This is a new ring I made recently that is quite different than most rings I make. I started with a signet ring concept with a chickadee & apple blossoms motif. 18K. Usually when I have carved intaglio style, it has been only a very small area here or there, or an inscription on the inside, etc. This time I had to really think about how the shape and texture of each indent looked as it would be front and center and a prominent part of the piece.

(2022 edit): Annoyingly, these photos were stolen in 2021 by a large manufacturing corporation I think in China and have been distributed to hundreds of Ali Express/Alibaba/Alitools/Amazon/Ebay//Etsy/Poshmark/ Wish/Walmart/11-Main/Joom/Infinionly/dhgate/offerup/Shopee/Mercari/etc. drop-shippers to sell *something* that most definitely is not the ring that I made, as I made only one and I know exactly where it is.

Periodically I go and send copyright takedown requests to the various sellers and most of them do remove them immediately. Amazon often does not as they always require “More information” but never specify what that is and there is no possibility of follow up. It’s pretty infuriating and tiresome and makes me hate Amazon. Sometimes I wonder if it’s even worth the effort.

The funniest part is that most of these sellers have never even seen whatever it is that they are selling! They just get the details from the manufacturer with this batch of photos that I took of my ring, and put up their listing, all “Couple Embossed Vintage Gold Rings Flowers and Birds Swallows Engraved Stamp Style Rings,Gold,Classical and Creative,18K,Available Sizes 6 to10.” and when I ask that they remove my unauthorized photos from their listing, they get quite miffy and send me stiff notes about it.

Sometimes the unfortunate buyers leave Amazon reviews, and they say something like, “Item received not what is shown in the pictures” (yeah, no shit), or “Not stamped 18K” (like what did they expect paying $3.09 really?!). This part, I’ll admit, cracks me up just a little bit.