Superb quality signet ring design with Zbrush

[sam]

This is the work of Mark Iles of Aucoin Hart Jewelers in New Orleans. I had the pleasure to meet Mark a few days ago and was blown away by his skills using Zbrush, a computer 3D application that's often used in the jewelry industry.

I've seen a lot of badly done computer designed signet rings in my time. Most look very coarse and just plain ugly. As you can see, Mark has mad skills with this application.

Bottom line: 99% of customers wanting an engraved signet ring will probably be delighted with this quality work. The other 1% might seek hand engraving for the sake of it being hand engraved. This is scary good work with reusable elements. Once you've drawn them, they reside in your library for future use.

Probably not something seal engravers want to see, but there it is.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Yes, that sure is a beautifully done piece alright.

If you think back over the last 20 years and see the advancement of computer technology in the 3D area and then project it forward another 20 years.........it is truly amazing.

But the big thing is not just the computer technology itself, but the operators behind it getting more skilled in their use of it. They are becoming more craftsman/artisan like in their approach to the work

You see it in guns now. Twenty years ago you could spot the machine done jobs a mile away. Today you have to look a lot closer as some of it is getting pretty damn good. Some of the Blaser 3D work is very well done and getting better.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Doc Mark]

Sam, is the actual ring cut via CNC machining, or is it a CNC cut wax-up and then cast? Whichever technique is used, the final product is, as Andrew so eloquently put it, "pretty damn good".

 

[sam]

Doc: It was cast, not CNC machine engraved. Yes, it's damn good!

Andrew: I'll have to lookup Blaser's works. Sounds interesting!

 

[GTJC460]

When I was doing mostly jewelry making, I was always impressed with the sculpting being done by Eastern Europeans and far Eastern countries using Artcam. There are many extremely powerful software applications out there that are capable of some pretty amazing stuff.

I always liked the work of www.3dmodelclub.com

From what I understand, they sculpt in clay, digitally 3D scan then cleanup the scan model with Artcam.

Any way you look at, there's a ton of time involved in physically or digitally sculpting any model. The nice thing about cad software is the ability to create a library of components that can be copy, pasted, scaled, reflected, arrayed, etc....

 

[monk]

there's no question as to the quality of the final piece. hand engravers have been thru this test before. such as when the pantograph hit the jewelry stores. progress is inevitable. ours to accept or reject. sadly, progress is positive for some, as well as negative for others.

 

[Mike_Morgan]

I'm coming at hand engraving to get away from CNC processes. I own a small machine shop that produces parts daily, and I even did some 4 axis scroll engraving and came to the realization that with the current technology in subtractive manufacturing (cutting) it's very very difficult and time consuming to deliver the fine shading to make a convincing replication of the hand-done work. The modern machines can save time once production starts, but layout, design, modeling, interstitial steps like wax and investment before finally casting would never be a time saver for bespoke work.

And AS a bonus... the modern CNC stuff has no soul.

I think I'm running away from technology in favor of a more beautiful way to impart my will on metal. I'm not very good at it yet, but the journey has been an exciting and rewarding one, thus far.

 

[GTJC460]

I'm pretty sure that second picture is a rendering not an actual photo

 

[Marrinan]

It is not really a signet ring it is a bezel set flatwork cameo disk. Pretty though just the same.

 

[Sinterklaas]

I'm pretty sure that second picture is a rendering not an actual photo

Yes That's my opinion as well. Also casting very small openings in metal will often result in porosity. The investment will break and lay some were in the burned out ring and when you cast it becomes an inclusion.
Most often on the lowest part of the ring. Opposite of the sprue.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Okay, coming from the "old country" what I'm going to say might not be popular. This is a wannabe signet ring and anyone that buys something like this is a wannabe and doesn't understand what a signet represents. It is a piece that is unique to the person who owns and wears it. It should never be copied exactly as that is forgery. A signet is just that, a signature and that is why two or more members of a family who are entitled to the same coat of arms will never have the exact same ring elements. The stars might be slightly different or the lion rampant or something else. All I know is that they should NEVER be exactly the same. And that is where this stuff loses out. You could replicate hundreds of the things so it will NEVER BE A SIGNET RING.

 

[Takoyaki]

Hi,

as said above, such a product can never be compared to a handmade (hand-fabricated), hand-engraved piece!

I see pores ...
A cast is a cast and will always be!
It is an industial technique of mass-production, even if someone only cast one!

There are customers out there who understand that very well ! ;-)
Not enough craftsmen who really can do good, handmade work and the ones who does, are very, very busy!

For the "other" customers ... if they are satified ...

;-)


just my 2 Euro-cent!

