FAQs
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There are a few ways you can do this.
Take a piece of string or a thin strip of paper, and wrap it around your chosen finger. Measure the length, and use the chart below to work out your Australian Ring Size.
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Lost Wax Casting is a traditional jewellery process that allows for solid metal castings of individual items.
First, the item is made out of wax, whether this be a subtractive process (carving away from a block of wax) or an additive process (building up melted wax). From here, the wax is taken to be cast.
The casting house will then encase the wax piece inside a slurry of sand that sets to become an almost ceramic like casing around each wax piece. The wax is then burnt out of the ceramic casing, leaving a hollow space of the jewellery piece.
This negative space is then filled with metal of your choosing (9ct Gold or Sterling Silver in our case), and quenched to cool down. The ceramic is then removed from the piece, leaving a now solid metal replica of your wax original.
Finally, the piece is sanded to remove blemishes and any sharp edges, and polished to a beautiful shine, ready to adorn those little fingers of yours. -
The process of plating deposits a thin layer of metal onto the surface of another metal. In our case, this is 18ct yellow gold being plated onto solid sterling silver.
Gold plating has its pros and cons. It creates a more affordable option to enjoy gold, especially for larger items like bracelets, and is a great option for things like earrings.
However, plating is not recommended for items like rings that we usually wear everyday, and that rub against each other, and bear the brunt of our day to day life, and this is why we do not offer plating in our rings.
Due to the deposit of gold being a thin layer, this means that any scuffs or nicks in your jewellery can run the risk of exposing the sterling silver beneath.
With some care, and looking after your piece, gold plating can generally last several years, and one of the benefits is that you can also re-plate your piece should your jewellery start to show signs of wear and tear.
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Each item starts as a hand carved and formed wax piece. Every piece is made by hand, and formed to suit your ring size and the proportions required for each shape to suit your particular ring size. From here, that wax is then cast into solid metal using the Lost Wax Process, and lovingly sanded and polished.
Due to the handmade nature of each piece, they will all be unique and with differences from one to the next (me and the dogs are't robots, yet).
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We use a process called Lost Wax casting to make all our jewellery pieces, and at the moment, when setting stones use stones that can be "cast in place". This means that they have to be able to withstand the temperatures of molten gold and silver during the casting process.
As such, we use a combination of Lab Grown stones, with a Moh's Hardness Scale number that can handle the heat, or for the majority of our coloured stones, Nano Stones.
Nano Stones are engineered stones designed to mimic the look and feel of real stones, but with greater hardness, tolerance to heat, and overall durability. The beauty of these stones mean they last and last, and are also more afforable than natural stones.
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I too know the perils of finger girth that doesn't fit the status quo (thanks Great Grandpa Dave for these chipolatas). If you don't see your size, that doesn't mean we can't make it. Hit us up at sleepingdogsjewellery@gmail.com and we will make your big or little ring dreams come true.
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From whoa to go the process usually takes around two weeks. If you are looking for something quicker, sling us an email and we will see if we can work some magic.