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A Gemvision Narrative – The Pirate Ship Ring

Shipwrecks, an octopus battle, and more

Working in Gemvision technical support, we get our fair share of requests to create designs. Although technical support is not a distribution?, we are an education and support system for our users. Often times, we will get requests for designs that really stand out, and we always remember that one design.

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One of the computer renderings of the pirate ship ring

A particular design that always stands out to me was the request to make a pirate ship ring. There was no blueprint on how to, nor was there any request for us to make it a certain way. The request came by e-mail, as they mostly do, and it reads something similar to this, “Can you show me how to go about making a ring look like a pirate ship?” Normally, we request an image or some mockup of the design. This time, we didn’t even get that. The request sounded so entertaining I didn’t care that there was little to no information. So, after that, the brainstorming began. What would a pirate ship ring look like? Would I just create a band and place a pirate ship on top? These were questions I had that only my imagination could answer. My first draft was just that, a silly boat on top of a signet ring. This design was not cool enough for me. And if it wasn’t cool enough for me, it wasn’t cool enough for the customer either. I really had to dig deep. What did I love about the ocean? Everything! The sea and I, I feel, have always been one. No matter how far inland I get, I can always hear the waves calling. And once I get in the waves, I want to swim out as far as I can.

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Taking a look at life below the surface. Check out more of my diving adventure here.
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One of the shipwrecks found near the shore of the Turks and Caicos Islands

I once did this in the Turks and Caicos Islands. A friend and I snorkeled 900 feet off the beach in Grand Turk, a place that has the bluest water in the Caribbean and possibly the entire world, I feel. The ocean floor is littered with sand dollars, and the coral is scattered in chunks along the bottom. The beach we were at, called Governor’s Beach, was completely empty of all people and had a shipwreck right on it. The scene was something out of a dream. The coral and sea life became better and better the further we swam out into open water. Our camera equipment was rolling the whole time. We saw many fish, such as a big puffer fish. At one point, an octopus swam directly beneath us. So, the Indiana Jones in me suggested I follow it. Of course I listened to that inner adventurer, following it to a small coral cave that was littered with small shark bones and sea turtle bones. If you do not know this, octopuses eat anything and everything. The eight-tentacle sea creature was carrying a large horned crab shell in one of its tentacles, and I wanted that natural trophy as evidence from the experience. I reached my hand in his cave and fought with him for about three seconds and took it. Judge me if you want, but can anyone else say they took something from an octopus? Just when we were ready to swim back, we found an actual shipwreck. It had been there so long, the only thing left was the steel frame. A local told us all the wood from the ship used to be there, however hurricanes ripped it apart and washed up on the beach. He stated that most of the picnic tables on the beach were made with the wood from that ship. The experience as well as the visuals from Grand Turk Island were something out of a dream. Describing it and experiencing it are two different things.

Back to the pirate ship ring. I infused all of these elements I experienced into the design of this ring. The octopus, the sunken ship, the beached shipwreck, the thought of pirates and buried treasure.

The experience in the Caribbean definitely was inspiration for this piece of jewelry, and the design came naturally as I reflected on that clear blue water. I’ve learned that paying for experience, rather than things, makes life feel fuller. It also stimulates incredible creative inspiration. If you want a good idea, or have some form of creative blockage, go outside and experience nature.

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Wax model of the pirate ship ring

This design was mainly created with TSplines Signet builder and then TSpline parts manipulated to fit around the ring.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Daniel Smith

Former Gemvision Technical Support

I've been with Gemvision since 2012 • Jedi since birth • Tested out of all things school • An author whose interests include photography & film to help tell stories • A father of three little girls • I have an identical twin • The ocean is my home • Adventure, excitement, a Jedi craves not these things.