Tako

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Okay, coming from the "old country" what I'm going to say might not be popular. This is a wannabe signet ring and anyone that buys something like this is a wannabe and doesn't understand what a signet represents. It is a piece that is unique to the person who owns and wears it. It should never be copied exactly as that is forgery. A signet is just that, a signature and that is why two or more members of a family who are entitled to the same coat of arms will never have the exact same ring elements. The stars might be slightly different or the lion rampant or something else. All I know is that they should NEVER be exactly the same.

Well, you learn something new every day.............thanks for that Marcus. It's good to know

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Roger B]

The first thing I noticed in the second photo was the "orange peel" texture of the shank compared to the highly polished top. So, is the dark line around the top a reflection or the bezel where the top plate has been set in?

Roger

 

[Tsu]

How could be a cast ring so well polished?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Well, you learn something new every day.............thanks for that Marcus. It's good to know

Cheers
Andrew

I learned this from Neil Oliver who is probably Scotland's top signet engraver. I met him several years ago and he kindly went in to all the small details that makes a signet ring what it is.

It's fascinating and it's tiny details that are so important; it might be something as simple as changing a unicorns ear slightly for example. Or, as we know as hand engravers, everything we do is unique (unless we're engraving bank note printing plates) and things done by hand aren't replicated exactly. That's why a true signet ring should be hand cut.

The public need educating about this stuff and it's the uniqueness of something hand engraved that makes it special. Not because it can be done flawlessly or cheaply by a computer.

 

[sam]

I assume this ring was done for a customer based on the customer's coat of arms. I seriously doubt that it's a stock item. Mark probably did it the same way I do them, which is to look at the supplied artwork and duplicate it on the ring in reverse or as a positive, depending whether they want a seal or not.

And Marcus is correct about heraldry, every little element in a coat of arms means something, like the style of crown, whether a helmet faces to the side or straight on, etc, and colors are rendered with different stripes and engraved patterns that imply different colors. It's a fascinating subject and you can't just make things up and do as you please with it. And nobody engraves 'em better than the seal engravers in England. Their work is mind boggling.

Getting back to the 3D, I would have made some changes like a deeper shield and modified the mantle (scrollwork) a bit, but remember that Mark isn't a hand engraver and what he produced is scary good.

 

[Big-Un]

Several years ago I found a GIANT book on heraldry and spent months studying and trying to absorb everything I could about it. It is an amazing study and the subtle nuances of every part of the coat of arms has a unique meaning. That book has become one of my treasures on the bookcase. No one should attempt doing a crest without knowing what it means.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Please forgive me Sam if my post came across as a bit arrogant, it wasn't meant to be. The tool your chap has used is fascinating but just because you're able to say draw a racing car, it doesn't make you a race car designer. What happens is things gradually become debased. A prime example is in fact the mantling which has become stylised away from what it originally was - a piece of tattered protective cloth. Now it's evolved almost into scrollwork in some cases. However, personally I've never seen it evolve into claws before. This is the nearest I've seen https://goo.gl/images/8Ud3T5 but, I could be wrong.

However, when someone who's perhaps a designer with no heraldic background sees something like this they may misconstrue it. Likewise with the wreath on the helmet; again I've not seen it as a row of balls before. As engravers, we don't need a degree in heraldry but it is good to have a basic understanding of the subject.

I think what upset me to a degree was the fact that you said or implied, that this design could be stored and replicated at will. That is fine but, as I said before, if that is the case and the design is replicated exactly then it ceases to be a true "signet ring".

Anyone who wants a signet ring engraved knows (or should know) they are commissioning something very special. And no, it not going to cost $tens it's going to cost many $hundreds. The customer is paying for the fact that it is a one of a kind piece. If someone only wants to spend a couple of hundred bucks on an engraved signet ring, or one engraved or cast using computers and machinery then they're not ready to have one. There's nothing wrong with having a ring with a coat of arms or crest engraved in he usual way;what I'm talking about is the ring that would be used to seal documents and letters as someone's signature.

Here's a thought though. Most people are not entitled to bear arms (have a coat of arms) and this means they can't or shouldn't have an heraldic crest on a ring. I think that's a real shame. So what about what I like to call "Life" rings? Something in your or your client's life that is important or meaningful to them? I engraved my signet with a Celtic wild boar - the boar being synonymous with my surname. Perhaps we should all wear one and hope that clients will see them and want one of their own. It could be anything, for example a tennis racket or crossed golf clubs or a rose or a dog - something important to the wearer rather than heraldic. It still needs to be cut deeply and reversed so it can be used as a seal. Just an idea.........

 

[Mike_Morgan]

Now you guys have me interested in learning about heraldry, not to actually engrave it, but to learn more about what must surely be a pretty fascinating history!