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We often answer questions like: What is the damasteel? What is the difference between stainless steel and the damasteel? What pattern will my jewel have? What shape of the ring can I have? How to measure my ring size? And what about gems, can I have a ring with a specific gem?
We will try to answer your questions in this guide.
What is the damasteel?
Damasteel = austenitic damascus patterned stainless steel.
The damasteel is a special type of stainless steel which consists of many layers of two types of steel: 316L and 304L. This combination creates a unique and unrepeatable texture which comes from etching.
The damsteel has properties similar to surgical steel. It is durable, does not rust and does not change colour. It is a hypoallergenic material. However, those who have a strong allergic reaction to nickel should be careful, as nickel is also present in this material to a small extent. The chemical composition of the stainless steels contained in this material is given below.
Damasteel jewellery are also maintenance-free. However, over time, as the ring is worn, the texture can be worn out to loose the pattern. It depends on how often the ring is worn, in what conditions and whether it has a fine or rough texture. Rings with a finer texture may get worn out earlier. However, we will be happy to restore the texture free of charge as part of our lifetime service.
| Chemical compositions of austenitic damasteel in % | ||||||||
| C | Cr | Ni | Mn | Mo | Ti | Si | ||
| damasteel | 316L raised layers |
<0.03 | 17 | 12 | 0.5 | 2,5 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 304L deeper layers |
< 0,03 | 18 | 9 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | |
Rings made of damasteel and their options
Rings can be made in many variants. It is very hard to describe all of them so I would like to give you some basic informations about key parameters to form your idea about your future ring.
Most rings have a standard circular shape (such as Prima ring) but we can also make rings with a rectangle shape (Round square ring), triangle shape (Delta ring) or rings with a concave shape (Collium ring).
Surface of the ring can be smooth (ring Prima), hammered (ring Natura), with ground areas (ring Rock) or have other adjustments. According to this parameter we distinguish many types of damasteel rings.
Everyone has his/her own personal style and prefers a different ring appearance. In general it can be said that rings with a rectangular profile are more robust and less comfortable in comparison to domed rings, especially when rectangle rings are thicker. Comfort fit profile is more suitable for wider rings (6 mm and more). It depends on the shape of your finger and your habit of wearing rings or not.
We can also make other shapes or surface adjustments to meet your requirements.
The wider your ring will be, the more pattern will be visible and your ring will be more unique.
Because our rings are handmade there can be some small deviation in sizes - our margin for this handmade work is 0.2 mm.
We can make the ring also asymmetric. The ring can be wider on the top part and narrower in the lower part (in a palm). The head of this ring is wider and more sturdy. The ring with this shape is more comfortable and distinctive. It is suitable for rings with a gem or pearl. The proportion between width of the head and width of lower part has to be adequate otherwise the ring would rotate on the finger.
The head of the ring with a gem has to be made thicker to hold the gem. We can make this ring with the same thickness all around the whole length of the ring. This ring is robust and more massive. To make this ring more comfortable we recommend making it thinner in a lower part.
If you are not sure about sizes please contact us and we can help you.
You can also choose how much the pattern is visible (how much is deep, how much you can feel it when you touch the ring). There are three options:
- Gentle – the texture is shallow, the ring is light
- Medium – the ring can be light or dark
- Rough – the texture is deep, the ring is dark (lower layers of metal are black)
We use also other patterns but they are used for another jewellery like buckles, earrings, tie bars, etc.
This is the most used pattern. It resembles wood. There are lines and knots in the pattern but we cannot influence how many knots and lines will be there and their position. The pattern is hidden inside the metal and it is always a surprise how the ring will look.
There are many distinct regular circles and ellipses in the pattern.
This pattern consists of many crosswise lines with an interesting eye in their centre. There can be set a gemstone.
The darkening is an additional process. It can be worn out during some time. If you work with acid, salt or other aggressive chemicals, or you have more aggressive sweat, the pattern can disappear (can be worn out) faster. The more rough the ring is, the pattern will be more durable. In general, in normal conditions, the light pattern can last for several years and dark rough pattern for decades.
