Building a black titanium ring with sentimental materials, fingerprints, and hidden inscriptions.
Laine came to us knowing exactly what she wanted in a custom wedding band for her fiancé, Jordan. She envisioned a black titanium ring with his grandfather's gold melted down as a center inlay, both of their fingerprints engraved on the outside, and a personal inscription on the inside.
She came into the shop twice before the order was even finalized – once to walk through the design, and again to drop off the grandfather's rings and have both fingerprints captured in person. By the time Jordan saw the finished ring, Laine had been working on this idea for the better part of a year.
The ring is built on an 8 mm-wide black titanium band with a flush center inlay of 14k yellow gold. Laine brought in several of Jordan's grandfather's rings and asked if we could use the metal for the inlay. We melted them down, drew the gold into wire, set it into the channel by hand, and laser-welded the seam shut.
Working with heirloom material means there is no going back to the source if something goes wrong, so the process has to be right. The gold needed to sit cleanly in the channel, flush with the band's surface. We have the tools to handle that kind of precision, and we took our time with it.
Once the gold was in place, the titanium was heat-oxidized to achieve the blackened finish. If you are considering a black titanium ring, this is worth knowing: the finish is not a coating or plating. It is a change to the metal itself, so it does not peel, chip, or fade over years of daily wear. The warm yellow of the gold against the dark oxidized titanium is the contrast Laine was after, and it reads clearly once the blackening is done.
"Jordan and I love the ring! He put it on, and it hasn't come off. Thank you so much for all the time and care you put into his ring. We will treasure that ring for a lifetime!" - Laine
The fingerprints came next. Laine and Jordan had both come into the shop so we could capture their prints in person, digitize them, and format them for the band. One sits on each side of the gold inlay. We confirmed placement with Laine before cutting – fingerprint engraving is permanent, and determining whose print goes where isn't something you want to assume. The finished result is sharp and reads clearly against the band’s dark surface.
Last was the interior inscription. Laine chose the words – "God gave me you" – and the font they are cut in. An interior engraving is one of those details that does not show up in photos, does not read from across the room, and is not meant to. It is private in a way that most ring details are not, something between the person wearing it and whoever put it there. The engraving was the finishing touch.
The finished ring is clean, specific, and built to withstand daily wear for a lifetime. Jordan put it on the day Laine picked it up and has not taken it off since.
The gold had already been worn for a lifetime. Now it has another one ahead of it.
If you have an idea for a ring that brings together more than one meaningful detail, we can help you work out how to build it. Start your custom order here.
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