We at Rubini Jewelers create much of the jewelry we sell. We start with a sketch some of the time and see what we come up at other times. Our jewelry is either made entirely by hand, made by lost wax and then hand-finished, or die struck to produce many of the exact same piece and then hand assembled.

We do rough, quick sketches just to give the client and ourselves an idea for the final product. Color and final touches are added to give a better idea of desired outcome and we can even take that a step further and produce computer generated either 2-D or 3-D images.

Lost wax is a method whereby a jewelry item of wax and embedded in a tub of hardened investment (plaster-like material ) is burned away to reveal a cavity within the investment that is injected with molten silver, gold, platinum or brass. The item made of wax is either a rubber-mold made replica of an existing piece of jewelry or is hand-carved directly out of wax. Since wax is much softer than metal, it is far easier to shape and change it as desired.

Otherwise, our thoughtful jewelers sit at their benches, think a while, then meld bits and pieces of metal into a mass, and then forge it into whatever strikes their fancy. Metal can be wire-pulled, rolled through a mill, hammered, cut, heated, soldered, filed, drilled, sanded, gem-set, oxidized, and finally finished.

Die striking utilizes a metal mold whereby metal sheets are stamped into the die's shape. The resulting individual pieces require much less hand-finishing and are assembled together to produce many different kinds of jewelry, which after creation do require a "cleaning up".

Metal working for a beginner (and I, Joanna Rubini, am a very beginning beginner) is an exhausting time-consuming task. Our time-seasoned experts make it look effortless and quick, but don't be fooled...they use a lifetime of learned skill to make every piece!