Patrick Adair isn’t your regular silversmith. In his own words, he makes rings “to stand out, not fit in”, and is known to stray away from common elements like gold, silver, or platinum. Instead, Adair’s jewelry is crafted from things like carbon fiber, damascus steel, titanium, a variety of highly eye-catching gemstones, and in this instance, an actual meteorite. While Adair’s methods, materials, and designs definitely set him apart, he even documents his ring-making processes on YouTube for his little-short-of-a-million fans. The video above remains one of my favorites, and has garnered nearly 5 million views. In it, Adair builds a lifelike replica of Green Lantern’s power ring using a block of meteorite rock, and an Emerald fitted into it. The result is nothing short of stunning, although the two-part video should truly fascinate any DIYers interested in the ring-making process.
The ring was pre-ordered by a client who sent Adair a replica of the Green Lantern ring for reference. Making the necessary measurements and design considerations, Adair started by water-jet cutting a piece out of a block of meteorite, before drawing the profiles of the design details on it. A few details (like straight lines, etc) were carved out using a milling machine, while other curved lines and profiles were hand-carved using a sanding disc and drills.
Once the entire ring was carved out of the meteorite rock, deburred, and polished to make it smooth and glossy, Adair proceeded to etch the ring by dunking it in an acid bath. The etching would reveal the meteorite rock’s ‘windsman pattern’, caused by the iron-nickel crystals forming a long structure. The etching process affects all the metals in the meteorite differently, resulting in the unique crisscross pattern that makes the ring look so otherworldly. Finally, an emerald gem was fitted in the top to complete the project before being handed over to the customer. Adair’s meteorite rings can go north of a grand, and I’m sure this one didn’t come cheap (considering he actually bought a CNC milling machine for this) but then again, people spend millions on NFTs and those things aren’t even real…
Designer: Patrick Adair Designs
