Most engagement rings are cast. Every one of ours is forged.
Every ring at this studio is forged by hand, one at a time, the way Karl Lee started making them in Big Sur in 1964. If you want a ring that does not look like everyone else's, that is the place to start.
Start with the stone. We work from a family collection of stones gathered over sixty years. Turquoise from the Number 8 mine. Australian opals. Sapphires, tourmaline, beryl. An unusual stone carries its own meaning, and the ring gets built around it.
The metal is high karat gold, 22k and 18k, alloyed and milled in our own studio. Forged gold is dense and strong. A ring made this way can be worn every day, sized when it needs to be, and repaired at the same bench that made it. Made to fit the finger like it was always meant to be there.
The Big Sur Classic is the ring many people choose. Karl began the design in the 1970s. It follows the golden mean, and it is harder to make well than it looks. Simple may look easy but it isn't.
If you do not see the right ring on the site, write to us. We take commissions. We also remake old gold and family stones into new pieces, which is some of our favorite work. Tell us the hand it is for and we will help with the size.
A ring like this is not bought the way other rings are bought. It is chosen once, and it stays.
One of a kind. Built to outlast.
