The Red Neptune

Last year a friend of mine requested a ring for his girlfriend. He liked the Neptune but wanted a thinner version of it with a red stone: her favorite color.

Here it is: The Red Neptune.

 

The stone is a beautiful ruby, of intense color and a very nice cut.

 

The Neptune is inspired in the corals of the picture: the holes, soft borders and texture. 

The stone makes me think of a submarine seed.

The first step to create a ring like this is to carve it out of a wax block using special files. Carving is something that I enjoy very much. It's like making a small sculpture. Then comes the moment to submerge the wax model in plaster and wait for it to dry. After that, the wax must be melted. This technique is called "lost wax" because there's no way back, you only have one chance. If the plaster mold turns out defective or the metal that is poured in the hole left by the wax has bubbles, you are lost!.

I don't have the required equipment to make this casting procedure, besides, it's so messy and demanding that you need years to master it properly. I prefer to leave it to the specialists. When the casting is ready I get the model in silver and give it the final form and texture.

While working on this ring I learned that it's necessary to count with the best team of specialists there is to get the results I strive for. It's no use to make fine wax carvings if  I can't rely on a good casting specialist or  a good stone setter.

In Bogota, after years of trial and error, I found my dream team:  a great casting specialist, even if he takes his time, and a fantastic stone setter who works impeccably  and understands the spirit of my designs. I haven't found that kind of team here, therefore I can't be quite sure how long is it going to take finishing a piece and I suffer a lot  every time I have to try the work of a new stone setter. Sometimes the language and the differences in the culture of work constitute an obstacle for me. But, I'm learning.

In spite of the delays, the corrections and the heavy snow that kept this ring at a post office somewhere between Germany and Spain for too many days, The Red Neptune arrived to her owner.

Fragments of Budapest. Last Part.

To finish my tour of Budapest I will leave you with some fragments of color, texture and time from that wonderful city.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

Photos by P. Abitbol and Lili

Budapest is too cool. Third part.

These are some details that make of Budapest a city full of life and movement. Nice to her inhabitants, she makes you want to discover her.

 

The cafés. Every neighborhood has many of them, in different styles. Some small,

and some grand. Check out the pianist!

Like this is easy to talk about art and philosophy, even politics ... I was ready to draft a referendum ...

And then, something for the body:

An outdoor hot spring bath in the middle of winter. While the body is submerged in mineral water at 100˚F your head remains cold at 28˚F. With luck that day the sun will shine a little and the rays will penetrate the clouds of mist covering the water surface and when you look at the sky, the pigeons will fly over the statue of a gaseous Venus and it absolutely will be a great moment .

 

In a city like this you can walk along the river even in a gray day and check whether they advance in the restoration work of the church on the hill

or you can stroll around the synagoge.

And fortunately when you don't want to walk there is the tram. It goes to the hills and through the neighborhoods.

 

A city with lots of stone lions is too cool.

Next, in the fourth part: Budapest, a city of textures.