Yılan Yüzük

Last night in jewelry class, I finished the snake ring that's been in the works for a few weeks. During the last class, I had begun to saw in the diamond design on its back and I continued it this class. Once done with the sawing, I filed into the grooves with the triangle-shaped file and added the design on the head. My teacher went over the lines with a small burr tool, added eyes and a small mouth, and then undertook the task of wrestling the snake into a ring shape. He brought out a large set of pliers that I'd never seen before, which he called "parallel",  and began to form the circle of the ring's band.

The snake morphed a few times before it settled into its final shape. At first, my teacher shaped it so that the head and tail faced away from each other and the snake looked as if it were slithering away. It was a beautiful and classic style, but a bit too long for my short fingers. So, after reheating the metal to make it more malleable, the snake was contorted to face its own tail, which curled in a balanced spiral. My teacher even managed to set a small black stone in the triangle shape on its head. The snake looked alive, as if it was in motion, on its way to sliver up my hand and into my sleeve... shiver! It was perfect.

And so, just as the Turkish saying goes, "Tatli soz yilani deliginden cikarir"("kind words will get a snake out of its hole"), a snake shape was coaxed into a impeccably sized ring... not with kind words this time, but with fire and pliers.