Wood rings of Cherry, Ash and Love

A beautiful couple ~ Matthew and Janelle; and some excerpts from a lovely letter Matt sent us a few weeks ago.

"I will start by saying that life is absolutely grand right now (despite Janelle and I being apart for almost two months now). The rings produced by David and coordinated through yourself are nothing short of amazing! The shine and warmth of the wood is absolutely incredible!

"The rings have become a part of our relationship and our left pinkie fingers. I left for my specialized army training on 6 May and have been able to briefly see Janelle only once since then. It has been tough to be apart, but we use our 'magic' rings as a way to always remember that we are in each other's hearts and minds at all times.

While I sit in church without Janelle, I play with my ring to remind myself of the times that Janelle and I would go to church together and to remember that she is 1500 miles away playing with her ring in church at the very same moment. She always jokes and says that by the time I get back in October the shine will be worn off of hers! I can completely agree her!! They are very durable, however, so I think that they will be okay. We both absolutely love the rings (obviously!!) and would like to say 'Thank you' for all of your help in the process. It means a lot to both of us. There is a lot of work that goes into a couple remaining one in the light of an extended absence from each other, but the rings have helped tremendously!! "

Matthew designed their rings around the meaning of the woods. He choose cherry wood with ash bands. Their inscriptions are the email smiley faces used so often by these two in their extended absences from each other. :)

As a post script, I must say that this wooden ring blog is not so much about the wood rings that David crafts as it is about the people who come into our lives. Good and kind humans, one and all.

Rings on their fingers ....

These lovely rosewood rings were made with inlaid bands of Olivela shell.

Black wood and blue spruce rings

Black wood rings with two spiraled bands of blue spruce and oak.

Wyoming wood rings

A lovely couple from Wyoming designed these blue spruce and hawaiian koa rings with birch liners. They wrote:

" Dear Nicola and David, What a dream come true. Thanks for working with us and crafting such soulful pieces. You made this a meaningful process. Even more lovely is the superior customer service and friendship you have given. These are definitely ours, they fit comfortably and we adore the unique wood. We are both so happy to have rings we get to feel positive about. We'll be in touch, and as always are wishing you the very, very best. Count us as two more lucky and grateful wood clad people."

Thank you!! It is David and I who are grateful. We meet so many wonderful people who become real friends. This is truly joyful work. :)

New friends and their beautiful wood ring design

Many thanks to our dear Irish friends; Breda and Marc for the beautiful wooden rings they designed of Grenadilla with crossed spiraled bands of blue spruce.

Breda wrote: “The first thing that struck me was amazement at how on earth David can create such beautiful pieces of art made of such tiny pieces! I guess you don't fully appreciate that when looking at the photos as the mind is tricked by these larger images. He obviously has gifted - patient - hands. We just love the rings. They are absolutely stunning. They really are works of art, so very, very beautiful. Oh, and they fit perfectly! :-) How light they feel too - it's like a feather touch.

You know, of everything we have chosen so far for the wedding - restaurant, dresses, music etc, this feels the most special. You and David make a wonderful team.”

Wooden Wedding Rings in Costa Rica

"I cannot express to you the absolute joy you brought to us with the rings you made only for us, with the woods that emulated our love. Your handcrafted rings were a vital part of our sacred ceremony in Costa Rica.
I have attached photos to convey how amazing this day was for us, and your part in it.
After we returned, we found the rings to be such a bind between us, knowing that we shared the same trees, the same meaning, and the same spirit that created our rings.
Thank you again for brightening our lives."

Ancient Kauri wood ring with a black wood band

Ancient Kauri wood.

One new story and one very old story.

A lovely couple from Ohio contacted us a few months ago and asked if David would make them rings of Kauri wood. The couple specially ordered the wood from ancientwood.com and had the wood shipped directly to David.

The ring you see here is David's first kauri wood ring; his test ring.

Dusty and Erin's rings will be kauri wood with bird's eye maple liners.

Now for the old story. This Touch Wood Ring is crafted from reclaimed ancient Kauri timber that is aged from 30,ooo to more than 50,ooo years old. Ancient Kauri wood comes from forests buried at the time of the last Ice Age, which are located on the Northern Island of New Zealand. It is called the World's Oldest workable timber. Read The Kauri Story on the Ancientwood website. These points are from their pamphlet.

• The harvesting of Ancient Kauri is a very ecologically friendly practice.
• No standing trees are cut
• These incredible trees are excavated from underground and any disturbed land is carefully restored.
• Every tree grew for more than 1200 years.
• They stopped growing over 50,000 years ago.

This ancient Kauri wood is pretty spectacular stuff and it fills us with a sense of wonder to hold something so very very old.

Bespoke Wooden rings
meticulously hand crafted
in Canada
by David Finch.

Touch Wood Rings

Italian Olive Wood Rings

David just finished these rings incorporating olive wood sent to us by a couple who live in Ithaca, New York.

Katherine's ring is blue spruce and incorporates their olive wood as an inlaid band. Nate's ring is solid olive wood.

When Nathaniel first made contact with us he told us about his cousin's family in Italy who own a small farm with olive and fruit trees. "This farm is a special place for me. What's more, Katherine and I will be spending a portion of our honeymoon there." So with some serious effort on the part of Nate and his cousin d'Angio; a branch of an Italian olive tree has been transformed by David into Katherine and Nathaniel's Italian Olive wood wedding rings.

Dear Nicola and David,
The rings arrived and we couldn't be more pleased. They fit perfectly and are exactly what we wanted. Thank you both so much for your efforts. And thank you for providing such a beautiful alternative to traditional wedding rings. We just can't say enough good things...
Thank you.
Best wishes,
Katherine and Nathaniel

Koa wood rings with juniper heartwood and birds eye maple

This beautiful set of rings was designed by a young couple who work in the Peace Corps.

They are made of Koa wood, juniper heartwood and birds eye maple. Katie's wedding and engagement rings are a split design of Brian's wedding ring.

Stackable wood rings ~ just for fun

I thought I'd share a glimpse of my collection of tiny rings but please know that these really are 'just for fun'. They are very narrow (2mm wide) and David does not recommend a ring this narrow for regular wear.

David has made about 10 of these very narrow rings for me! I wear them in stacks of three and I just love to mix and match them. Depending on which 3 I wear, they can look like a solid ring when worn.

I especially like to use two black wood rings as borders for a center ring of koa or blue spruce or juniper heartwood. Some of these tiny stacking rings are lined, some are one solid wood. These have all seen lots of wear :)

An alternative to traditional wedding rings

When Brenda first wrote she thanked us for having this alternative to the traditional wedding ring. She said she'd known she wanted wood wedding rings for a long time. These beautiful blackwood and blue spruce rings will be winding their way to Jamaica in a few months.

She wrote "We love our rings... Everyone we've shown is very impressed as well. Not only by the beauty, but also by the idea of a wooden ring instead of metal. We'll keep in touch and send pictures of the wedding! My expectations have far been exceeded!
Thank you both so much!"

And you are both so welcome Brenda. It's been our pleasure!