Five-lead rings

Hand-crafted Knot Jewelry:
Decorative Marlingspike Seamanship rendered in precious metal.

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The five-lead ring is the most popular item in my repertoire, and I have produced many variations on this theme. Matched sets are a particular specialty, for the romantically inclined. (Note that a "matched set" consists of two rings made with similar materials and with similar patterns. I couldn't make them identical even if I wanted to.)

I moved my older five-lead rings to another page, they're still here.

Occasionally someone asks if I can manage a ring that is large enough for this person, or small enough for that one. Here is an answer to the latter query. I can also use non-precious wire.

November, 2004. All twisted yellow 18K gold, five-leads by thirteen-bights. It took about 150 inches of 0.015" wire to make this ring.

18K Yellow Gold
Twisted Strands
5-lead 13-bight
Loop density: 4.8
(Size 12.5)

September of 2002 -- A very pretty ring, all one piece of wire throughout, in yellow 18K.

18K Yellow Gold
Solid Strands
5-lead 12-bight
Loop density: 4.4
(Size 12.5)

5x11 twisted platinum and yellow 18K gold

This is the ring that I made for myself, at the end of 2001. The platinum came from all of my leftover scraps for the year, and when I finished the ring (the second time) there was about a quarter of an inch of stock left. It has never been polished since it was made, though I occasionally scrub it with a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Pure platinum and 18K Yellow Gold
Twisted Strands
5-lead 11-bight
Loop density: 4.4
(Size 11.5)

Here's another twisted ring, similar to the one below, but a smaller size, and photographed from a different angle. These are getting popular, I just did a matched pair of these, which you can see on the matched sets page.

This has a very high loop density because the purchaser wanted it to fit a range of sizes, starting at 8.

18K White and Yellow Gold
Twisted Strands
5-lead 11-bight
Loop density: 4.9
(Size 8.0)

Twisted strands of yellow and white gold in a five-lead eleven-bight knot make this unusual ring glitter and flash, a real eye-catcher. This is the second ring that I've done in all twisted strands, you can see the older one on my other page of five-lead rings.

18K White and Yellow Gold
Twisted Strands
5-lead 11-bight
Loop density: 4.4
(Size 11.5)

This is made with a solid strand of yellow gold, doubled, surrounding a twisted triple strand of pure platinum.

18K Yellow Gold and Platinum
Twisted Center Strand
5-lead 11-bight
Loop density: 4.5
(Size 10)

This is the opposite, materials-wise, but essentially the same ring. Here's how it would look as a wedding ring.

Platinum and 18K Yellow Gold
Twisted Center Strand
5-lead 11-bight
Loop density: 4.5
(Size 10)

This is a very old ring, made with 24K Gold and pure Silver, that was recently returned for rehabilitation. It was slightly distorted and had one broken strand, but is now as good as new.

Pure Metal
Tripled Twisted Strand
5-lead 11-bight
Loop density: 4.5
(Size 10 shown)

This is a very small ring, made with 18K Champagne Gold and pure Platinum.

18K Champagne Gold
Tripled Twisted Strand
5-lead 8-bight
Loop density: 4.2
(Size 4.5 shown)

This five-by-eight ring was tied in 18K nickel-alloy White Gold.

18K White Gold
Doubled Solid Strand
5-lead 8-bight
Loop density: 3.6
(Size 8 shown)