We know that designing your ring can feel daunting with so many options to choose from so we have put together this guide to explain the options.

Ordering Online~ Please see our design guide to choose your rings size, width, pattern, palette, and any stones or add ons that you might like. From there reach out to us and we can build you a quote, discuss timeline, and send an invoice for 50% deposit to get your order into our work queue.

Seeing Rings in Person~We make every piece to order so we don’t have a large collection of rings on hand, once the ring has been made and photographed its off to its new owner! We do have an intimate collection of already made rings that are ready to size and ship. These samples may not necessarily be the pattern, size or width that you are interested in but you’ll be able to see what metal colors look like in person and get a feel for Arn’s craftsmanship. You can choose which ring(s) you would like to see from our available now section which is the inventory we currently have in stock. You can find a link to our available rings here. If you would like to see any of these rings in person please know that our showroom operates on limited hours and is by appointment only. The fastest way to be in touch and to book an appointment is via email.

Showroom Hours of Availability

~by Appointment only~

9am – 2pm, M-F

Call us at: (401) 287-8050

Email us: info@arnkrebsmokume.com

Seeing Rings By Mail~ To see any of our available now rings by mail please reach out to us and let us know what you are interested in seeing. The cost of the Ring Sample mail program is $100-$300 depending on how many rings you would like to see. Up to 3 at ($100 per ring) This fee covers shipping and insurance and is non-refundable. If you decide to proceed with your order, we will apply $75 per ring towards your order. Rings may be kept for up to 48 hours. We ask for a copy of your driver’s license and your credit card info to authorize the full retail value of the rings in the event that they are not returned to us with 48 hours. Please be mindful that these rings are your responsibility while they are in your possession.

Flow is one of Arn’s specialty forged patterns! This is one of his most complicated patterns, so he wanted to document some of the process to show you how he brings it to life. Come along on the journey from stock to ring!

Some assembly steps, those little rods will be the knots, and the flat stock will be the linear part of the mokume pattern running around the ring!

Here Arn is torch firing the stack to fuse everything together:

And then it’s over to the press to compress the stack, check out that satisfying squash!

Here’s what the stock for the ring looks like reduced down: 

And Arn continues to shape the stock into the dimensions for a ring:

Here he is etching the silver: 

And oxidizing the silver:

And the final reveal!

We have noticed many questions lately regarding the quality and longevity of mokume rings that contain silver, so we wanted to take some time to talk about why we choose to include silver in our mokume palettes, and the benefits this metal brings to creating beautiful and heirloom quality rings.

One of the primary reasons we use silver is for visual contrast! Silver is able to be either the lightest or darkest color in a metal combination, and either option contrasts extremely well against the golds and palladium we use in our palettes.

Shown below here is the same ring, made in our Firestorm palette, but with two different finishes. It’s amazing how different a ring can look just by darkening the silver layers with oxidation! The silver layers go from practically white to almost black in color.
Read more about our different finishes in this blog post.

Silver is also very ductile, it has great bonding and forging characteristics, both of which are very beneficial in making strong and stable mokume billets!

One of the core values of our business are to make mokume as affordable as possible for as many people as we can. We want to create high quality pieces at a reasonable price and keep mokume accessible when possible. Using silver layers helps greatly in lowering the production costs as opposed to making solely all gold mokume.

Will the silver layers oxidize/tarnish on their own?

No, with regular wear the silver should not oxidize on its own, silver actually only will change color if left to sit for extended periods of time or if exposed to chemicals like sulfur or chlorine! Well water may contain sulfur, so that would be something to watch for, but if your ring were to accidentally get oxidized it’s very easy to remove. Any commercial silver cleaner can easily take it right off.

The silver layers also do not compromise the structural integrity of the ring or affect the wear. It takes more than a lifetime of wear to truly wear down metal enough to compromise a ring, and this applies to precious metals like gold too. Silver wears very well, and the silver in our rings is completely nickel free, as nickel sensitivity/allergy is very common, even often leading to people thinking they have a silver allergy, but really the culprit is the nickel content!