In case of getting worn out, the texture can be restored again at any time (we offer lifetime service to all of our damasteel jewellery).
The surface of the ring can be matte or shiny. We usually make it shiny. During wearing the ring the shiny ring becomes more matte and matte ring becomes a little more shiny. So there will be a harmony between matte and shiny finish during some time.
Inside of the ring can be flat (standard fit) or a little rounded (comfort fit). Please see the part „c-profile“.
For the engraving, I recommend making the inside of the ring smooth or only with a gentle roughness otherwise it would not be visible on the damasteel texture. If you want the engraving on the outside of the ring we can make a part of the surface without texture and make the engraving there.
The best option how to get your ring size is to visit us in our gallery in Hořice where you can see our products personally and we can measure your ring size. You will be sure that your future ring will fit well. Here, you can see our rings, touch them, feel them and try them on. And maybe you will find your dream ring in our gallery collection. Before your visit please contact us in advance.
If you cannot visit our gallery due to a long distance or other reasons we offer simple test rings which are highly recommended especially before ordering worse resizable rings, such as rings with gems or gold line.
If you are not sure about the size of your future ring we strongly recommend not using strings and paper strips to measure your ring size. These methods are very inaccurate. The best variant is to visit a jeweller's shop and ask the specialist to measure your finger. It is important that the gauge, you use, should have approximately the same width as your future ring. The thin ring sits and behaves completely differently than wide ring. Please take into account also the fact that in hot weather your fingers can be a little swollen so different values can be measured in hot and cold weather.
We can make rings with standard flat inner side or with a comfort fit (rounded inner side). Comfort fit is recommended for wide rings. Rings with a comfort fit can be usually a little smaller in comparison to standard rings. Please let us know whether your ring size is determined by jeweller as a "comfort-fit" size or not.
If you order a wide ring with a standard flat inner side, then your ring size should be measured for wide rings.
If you have a ring that fits you well, but you don´t know its size, some jeweller or specialist can measure it with a tool called ring mandrel (measuring cone). Most jewellers use the leading edge of the ring (bottom edge of the ring when it is placed on a jewellers measuring cone) to determine the size, others use the middle of the ring and rarely some jewellers measure ring sizes on the other edge.
We measure the ring size of the ring with a standard flat inner side on the leading edge. Rings with a comfort fit are measured more in a centre of the ring.
You can also send us sample ring that fit you well and it will serve as a template.
I am sorry to say that there is not any uniform methodology for ring sizes conversion and according to our experience different jewellers measure ring sizes differently. We work with an inner diameter or circumference in our production. We can also make the rings in US or UK sizes - in this case we use this conversion chart with sizes that corresponds to our measuring tools.
If you want to be sure that your ring size is correct please give us your ring size measured as the inner diameter or circumference.
Please note that because our rings are handmade there can be some small margin in sizes - our margin for this handmade work is 0.2 mm.
Because the rings are handmade there can be some irregularity that highlights the overall design of our rings.
INCORRECT RING SIZE
if your new ring arrives and seems to be large or small, we suggest wearing it for some time. Different activities and temperatures throughout the day cause that our hands and fingers can be swollen sometimes, so it's normal to have a ring feel tight sometimes and loose other times.
(1) If you ordered your ring TOO SMALL, we can resize the ring up to 1-2 Czech size (1/4 - 1/2 US size, 1/2 - 1 UK size) by stretching the ring or by grinding the inside.
Please note that some types of rings cannot be stretched (for example golden line, rings with gems, ..). These rings can be resized up only by grinding the inside.
(2) If you ordered your ring TOO BIG, we can resize the ring down a little (approx. 1/4 US size, 1/2 UK size) by pressing the ring. Sizing down by pressing is difficult, some marks after pressing tool can stay visible on the ring. If the difference in sizes is large the ring after pressing can be a little curved or flatter.
Please note that some types of rings cannot be pressed (for example golden line, rings with stones, ..).
Stainless Steel
