Alaskan Heritage: Materials with Grit and Heart
The family mine in Alaska
The Story
In early February, we received a commission from a client, Diana, who wanted to design a pair of unique and meaningful rings for herself and her boyfriend. We worked together over the next few weeks to draft the perfect ring for Diana that incorporated Alder wood (abundant in the Pacific Northwest), Purple Agate--her favorite color, a guitar string, and gold flakes that her grandchildren panned from their family gold mine in Alaska.
We thought the history and meaning of the gold was beautiful and asked Diana if she would provide us with some more information about this special material. Here's what Diana's daughter wrote to us:
My husband comes from a family of gold miners. They have a family-owned and operated mine in the middle of [an] Alaskan peninsula. It’s out in the middle of nowhere--very remote. They fly small airplanes to get there. The family all goes during the workable months of Alaska, those being May-October. They work hard all summer mining, with up to ten family members operating the mining operations and preparations. Other family members (like my kids) hang around, and learn, and play, in the dirt all summer long.
The gold is mined with a floating dredge. There are not really too many of these in operation these days. In fact, this may be the only floating dredge in operation in North America. We always say “maybe” on that because I guess there could be one somewhere out there. You never know.
Their dredge is a giant boat kind of thing with huge metal buckets. It floats along the river (a small section each season) and scoops up the gravel bringing it into the dredge where it’s tossed and turned separating out rocks and dirt…..and the final product is the gold. It’s pretty spectacular.
The gold I sent you was some that my kids helped to sort one summer while they were out on the mine. I can’t wait to see my mom’s final product. She is very excited about it.
The family's floating Dredge
The Ring
Alder Wood Ring with Purple Agate, Guitar String, and Heritage Alaskan Gold
We began by using Alder Wood for the ring base and inlaid Purple Agate that was sourced and donated by an employee. We then inlaid a salvaged guitar string and finished the ring design with Diana's heritage Alaskan gold flakes. We think the result is stunning.
If you would like to work with us to create a truly one-of-a-kind ring, don't hesitate to contact us via our commission form or reach out via email or telephone. We love crafting rings by working with you to create something we could never have come up with on our own.
Alder Wood Ring with Purple Agate, Guitar String, and Heritage Alaskan Gold
