A customer asked me to make a signet ring with a turquoise rectangle, set with exposed back to touch the skin, and a feather engraved on the shoulder of the ring. Normally I would do a wax model for a ring like this and cast it, but price was a concern and I decided to make a shell ring to reduce the amount of silver. A shell ring is made with silver sheet, soldered together, so it's hollow. First I cut the stone and then I built the ring around the stone. Here are some pictures of the beginning of putting it together.
Here it is, showing how the stone sits:
Next, I soldered the sides onto the ring:
And, again, showing how the stone sits:
Next, I cut out where the finger goes and file it to the correct size and then I set the stone. Here's a picture, looking inside the ring to show how the stone will contact the finger:
And here is a picture of the stone setting process:
The main picture shows the finished ring. The customer was very happy.