Monthly Archives: December 2015

Did you know that December is the most popular month for engagements? That’s right – it even beats out February, the month of Valentine’s Day! In fact, a full 19% of engaged couples get engaged during December. The most popular date? You guessed it – December 25^th.

Those couples planning an engagement for this month might be wondering what to do once the ring is actually on and the big “yes” has officially been said.  With that in mind, we’ve created the handy checklist below to help you and your betrothed get all of the essentials done during this very exciting and romantic time.

1. Get Your Ring Insured

We know, we know – this isn’t very romantic, but it IS important. S

By Tamara McFarland of McFarland Designs

There are as many methods for making rings as there are jewelers, but the two main techniques are fabrication and casting. The casting process entails pouring molten metal into a mold in the desired shape, allowing the metal to cool/harden, and removing it from the mold. Fabrication, on the other hand, describes the process of forming metal parts with hammers, dies, and other tools, and then joining the pieces by soldering/welding.

In this post I will illustrate the typical process I use to create my ethical, handmade wedding and engagement rings for McFarland Designs. This example falls under the category of hand fabricated jewelry.

The ring whose creation I will outline below is a simple solitaire design in moissanite and recycled 950* palladium.