, at the end of the day she was so tired and discouraged that she wasn't sure she liked it any more. Sometimes we get so emotionally invested in our pieces that if a piece was a huge challenge, the finished product can either be resented or be loved all the more - as a labor of love. Her dad cut the opal stone himself, so I hope that when she sees the ring again tomorrow, she falls in love with it. After all, she and her dad put a lot of themselves into it.

More tomorrow. Four consecutive days of class is a lot of information to process!