Interest LOTR Gandalf Ring - Narya (Interest Thread)

Douglascraig Anytime! I've been currently obsessing over all the LoTR movie rings, and looking for any reference I can find.
Those are some really impressive rings!! It's always satisfying to see precious metal and stone versions of the rings of power, specifically Narya which is probably my favourite of the three. Were they 3D modeled by any chance?

Here's the latest progress on my sterling silver Narya replica. I actually ordered a custom cut garnet, but I recently found out the cut wasn't as accurate as I'd have liked, and it didn't end up fitting into the "setting" I made, so it was really poor planning on my part. Next time I'll probably plan the ring around the stone size and shape to get a better fit. The braiding pattern gave way at one point, you can kind of tell some of the silver melted around the main bezel as I was soldering it to the band.
Looks excellent! Did you wax carve it? Yeah I 3D modeled mine on the computer. Had to do Nenya in 2 parts and solder together after the stone was set, but the others were all one piece casts.
 
Looks excellent! Did you wax carve it? Yeah I 3D modeled mine on the computer. Had to do Nenya in 2 parts and solder together after the stone was set, but the others were all one piece casts.
Loneken Thank you so much! I can't wait to see the finished Narya!!

Douglascraig Thank you very much!! Man, I really wish I could do 3D modelling, maybe I'll learn one of these days.
Yeah, I did a rough wax carving of the overall shape, then I cast it in brass, and then after cleaning it up and making a separate version I used that as a model to cast the body of the sterling ring, if that makes any sense. The raised octagon shaped setting piece was cut out of a separate piece of sheet silver and soldered on, as well as the braid pattern which was woven by hand from 20 gauge silver wire. It took a few attempts but I figured out how to make a decent braid in the end. I tried 18 gauge on the brass one version but I thought it was a bit too thick based on the reference photos.
The brass ring was more of a practice piece, I wasn't too happy with the braid pattern on it so at least I learned from that.

narya_rough.jpeg
narya_brass.jpeg
 
Quick update on my end: just received a couple of rings I had cast from my 3d models and I'm pretty happy with the results. The cast is spot on compared to the model and as screen accurate as I think it can be - there's always improvements to be made but I'm very satisfied so far. Next steps will be silver / gold plating and setting the stones. Will post pictures of the final rings of course.
 

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I am so very interested! So much more than interested- I'm invested! I've been collecting references to the Fellowship of the Ring rings for a little while now, with the ultimate desire to make some of own, and this showed up in my searches. If there is ever a limited run of these I would absolutely adore these rings. For the longest time I've been unhappy with all of the rings of power that are on the market, particularly Nenya, but this goes for all of the readily available rings: they're pretty much all painfully inaccurate.
 
I'm 95% done with my Narya, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 24k gold plating and authentic garnet. I might swap it for a synthetic ruby later on. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the antique finish I was able to achieve. Any feedback welcome!

Thanks for looking!

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Loneken That Thror Ring is absolutely stunning!!! And probably the most accurate one out there if I'm not mistaken.
Just out of curiosity, is that the natural color of the metal casting or is it after plating? I love that warm, not-too-bright yellow finish.
 
Loneken That Thror Ring is absolutely stunning!!! And probably the most accurate one out there if I'm not mistaken.
Just out of curiosity, is that the natural color of the metal casting or is it after plating? I love that warm, not-too-bright yellow finish.
I gold plated it with 24k gold which gives it the warm yellow color. I don't polish it too much before plating, so it makes look more weathered / antiqued. Thanks for the kind comments!
 
I guess an update is overdue on this project!

This project is still alive, but the scope has changed pretty significantly... and I don't where this will lead me, but at least I'm having fun!

Specifically for this project, I've spent the vast majority of the last 2 years (other than real life stuff like work and kids :)) looking for good references on all the rings, talking to people (including Dallas), teaching myself blender and trying to recreate highly accurate 3d models of all the major rings (other than Vilya which I already have from Jens Hansen). I think I've collected a pretty good amount of references, some of them public, some of them not. By now, I believe I have very accurate models for most of them, and I'm going through a constant loop of modelling - 3d printing - adjusting, until I'm fully satisfied with the physical model. Once I'm there, I intend to either have them by cast or cast them myself if I can invest the time and money into a small lost wax casting equipment.

I've already had one ring cast (ring of Thror), and I'm pretty happy with the result. Still needs some gold plating and finishing but overall the model is very accurate to the on screen version as it was based off of production close ups.. As I said I don't know where this will all lead me, and this is a multi year project, but this is a lot of fun! At the very least, I will have the most accurate 3d models out there for most of the rings! What I do with that is still TBD..

Thanks all for the interest - Sharing a few pics of the different models (some of them are still WIP) as well as the ring of Thror and my latest Narya print out.
Wow
I guess an update is overdue on this project!

This project is still alive, but the scope has changed pretty significantly... and I don't where this will lead me, but at least I'm having fun!

Specifically for this project, I've spent the vast majority of the last 2 years (other than real life stuff like work and kids :)) looking for good references on all the rings, talking to people (including Dallas), teaching myself blender and trying to recreate highly accurate 3d models of all the major rings (other than Vilya which I already have from Jens Hansen). I think I've collected a pretty good amount of references, some of them public, some of them not. By now, I believe I have very accurate models for most of them, and I'm going through a constant loop of modelling - 3d printing - adjusting, until I'm fully satisfied with the physical model. Once I'm there, I intend to either have them by cast or cast them myself if I can invest the time and money into a small lost wax casting equipment.

I've already had one ring cast (ring of Thror), and I'm pretty happy with the result. Still needs some gold plating and finishing but overall the model is very accurate to the on screen version as it was based off of production close ups.. As I said I don't know where this will all lead me, and this is a multi year project, but this is a lot of fun! At the very least, I will have the most accurate 3d models out there for most of the rings! What I do with that is still TBD..

Thanks all for the interest - Sharing a few pics of the different models (some of them are still WIP) as well as the ring of Thror and my latest Narya print out.
Wow great job on the Narya and the Dwarven ring! By any chance are you making them for sale? Or could I somehow get the files to create one myself?
 
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