Damascus Steel vs. Mokume Gane: Choosing the Perfect Metal for Your Custom Ring
When it comes to choosing a custom ring, there may be many choices to choose from. Whether it’s for a milestone birthday, to mark a special personal event like a graduation, or anniversary, or potentially the promise of forever in a wedding band, there’s simply nothing more special than a unique, one-of-a-kind jewellery piece to remember the moment with.
Damascus Steel and Mokume Gane are both incredibly popular stylistic choices because of the techniques used to make the rings and the finished product. This blog will explore both techniques, including how we prefer working with metals.
Where Do Damascus Steel and Mokume Gane Techniques Originate From?
Both techniques are centuries old and originally used by the warriors of the past. This technique has been masterfully used throughout history, and now it is used to create unique masterpieces that can be worn every day to mark the most important moments in life.
Damascus Steel originated in the Middle East, from 1000 until 1750. While there are a few techniques similar to that of Damascus, the most popular method comes from Damascus, Syria, where most products were created. The weapons created here were legendary due to their sharpness and strength, and the artistry continues long after the last sword was created in the 20th century.
Similarly, Mokume Gane was also created for warriors: originating in Japan, these techniques were used to masterfully create the Samurai Sword, a legendary weapon known worldwide. Steeped in history, the Mokume Gane technique favours precious metals, such as gold alloys, platinum, silver, and palladium. These metals make it a favoured choice to mark a special occasion.
What are the Differences between Damascus Steel and Mokume Gane?
Damascus Steel is made using stainless steel, an alloy of iron. Despite the material being durable and long-lasting, it is prone to rust and corrosion, which makes it hard for an everyday ring to wear. You have to treat it with the utmost care to ensure that it doesn’t rust: avoiding moisture at every possibility. Damascus Steel is also hard to resize, which means rings must be made to the appropriate size when created. This is because the ring would be damaged in resizing as iron is not a precious metal.
It’s an entirely different story for Mokume Gane.
Mokume Gane is made using noble metals. The softness of these metals allows for incredible patterns and stories to be created within the jewellery pieces. Our heritage and history is proudly Australian: a lot of the stones and metals sourced are from Australia. We offer a large range of colour combinations inspired by the vibrancy of the Australian landscape, like:
- Yellow hues are created from 18ct or 22ct of gold, reminiscent of the yellow sands that line this beloved land.
- Dusky reds using 18ct rose gold mirroring our iconic Red Centre
- Using platinum, palladium and silver, we pay homage to a crashing wave or the mountains in Australia.
Both have similar patterns and are created using the same techniques, but both have very different properties.
At Jason Ree, we use the Mokume Gane techniques and materials for our rings. This is because while the result can be quite similar to the naked eye, the materials used, quality, versatility and durability of Mokume Gane versus Damascus are incomparable.
At Jason Ree, we are artisans and storytellers. That is why we love to use storytelling in our jewellery pieces. The Mokume Gane is such a favoured style of ours, and in particular for Jason, who will work with you personally for every piece made. He will discuss the importance of this piece, hear your story, and walk you through the array of colours and patterns available. Then, he uses the unique special techniques of Mokume Gane to craft the piece together and bring your story to life.
With a Jason Ree Mokume Gane ring, all rings created are unique.
If you’d like a custom ring that speaks to your story, get in touch with Jason Ree today to begin your design journey.