At Richard Gretz Goldsmiths, one of our specialties is custom designing unique pieces of jewelry for our customers. There is no better way to get exactly what you want than to have Richard make your jewelry dreams into reality.

The design process is very easy: It all starts with you.

Maybe you saw a picture that caught your attention or remember a piece you saw years ago. Or you've been looking for something very specific and just can't find it anywhere. Richard can help you refine your vision by talking with you about your ideas and preferences. It is important for the designer to get a sense of who you are and what your lifestyle is like. We want this to be a piece of jewelry that you will fall in love with.

This opal inlay earring was cast from similar carved wax models on the right.

At this point we will talk about what gemstones will be used as well. Sometimes the gemstone is the most important part of the piece and the design will simply enhance it. In this case, we would select the stones first. Other times the design may be the most prominent part, with gemstones to accent it. We have the largest selection of loose gemstones in the valley to choose from.

Once a design and stones are settled on we will make a wax pattern for you to look at. You will now be able to see in three dimensions the piece of jewelry—its size and dimensions, how it will look on you, how the gemstones are set.

A 3-D computer model of a new piece for the carving machine.

We use two different methods to make our waxes, depending on the design. For designs with more details or curves, we will probably carve the wax by hand. Richard starts with a block of wax and slowly carves it down to the right size and shape, adding details as he gets further along. Some designs Richard is best able to render on our computer using a three dimensional program. This new technology has enabled us to make designs that would have been impossible to carve by hand. The design is then transferred to our wax printer and a three dimensional model is printed out.

The inside of the 3-D wax carving machine.

Once you have approved the wax and we have made any necessary changes, we transform it into metal. In this step, called lost wax casting, we start by attaching a thick piece of wax wire to the model called a sprue. The model and sprue are now surrounded by a special type of plaster called investment, leaving only the tip of the sprue exposed. Then the wax is burned out of the plaster in a kiln at temperatures in excess of 1250 Fahrenheit degrees. Now the empty cavity in the plaster is an exact copy of what we want to produce. The only thing left to do in this step is to force the metal into the cavity. This requires some sort of casting machine. Typically, in a custom jewelry shop a centrifugal casting machine is used. This type of machine forces the molten metal into the plaster by spinning at high speeds. Once the metal has solidified, the plaster is removed and an exact duplicate of our wax is born.

The completed, polished piece.

All that is left is to polish the rough casting, set the gemstones, and give the piece a final polish. This step can take many hours of careful work using a microscope. If it looks great under 30x, it will certainly be beautiful to the naked eye. Once the work is completed, all that remains is for you to enjoy your special piece of imagination and creativity for the years to come. There is nothing like wearing a piece of jewelry that you helped to create.