Funky Rings made under the instruction of Sam Abbay

3/26/2013
I love making pieces out of bullion - whether melting it down or forging the coins or bars into jewelry. This couple made a pair of wedding rings from a platinum bullion coin, and generously shared their photos. See more of her photos at catherineskelly.com

Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf Bullion Coin

The beginning raw material: a 1 troy ounce pure platinum Maple Leaf bullion coin from
Canada. We can make wedding rings out of gold, platinum, or palladium bullion.
Photo by Catherine Skelly.

Just as we have for hundreds of years, we bite the coin to make sure it's real.

The coin is heated above 2000 degrees to improve its malleability.

Then the sides are forged with a hammer until they mushroom over the front and back.
Photo by Catherine Skelly.

couples can forge their own wedding rings

It takes a lot of forging to get the coin into the shape of a ring.

Sawing out the center of a coin to make a ring

We then carefully cut out the center. Photo by Catherine Skelly.

Voila! Photo by Catherine Skelly.

anneal platinum bullion coin ring

The coin is annealed again for malleability. In the original photo, you can still read the
lettering that was on the face of the coin before forging. Photo by Catherine Skelly.

quench platinum bullion ring

It is quenched in water, which looks and sounds really cool.

The huge ring is cut in half to create two wedding rings. Photo by Catherine Skelly.

I measure both rings to make sure they are uniform width.
Photo by Catherine Skelly.

I demonstrate how to use the polishing lathe. Photo by Catherine Skelly.

The completed pure platinum wedding rings with hammered finish. Photo by Catherine Skelly.

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