Just a couple of numbers you'll need to know: Ring size: The first step in making a ring is creating the blank. A blank is nothing more than a slab of titanium with a hole drilled, reamed and deburred to the exact ring size. I can't get very far in the process without knowing an exact ring size. Most jewelers will be able to tell you your ring size by using a ring sizer - a hoop with a bunch of rings in every half size. Metal sizers are the best, the plastic ones can deform to fit over the knuckle which neither a metal sizer or a titanium ring will do. it is very important to get the size right, as titanium rings can't be resized like other softer metals. Thickness: A Ti Designs piece of jewelry is made using a negative process. Metal cannot be added, only subtracted from the starting piece. Because of this, the thickness of the starting plate must be at least the width of the finished piece. Height: Some rings stand high off the finger, others are very low. One of my customers calls this index "sticky-uppy", I prefer to call it the height of a setting or the whole piece. Rings with very high settings do get noticed, but they can be a bother to wear. Most wedding bands or rings that are intended to be worn all the time are designed with a low height.

Design? Finish? Stone setting? Patterns: A pattern is anything that is cut into or raised up from the surface. These can range from a simple ribbon twist, to complex angled patterns. Some patterns can be started as part of the rough cutting process in the machine shop; other patterns are done entirely by hand, using files and rotary burs. Finishes: Titanium polishes to a near mirror finish with a slightly dark reflection. While the polished surface is many times more durable than white gold or platinum, scratches do show up. One step from a polished finish is a brushed finish. The brushed finish doesn't have the sparkle of a polished finish, but still makes a statement. A brushed finish is the most durable finish because it can be touched up with a few quick passes of a steel wool pad. A textured finish can be accomplished by blasting the surface with an abrasive grit. The result is a dark surface with a soft abrasive feel and a fine sparkle in the light. The sparkle will fade as the surface is worn, so textured areas are best left to recessed sections. There are two methods of adding color to the surface of titanium. Heating the metal produces titanium oxide, but isn't durable enough for use as a surface treatment. Anodizing uses an electrical current to change the color of the surface of the titanium. This is also done by forming titanium oxide on the surface, but it is both thinner and more durable than the color change created by heating the surface. Stone settings: Stone setting in titanium falls somewhere between engineering and art. Many titanium jewelers will offer tension settings where ring itself is used as a clamp in holding the stone. Some offer stone settings in softer metals which are then set into a channel in a titanium ring. Some simply drill a hole and glue the stones in place. All of my stone settings are some sort of mechanical settings, using the strength of the titanium to hold the stone in place. Unlike any of the softer metals, titanium can't simply be "pushed" around a stone to hold it in place. What you see in other jewelry with gemstones set on every surface can't be done in titanium. Each stone setting becomes an engineering project. How does the stone fit in? What surface is the stone in contact with? How is the setting closed? How is force applied to close the setting without breaking the stone? Titanium's strength makes stone settings much harder, but there are advantages as well. The strength of titanium can be used to expose a gemstone to light from all directions. Raised edges on a titanium setting can also help to protect the gemstone from damage. Check out the gemstones page for examples of stone settings.

Please also read my "don't and can't" page before placing an order.