Walker Goldsmiths has had the privileged to work with Nathan to create his Custom Red Gold Wedding Ring. He came to us knowing what he wanted and we enjoyed doing just that. We’ve known Nate for many years now as he works as an engineer on the boat, Steelhead, a Fish Buyer boat owned by a family friend. Nathan was to marry Lindsie this summer so we were excited to make this ring for him as we had already made her a wedding ring. See the story about that on another page here on Walker Goldsmiths.
Nathan brought a big chunk of a fossil Walrus Tusk that he had found washed out of the dune debris on a beach in Alaska one day when he’s had some free time for exploring. It’s a beautiful wild place with much good beach combing to be done. This chunk of tusk, though pretty beat up, did have some surface that we could cut a slice out to use in a ring. Nate wanted a piece inlaid into 14 kt Red Gold and we thought it a very fun thing to do, plus the Red Gold would complement and enhance the natural fossil Ivory colors.
I made the wax of the ring with a slot to inlay. Owen lost wax cast the ring using gorgeous 14 kt Red Gold, then sliced the tusk to the right width for the inlay. He choose the outside primary dentine layer of ivory to use as the inlay. See the picture above to get a look at the two different layers of dentine in a cross section of a Walrus Tusk. The inside of a Walrus Tusk has a kind of very crystalline grainy core that is exceptionally hard and beautiful, but difficult to work with as it tends to chip out in the crystal shapes. I did Scrimshaw years ago and I found that the core of the tusk is really impossible to carve on because of this hard crystalline center, so scrimshanders always choose to work on the outside layers of the tusk. Owen inlaid the Custom Red Gold Men’s Wedding Ring with the tusk segment and it was gorgeous. Thank you, Nate, for letting us make this beautiful ring for you, and congratulations to you and Lindsie on the occasion of your marriage. Walker Goldsmiths is happy for you kids on your brave choice and positive attitude on this marriage adventure.