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Lost Wax Casting is an ancient form of jewelry making.  First a design is made in wax.  Then it is mounted in a flask and surrounded by investment.  When the investment (like plaster of Paris, but more durable) hardens, then the flask is put into a burnout oven and heated until the wax melts out.  This leaves a hole in the investment that is exactly the size and shape of the wax design.  Then the flask is mounted in a casting machine.  Gold or other metal is melted in a crucible mounted against the flask.  When it is melted to the right temperature, it is flung into the flask by centrifugal force and it hardens into exactly the size and shape of the original design.  Then it is removed, filed, sanded, polished, and prepared for use in jewelry.  There is a lot more to it than that of course, but this gives you a good idea of how Lost Wax Casting is done.
Click here to see Jewelry Designing in progress

Here is a slice from a ring tube of carving wax.  It is a hard, toolable wax that allows carving of fine detail.	Now it has been given it basic shape and still needs cleanup work.  The checkerboard cut amethyst will be set when the ring is ready.	Here it has been cast and the sprue has been cut off, but it still has to be filed, sanded, and polished.
After polishing, we will make a mold of it so it can be repeated.  We will inject hot injection wax into the mold and pull a wax copy that is ready for casting. Then we set the gemstone and Voila!  We have a beautiful new piece of jewelry!  (This one is a checkerboard cut Rhodolite Garnet.) Click here to see more of our  Exclusive Designs	This 3.76 ct opal was in a flimsy ring, so we designed a more protective ring to the customer's taste.  Here is the hand carved wax.	Here is the finished ring.  Wow!!! See other designs we've done for customers by clicking here
Here is my design custom carved by a master wax carver - great detail!	Here is the finished pendant - a fisherman's dream! Snook (also known as 'linesider") is one of the best fighting and eating fish in  Southwest Florida!
Here is the bracelet blank.	It is sliced to the right thickness for the bracelet we want to make.	Two slices are joined.
It is shaped and hollowed.  The wax is actually translucent when it gets thinner.  Note the join mark (near the top of the photo) from joining the two slices together.	This is the silver casting.	This is the rubber mold made from the polished casting.
		Click here to see our 18k Gold & Sterling Silver designs
This is the wax made from injecting wax into the rubber mold.	Here is the finished bracelet with 18k gold accents.
Here is the ring she didn't like, so we designed a more classic style for her.	Here's the wax ring blank - sliced from a wax tube	Here's the carved wax
Here's the raw casting.  Note the "button" on the bottom.  We have to cast more than enough gold to allow for shrinkage when cooling.  The extra piece is called the button.	Here is the casting cleaned up and filed. The "investment" (a type of high temperature jewelers plaster of paris) has been cleaned out and the button cut off	Here is the polished casting ready to have the diamonds set.
The baguettes are set and the seat is cut to set the center Diamond	Ta Da!  A 2.07 ct center Diamond, a .21 ct and a .22 ct baguette in 14k white gold
First a sketch is made.  The ring is going to be an M with the initial D on it with a Black Star Sapphire	Then the wax is carved	Here is a side view of how we make a special shank to resist spinning
Here is the D with the Black Star	This is the raw casting before finish work is done to it	Here is the raw D with the Black Star
And here's the finished ring!

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Paradise Jewelry
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5455 Airport Rd. North
Naples, FL 34109
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