RELIC HEIRLOOM RING
THE GREEN LAKE SHOP
Translating our client’s ideas into beautiful custom jewelry
to celebrate the iconic moments in life since 1996.
Your piece was crafted in the
the Seattle studio
The Seattle shop was our first large scale facility with room for 50+ artists. It includes a state of the art casting and production shop, all visible to the public. The design studio has 14 design stations, private meeting rooms and a full scale coffee and wine bar.
Green Lake Jewelry Works opened its doors on Seattle’s Green Lake Drive in 1996. Since then, its craftspeople have grown to win national recognition for excellence in the art of fine jewelry making with two distinct workshops where each piece is made by hand.
The flagship Seattle studio is home to all metal casting and a majority of 3D printing technologies for Green Lake Jewelry Works. Its workshop is also home to some of the most talented jewelers in the country, where a tradition of dedicated craftsmanship is passed from masters to journeymen and women.
YOUR CUSTOM DESIGN
Custom jewelry at Green Lake always begins with ideas, inspirations, and a sketch, where the many design elements that make for the perfect ring are discovered through ideation.
Oftentimes, a ring will go through many iterations and changes along the way before the final look is achieved.
DESIGNING YOUR PIECE
Ideas and inspirations used in your project.
DESIGNER
One of the few locals, Ellen grew up right here in Washington. Her artistically enriched childhood was spent surrounded by the natural inspiration of the mountains and water. With constant inspiration around her, it was easy to choose a career in an artistic field. In 2017, Ellen graduated from Cornish College of the Arts, where she received a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Visual Communication Design.
A lifetime of educational experiences has allowed her to work in a wide variety of mediums. From creating a 3D model of DNA out of stained glass, to designing an app to navigate Seattle's traffic, she has worked hard to build a breadth of knowledge from which to draw from when designing.
WAX MODELS
Lost-wax casting is thousands of years old, and it’s how we still cast today. From the increasingly rare skill of carving by hand, to the employment of digitally guided milling machines, blocks of wax are cut down into precise models.
These models are used both for design ideation and adjustment and casting the actual piece.
CASTING
At the workshop, the model was cast in a specialty plaster-like investment and heated to release the wax or resin from its mold, then cast using a specialized induction casting machine from Italy.
CLEANUP & DETAILING
Each ring in a small casting batch shares a common vein of gold or platinum, from where it’s cut and prepared for setting. Rough castings first need to be carefully cleaned and polished before more bench work can be done. Even the inner surfaces are carefully detailed.
100 PERCENT RECYCLED
Green Lake’s use of gold and platinum comes from 100% recycled or certified Fairmined sources. We are one of the nation’s first adopters of recycled casting grain certified by SCS Global Services. Today we return all scrap and unused noble metals for refining in a transparent supply chain.
CRAFTSMANSHIP
All areas of old-world jewelry making are completed in a single workshop. Master gold and platinumsmiths receive rings from casting and set to care for each pieces as a one-of-kind, collaborating with designers to ensure each detail is included.
GEMSTONE SETTING
It required steady hands and confident mastery to set your gemstone for a lifetime of confident wear. Gems can be especially small and terribly rare, so the responsibility for this final stage in crafting a ring falls to our most experienced professionals.
FINAL POLISH
Each custom made item in the Green Lake workshop receives a final polish before it’s carefully inspected and reviewed for standards of excellence. Each project is at last stamped with the Green Lake leaf quality mark before delivery.
YOUR FINISHED PIECE
Relic Heirloom Ring
Custom 18kt rose gold ring holding (1) bezel set customer provided round diamond center stone in head containing (8) customer provided round diamond melee flush set on outer bezel wall. Round shank and bezel feature hand-carved rustic details mimicking ancient relics. This ring also has a round, straight-taper shank and a matte finish.