This ring was made as part of my C&G Silversmithing level 2 (7822).
One of our friends gave me some offcuts of tanned and dyed rayskin (shagreen) and I used them to make this ring.
The rough denticles of the rayskin were sanded down before being glued to a dome of copper sheet. The resulting cabochon was then coated with several layers of black lacquer and sanded back to reveal white denticles.
This cabochon was set into a silver bezel on a hammered silver band.
I really liked this piece - although it is not very hardy because the lacquered rayskin is not waterproof and so would be damaged by immersion in water. At some point I want to make this ring using black car paint instead of lacquer which should produce a ring which can be worn everyday.
Full details of the making of this piece can be downloaded as a Word doc.
