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Suggestions for Functional Jewelry?
szyzyg asks: "I'm getting married and my girlfriend and I have been looking around at rings and not really getting anywhere. I have all sorts of high concepts about what this should represent and I keep coming back to the thought 'nothing which is useless can be truly beautiful'. So I've been fighting with the idea of how to make a ring which has some use beyond simple symbolism... concepts like using magnetic minerals to turn it into a compass, or engraving some sort of measuring mechanism into it. So here's the challenge I'm putting to the Slashdot bright idea machine: How do I make a simple piece of jewelry useful? Someone out there must have better ideas."
it's pretty ugly visually, but if you're more turned on by functionality then this peasant sundial ring might be the ring for you.
:-)
It's cheap too
Eventually after lots of pain she came to appreciate her original ring more than the regular engagement ring, but it took many months and quite a few girlfriends to say "wow that is a nice stone".
Now about the use of the ring, it sends a message to her: I love you so much that I'm happy to waste a few grand on you.
Lastly, sometimes the most beautiful objects are those with no use at all. The caves of Lascaux painted 15,000 years ago are one of the most beautiful sights you could ever see.
** Try to argue that M$ is other than absolute evil or that Linux could be improved here, and you'll see what I mean
http://www.ibutton.com/
It allows you to store cryptographic keys, and more.
Design a ring that uses that as the facet, and you're all set. Very functional, very useful.
GPL'd web-based tradewars themed space game
My wedding ring is pretty geeky -- it's titanium with engraving -- dots and vertical lines representing 0's and 1's, which spell out my wife's initials in binary (in 5-bit letters). I got it here; the guy that runs the place is very open into making custom-made designs.
;-) Now only if I could find a titanium hat -- the tin ones are so 20th century.
I had thought about actually using it for something, like an encryption key -- for example if I started at a certain place on the ring, went a certain direction and counted up 7 or 8 bit ascii words, I could get a passphrase after a while, a pretty strong one. At this point all I would need to memorize for a theoretically very long passphrase would be the starting location, direction, and number of letters.
Even if the men in black kidnapped me and found my ring, they would still have a hard time figuring it out
The concept that everything must have a function is indicative that you live in a capitalist society, which assigns value to objects which provide utility. That, which does not provide a function, is valued less than that, which does. I proffer, that a ring can be art for the sake of art without function and still have worth.
I assume you gravitate towards a utilitarian theme, as you are trying to avoid another vice of the capitalist middle class -- a flagrant display of wealth through the donning of ever-growing mass-produced gold rings with diamonds.
In an attempt to avoid both, my wife and I purchased our nontraditional rings at a modern-art museum. Thus finding something that didn't require the context of society to be of worth for its utilitarian appeal or it's perceived monetary value.
Good luck.
Linux : Mac
I find sundial rings appealing. You should find several at these sites:
o r a larger picture of the design is herel
http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/SUNDIALS2.HTM
http://www.uniquecanes.com/AstroKey1721.htm
Since this is something you'll be spending your life with, you might have one made by a jeweler. In that case, it could be designed for your latitude.
A cipher key phrase or a circular slide rule of some sort could be put into a ring also. Any slide rule should translate into a circular slide rule, but on the scale of a ring, it would be quite small, and so not terribly easy to use.
Not to be too much of a sanctimonious PITA, but how does your fiancee feel about this? This is an object that symbolizes your commitment to each other. While I wear a wedding ring that I made, I certainly discussed it with my wife, because this ring is about us.
You might try to find a phrase worthy of inscribing on the ring, if a plain band seems useless to you. That could increase the personal meaning. You might think of other designs you care about, or something you find unique and beautiful. Don't underestimate the importance of beauty and personal meaning.
OK, I spent enough time writing this that other people have made the same points. I'll risk redundancy, and say my piece anyway.
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
Rings with compartments were very common durring the late 70's and the 80's. They were used for storing cocaine.
... in fact I'm afraid that if I put forward a practical idea I might be modded down as on topic.
;-)
Still, I have no idea if this is possible, but would it be possible to make two rings that can sense when they are near each other and change in some way? Let see now, transmitter, reciever, power source (tiny solar cell?) indicator (led? heating element? not a noice or a vibration otherwise it'll drive you mad being together) - it might be just do-able. The japanese are fond of those badges that do this.
Problem will be size of course, so perhaps this idea is not practicable, unless you both have big hands.
OK, then, perhaps you need something mechanical. Hmm. Perhaps something that you get when you fit both rings together? A key, perhaps?
Best suggestion so far is the guy with his SO's name engraved on one of those cool titanium rings. Sequence her DNA and write that on it!
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
We found a local jewler and asked if he could fashion two gold rings in the shape of a mobius strip (a one sided one edged object). We showed him, out of paper, what a mobius strip was and what it could do. A month later, and for a total cost of $90 (in the 80's) we had two rings with a half twist. To make the rings comfortable and keep the twist in a certain place he had slightly flattened the underside of the ring so that it wouldn't ride around on our fingers. (for those interested, to make a one sided one edged solid gold object he created the twist in a mold and then poured the gold into the mold.)
I always liked the mobius strip rings... there is certainly symbolism in them (no 2 sides, but 1 side... 2 people working together as 1, etc...). Nobody else had anything like them and they were quite attractive.
Aloha Nui Loa for your upcoming wedding - hope to see you honeymoon here on the active volcano in Hawaii.
Embossed Holograms (the type that appear in credit cards) are produced by making a nickel shim from the original hologram (in photoresist) via electroplating Gold is sputtered on the resist and nickel is electroplated. If gold is built up instead a shim with the relief structure could be generated and incorporated into a gold ring. With a thin layer of protective material (perhaps a diamond CVD film) the ring could be extremely durable. A 3d image could be generated or a pattern that would be projected by a laser pointer. Very unique.
If you want something cool, look at getting her a puzzle engagement ring. Those things are cool AND fun.