From Wax to Wonder: Carving the Foundation of a Tree-Inspired Ring

 

In this stage, nothing is polished, nothing is shiny, and nothing is “perfect.”

But the character of the piece is already alive.

This design features tree-trunk prongs that grow upward to cradle a natural gemstone. All of the bark texture you see is carved by hand. No molds. No templates. Just wax, tools, and time.

The stone sits in place during carving — something that surprises many people. It helps me shape the prongs around it exactly as the stone wants to be held. Every raw diamond or gemstone has its own personality, and my goal is to create a setting that supports it naturally, almost like growing a branch around it.

Once the carving is finished, this wax model will be cast in metal through the lost-wax process. The wax is melted away forever, leaving a perfect metal version of the sculpture you see here.

This is where the magic begins.

Thank you for following along with my process

Sharing these behind-the-scenes steps helps me stay connected to why I love creating — because every piece begins with an idea, a block of wax, and the desire to bring nature into wearable form.

If you’d like to see more of my work or upcoming designs, you can visit my shops:

🌿  Shopify

🌿  Etsy

 

The Floating Gemstone Collection: Crafting Nature-Inspired Jewelry With Heart

In the world of jewelry design, every new piece begins long before metal meets flame. It starts with an idea—a spark that grows, branches, and evolves into something tangible. Over the past few months, my creative journey has been shaped by a design that has quickly become one of my most requested and personally meaningful pieces: my floating gemstone branch ring.

This blog is a behind-the-scenes look at how these pieces are created, why they resonate with so many people, and how I use modern tools like AI ethically and transparently to help me refine ideas that originate from my own designs.

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Where the Design First Took Root

The foundation of this ring comes from one of my original pieces—an organic, branch-like design that wraps naturally around a gemstone. This style developed from my fascination with nature: twisting roots, growing limbs, and the way light gets caught between them. The first iteration was raw, wild, and textural, almost as if the ring had grown on its own.

Soon after sharing it, people were drawn to its shape and story. Customers began asking for variations—different stones, sizes, and moods—while still keeping the essence of that original, organic design.

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How AI Fits Into My Creative Process

I want to address this directly, because transparency matters: the designs you see here are mine—conceptually, structurally, creatively, and physically. Every ring I make begins with my own sketches, my own original finished pieces, and my own design language.

I sometimes use AI as a sketching assistant, not as a designer. By feeding the AI images of my own work, I can explore alternate angles, stone proportions, or textural variations. AI helps generate rough visual prompts so I can better imagine how a stone of a different size or shape might look in my existing design.

Another important way I use AI is to help customers visualize options. Once I complete the wax carving and later the finished cast, I upload a photo of the real piece into my AI preview tool. From that single real ring, I can show clients how the design would look in silver, white gold, yellow gold, or rose gold—without recasting it. I can also swap gemstones, such as previewing the ring with a white moissanite or a vivid green peridot.

This feature has become one of my customers’ favorites because it lets them confidently choose both metal and stone based on an accurate visual reference of their exact ring design. It saves time, reduces guesswork, and empowers them to personalize their piece.

But the hands that carve the wax, sculpt the branches, and set the gemstone—those are mine.

AI is a tool. The artistry is the craft.

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The Wax Carving: Where the New Piece Begins

With customer requests building around a white moissanite version of this design, I moved from concept to creation. Using jewelers’ wax, I began carving the branches—letting them rise, curve, and divide in a way that feels natural and alive.

The wax is where the gemstone first begins to "float." I carve negative spaces intentionally—allowing light to pass through, ensuring the stone is supported but not enclosed, creating the illusion that it hovers between branches.

This is the heart of my floating gemstone style. It’s not about making the stone sit higher—it’s about making it appear naturally suspended, like a drop of light balanced within the structure of the ring.

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From Wax to Metal: The Final Transformation

This design will soon be cast in Sterling Silver and set with a 1.5ct (6×8mm) white moissanite, a gemstone whose brilliance enhances the floating effect beautifully. The process takes about 3 to 4 weeks from carving to completion.

Once cast, the branches will gain strength and detail, the prongs will be refined, and the stone will be secured in its airy, living setting. The finished piece will retain the same organic motion as the wax—just crystallized into its final, lasting form.

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Why This Design Matters to Me

This branch ring is more than a commission or a popular request—it’s a milestone in my journey as an artist. It blends:

• my original design language
• my love for nature
• my carving work
• modern tools used ethically
• my customers’ trust

And most importantly, it represents the moment where an idea becomes a form—a place where a new piece begins.

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Thank You For Being Part of the Journey

To everyone who has asked for this design, who has followed its variations, or who has simply appreciated its style—thank you. Your support allows me to keep pushing my craft in new directions while staying rooted in the work I love.

More updates will come soon, including the finished cast and final stone setting. I can’t wait to share the completed piece with you.

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If you’d like to follow more of my creative process or commission your own variation of this design, feel free to reach out. Every ring has a story, and I’m honored to help create yours.

Where a New Piece Begins

It's usually right here...

It could be just staring at my mandrel visualizing what's in my head or sitting in my living room with a cup of coffee and a sketchpad.

Update:
I’ve started a new Studio Story series about how this design grows from sketch to wax to final piece. You can read the first chapter here.

Dawn Vertrees Raw Uncut Rough Engagement Wedding Rings: "Moss Agate & Oxidized Silver: The Twig Pendant That Captures Spring’s First Breath"

When I start a new piece, it never feels like I’m making something.

It feels like something is growing in my hands.

I work in soft jeweler’s wax — that deep blue-purple wax that gives just enough resistance to feel alive. When my tools touch it, the curves don’t feel carved… they feel grown. Roots begin to twist. A branch finds its direction. A leaf decides where it wants to live.

And if I’m holding a stone, the wax grows differently.

I don’t usually design a setting.

I let the twigs and leaves grow toward the stone, around it, sometimes lifting it.

As if the stone is a gift the piece is offering — a tiny present for whoever will wear it.

That moment — when the wax stops being wax and starts being alive — that’s the part I love the most. It’s where everything begins.

🍃

This blog isn’t going to be a tutorial.

It’s simply a look inside my studio: the sketches, the wax shavings, the experiments, the little frustrations, the surprises, the tools I return to again and again.

I’m dyslexic, so I speak best through my hands, my sketches, and my photos.

Think of this space as my visual journal — a trail of moments from the bench.

Welcome to my studio.

Let’s grow something together.