Here’s a demonstration video of wriggle engraving, and a little bit of simple cowboy ‘bright cut’. It really helps to understand how something is done when assessing the techniques used to create it and the origin of a piece. Wriggle is a technique typically used in traditional Cowboy, and Mexican (Cowboy) engraving. Looking at the depth of the engraving, It’s likely only hand power was used on your ring, and the silversmith went deep to get the desired effect.
As you’ll pick up from the video, the silversmith/engraver experimented with speed and depth when creating the ‘wriggle’ border around the bezel, so this was likely something he or she may have experimented with a bit in creating this ring. It looks like a well executed early effort.
One thing I’m sure of it the ring was made with real love and care, and that there’s a story behind it which goes far and deep. A true love story.
It occurs to me as I write this that some of the members of this forum may want to look into learning hand engraving, and creating their own artistic legacies.
I personally learned engraving at GRS, and sent my master silversmiths to learn there as well. It was money and time well spent!
Here’s another one… This isn’t traditional Cowboy bright cut as it incorporates single point techinques, but it’s a great video!
