She wanted a solid gold ring. No gemstones. No occasion. Just something that looked like nothing else.
Not a plain gold band
Patricia came to me through a friend's mother with a simple request: a custom gold ring. Solid 14k gold, no gemstones, something she was buying for herself because she wanted it.
The simplicity of the brief was the challenge. A plain gold band is something you can buy anywhere. Patricia wasn't looking for anywhere. She was looking for a ring with character, something architectural and modern that would catch light from unexpected angles and look completely different depending on how her hand moved.
That's the kind of commission I live for: the ones where "simple" is the starting point, not the destination.
Carving a ring from wax
Every cast ring starts with a block of wax. In this case, a blue carving wax ring tube, a solid cylinder with a hole bored through the center, sized to the client's finger.
From there, the work is subtractive and additive at the same time. I carved the initial shape from the tube, then used a wax pen to build up material in the areas where I wanted raised architectural points. Once the wax was added, I filed it down to create the angular, faceted planes that give the ring its geometry. This cycle repeated many times: add wax, file, check the shape, add more, file again, refine.
In the thickest sections, I used a wax burr to hollow out excess material from the inside. This serves two purposes. First, it keeps the ring comfortable on the finger by reducing weight. Second, because this is solid 14k gold, every gram of metal matters. Removing wax from areas where extra thickness adds weight but not visual impact is how you keep a solid gold piece wearable and keep the cost honest.
I showed Patricia the finished wax model before we committed to casting. She approved, and the wax went through the investment and casting process: baked out at high temperature to leave a hollow impression, then filled with molten 14k gold. Once the gold cooled, I broke away the investment, cleaned up the casting, and hand-polished every faceted surface until the planes caught light like cut stone.
The entire process took about a month, completed during an advanced casting class where this was one of my studio projects.
Why "simple" is never simple
The finished ring has no gemstones. No embellishments. No color. Just solid gold, shaped into something that looks more like a piece of modern architecture than traditional jewelry. Every plane, every angle, every facet was hand-carved in wax before it ever existed in metal. That's the distinction between a ring you could buy at any jewelry counter and a ring that was designed and built for one person.
Patricia later purchased two more pieces from my collections, a Single Crystal Pendant Long Necklace and a Crystal Bar Necklace. But the ring was the piece that started the relationship, because it proved that "I just want a gold ring" doesn't have to mean settling for ordinary.
The piece: Hand-carved, cast solid 14k gold architectural ring with angular faceted planes.
The materials: Solid 14k yellow gold.
The process: Hand-carved from a wax ring tube, built up with wax pen, filed and refined through multiple iterations, hollowed for weight and cost management, cast in solid gold, hand-polished.
The client: A self-purchaser who wanted something that looked like nothing else.
Every piece Andrea Li makes is one of a kind. If you want a ring, a necklace, or any piece of jewelry that refuses to look like everything else, start a conversation.
Yes. Andrea creates one-of-a-kind rings in solid 14k gold or sterling silver without any gemstones. The design interest comes from the form itself, with hand-carved architectural shapes, angular facets, and sculptural planes that catch light from unexpected angles. No gemstones does not mean no character.
Wax carving is a technique where a jeweler shapes a ring or other piece from a block of carving wax before casting it in metal. Material is both removed by filing and carving and added using a wax pen to build up raised areas. The finished wax model is approved by the client, then cast in precious metal through the lost wax process. Each carved form is unique and unrepeatable.
No. Many of Andrea's commissions are self-purchases with no specific occasion attached. If you want a piece of jewelry that is uniquely yours and looks like nothing else available, that is reason enough. A commission can start with something as simple as wanting a gold ring that refuses to be ordinary.