If you’d still prefer a silver free ring, we do offer all gold palettes! We have our Blaze and Cinders palettes, which are combinations of 18kt Yellow Gold, 14kt Red Gold and 14kt Palladium White Gold.

We also offer custom billets if you want to create your own combination!

We offer a few different options for the finish of your mokume gane ring, and each offers a different look and quality. One of these options is oxidation, where the silver layers in a ring are darkened to increase the contrast between the metal colors! It’s great for those who want a bold, high contrast look, and makes the patterning stand out more. However, there are some things to keep in mind if you decide you would like this finish, because while the beauty of mokume jewelry is that it is incredibly long lasting and low maintenance, this particular finish does require a little bit of upkeep. It’s a surface treatment, so it will wear off with time, though how long it lasts can vary widely depending upon your daily lifestyle and your body chemistry. 

We also always recommend going with an etched and oxidized finish rather than just oxidized. The etching doesn’t make the oxidation permanent, but it does a lot to help it stick around longer (and it also helps add even more contrast to the mokume patterning, so it’s a win-win)! Etching makes the silver layers in the ring sit lower from the surface providing some wear protection, without this the oxidation will wear off very quickly. 

Not to worry though, there are options to renew your oxidized finish and keep it looking fresh when the surface treatment wears off! You can use Liver of Sulfur gel (just follow the instructions on the container, and we can point you toward what to buy if needed). Or you can send your ring back to us for re-oxidation and we’ll get your ring looking good as new! 

We often get questions about metal palette colors, and we’ve noticed sometimes it seems unclear which metals are which, especially because the colors can look different in the context of different palettes! So we’ve created these diagrams of a few of our more popular palettes to help point out which metals are which. 

Making mokume gane is an incredibly complicated process that is truly a labor of love. There are a handful of quality mokume gane artists in the world that are currently making mokume gane rings.  The community is small, dedicated, and inspired. The reason for this is that it takes countless hours of practice and a great amount of hand and jewelry skills and tools to create these works of art.

When you buy pre made mokume stock, it has been produced by one of these makers who sell it in bulk to jewelry supply companies.

Most mokume artists offer a small range of palettes and patterns and the reason for this is that each change in design or modification requires more and more precision, skill and time. With each new metal combination the melting point, forging point, firing schedule, and more needs to change accordingly. For each of Arn’s custom orders he must calculate and take into account the metals needed, color, patterning, stones and settings (if applicable), and any other additional design elements. Each order is individually worked out and given the needed attention and time needed. 

Arn has become widely recognized as one of the best mokume artists working today. His work is in high demand with a waitlist of 3-9 months depending on the complexity of the design. We are so incredibly grateful that Arn is able to do what he loves and is experiencing such success and recognition for his work.

We can’t thank you enough for your support! 

When you order with us we place you into our work queue and we order your metal and stones asap. The time between your initial order and when the ring is started is dependent on how long it takes to complete the orders that have already been placed, it varies depending on how booked up we are at the time. 

Each order is different, and there are also vital day to day studio operations and tasks that have to be factored in as well. So we aren’t able to know precisely when your order will be complete, but we do understand that a general estimated completion date is needed, especially as many of our customers are intending to use the rings for weddings or other planned special occasions. This is why we give an estimated window instead of a firm date. Because we’re dealing with a large number of very intricate orders and we are a team of 3 we don’t correspond often during the wait time and will only reach out once your ring is complete with photos to show you. We are not able to offer process photos due to the nature of our shop and in the interest of not disrupting the work process, but if you are interested in seeing glimpses of the studio and work area please check out our Instagram.

We hope this gives a picture of the inner workings of the studio, making mokume and our practice, and we thank you all for your ongoing support and love for Arn and his work.

Interested in a custom order? Here’s some info on getting started!