There are 3 methods to making a signet ring and they include hand-engraving, wax carving, and 3D CAD design. Hand engraving is how signet rings were made many years ago. This involves taking the ring and using a process called chasing to create the pattern in the gold or platinum. The jeweler uses a small tool called a graver and proceeds to carve the pattern much like a sculptor. Benefits to the process include definition, detail and lustre. When precious metal is hand-carved it also becomes bright cut or diamond cut in its appearance, this is what creates the lustre. Wax carving is when a jeweler takes a cube of wax and whittles the material away until the ring and the carving are remaining. Once the wax is completed a mould is made of the wax and then the precious metals are injected into the mould.
Benefits to wax carving are mostly cost savings as this is the most time saving of all processes. 3D-cad is when a craftsman uses computer aided design software to create a model which is then sent to a CNC mill or prototyping machine to create prototype for casting. The benefit of 3D-CAD is that it provides the fine detail of the work and also designs the capability. CAD software allows the user to create anything the mind can dream up.