Description
Our solid glass ring holders are all unique, one of a kind creations. We are using layers of sculpted hot molten furnace glass, concentrated glass colors and strips of dichroic glass. These teardrop paperweights make a nice decoration to hold important papers in place. They are also functional art that serves a great purpose..saving your precious jewelry from getting lost down the drain!
These works of art add color and design to every room. In addition to holding your rings, our larger pieces hold watches and bracelets. They also work well to hold a pair of reading glasses safely on your desk or even hold rubber bands in place!
Another nice thing about purchasing our solid glass ring holders is that the color will never change, or fade. The glass is very concentrated and deeply embedded underneath the clear. We have a large range of color choices, from solid jewel tones, to custom color mixes and designs with dichroic glass. We finish each one with an optic polish and also sign and date each one. This makes for a nice finished collectable piece. It’s a lovely heirloom that can be passed down from generation to generation.
About our process:
First we are gather molten clear on the end of a steel pipe. This starts the core of the ring holder. Because we are not blowing the glass, there is no air trapped inside. These pieces are solid layers of clear and color. That is why they’re so heavy!
On the second gather, we roll the molten glass into chips of concentrated color. We melt the color pieces into the surface of the clear and start to form a core shape. If we choose to, we will pinch and twist the color chips creating little spirals in the color for visual interest. Then we gather another layer of clear to make the final form.
After gathering the last layer of clear, we shape the glass again using wood blocks. We cradle the glass and shape the ring holder into an egg. With the metal tool called jacks, we carefully create a small seam at the top of the egg until the surface is starting to indent and a ridge forms.
Next, pinching at the ridge with the tools, a ball starts to form at the top of the egg. As we pull on the ball, and drag it away from the tip of the egg, a finger of clear starts to emerge. Once we get the length and diameter of the pull just right, we snip off the top ball. We then fire polish the end and straighten out the finger.
After several reheats and we are happy with the shape, we break the glass off the end of the pipe and place it into an oven to cool overnight, from 900 degrees down to room temperature. Once it has totally cooled, we remove the ring holder from the oven and let it rest for a few days, to make sure the solid glass form has totally annealed.
The last part of the process is to polish the bottom. We grind and level each glass ring holder properly using special beveling equipment. It requires several different grits of diamond plated polishing wheels to achieve a clear finish on the glass. Though it takes as long to polish the ring holder as it does to actually create it, we feel that no papeweight is truly collectable without an optic polish. After we achieve this clear finish, we sign and date each one, clean it and pack it. We take pride in the artwork that we create and are grateful to be able to share our glass art with you. We hope you enjoy the colors!
