Wickenden Band
$680made to order
Odile Varga makes rings, earrings and chains in recycled 14k and 18k gold at her bench on Wickenden Street in Providence. Nothing waits in a drawer. Each piece is made after you order it, in three to five weeks.
The collection
Eight pieces, each cast or fabricated when you order it, hallmarked OV inside, and finished by hand. Prices include a soft linen pouch, a polishing cloth and a year of free resizing.
Ledger Signet
$1,450made to order
Halloran Emerald
$3,400made to order
Tidewater Drops
$960made to order
Tidewater Single
$540made to order
Marginalia Cuff
$620made to order
Quill Chain
$720made to order
Little Hours Pendant
$1,640made to order
Want the Halloran in sapphire, or the Wickenden in rose gold? Most pieces can change metal or stone. Ask at your visit and Odile will quote it on the spot.
How a piece is made
Every piece starts one of two ways: carved in wax and cast, or built straight from wire and sheet. Odile does every step at the same bench, which is why it takes weeks and not days.
- First week
A drawing, and the right gold
Your size is checked against a brass sizer, and the piece is drawn at actual scale in pencil. Recycled 14k or 18k grain is weighed out for your ring alone, so the metal you wear was never part of anyone else's order.
- Wax or wire
Carving, or bending
Signets and emerald settings are carved from green jeweler's wax with files and a heated spatula, then cast. Bands, chains and ear cuffs skip the wax entirely: wire is drawn down, bent around a steel mandrel and soldered closed with a small torch.
- Second to third week
Shaping at the pin
The rough piece is filed against the bench pin, the worn wooden wedge you can see in the photograph of Odile below. Hammered pieces get their facets here, one strike at a time, with a planishing hammer her teacher gave her.
- Fourth week
Setting the stone
Claws are raised and cut by hand under a loupe, then pushed over the stone and tightened until it does not move or sing when tapped. Pearls are drilled and fixed with gold pegs, never glue alone.
- Last days
Finish, mark, send
Sanded, polished or left with a soft satin, then stamped OV and the karat inside. You collect it at the studio, or it ships insured in a small oak box with a handwritten note about how it was made.
Custom, and heirloom remakes
Some of the best work in the studio starts with a drawer: a grandmother's band too thin to wear, a sapphire from a ring nobody liked. Bring it in. The first conversation is always free.
Engagement rings custom from $2,800
One free consultation at the bench, a pencil drawing, then a wax model you can try on before anything is cast. Diamonds are lab-grown or vintage by default; mined stones are sourced with paperwork on request. Six to eight weeks.
Heirloom remakes from $950
We test your old gold, lift the stones, and remake them into something you will actually wear. If the metal is too mixed to reuse, it is refined and credited against new recycled gold, so nothing is thrown away.
Wedding bands from $680
Matched or deliberately not matched. Couples are welcome to sit in while their bands are hammered, and a few have hammered a strike or two themselves.
"She turned my mother's wedding band and a chipped sapphire into a ring I have not taken off in a year."
"I proposed with a ring I watched being set. Odile let me hold the loupe."
Find your ring size
Pick the size you usually wear, or wrap a strip of paper around the finger, mark where it meets, and measure it flat in millimeters.
mm
Fingers swell in the heat and shrink in the cold, so measure at the end of a normal day. Ordering a stone-set ring? We will post you a free brass sizer set first.
About Odile
Odile grew up above her grandfather's watch repair counter in Szeged, Hungary, sorting springs into egg cartons. She came to Providence to study metalsmithing at RISD and never quite left.
For seven years she set stones for other people's names in the old Jewelry District, learning to work fast. In 2019 she took a narrow room on Wickenden Street, bought a bench that had already been worn smooth by someone else, and started working slowly instead.
She still answers every email herself, and if you visit on a Saturday there is usually coffee from the place downstairs.
"I want a ring to look better in ten years than the day it leaves my hands."
Care and sizing
Gold likes being worn. These pieces are made for every day, and a little wear is the point.
Pearls last on, first off
Put pearls on after perfume and hairspray, and take them off before the shower. Wipe with a soft dry cloth.
Rings off for chlorine
Pools and hot tubs are hard on solder and settings. So is gardening, for stone-set rings.
Free cleaning, forever
Drop anything you bought here at the studio and it gets a steam clean, a claw check and a polish while you wait.
Sizing
Not sure of your size? Use the ring size helper, or come in and try the brass sizers. Resizing is free for a year.
Questions people ask
Anything else, write to studio@odilevarga.com. Odile replies within two working days.
How long does a made-to-order piece take?
Three to five weeks from the day you order. Custom engagement rings take six to eight weeks because we carve and approve a wax model first. If you have a date in mind, tell us when you order and we will say honestly whether it is possible.
Where does your gold come from?
All gold is recycled 14k or 18k, refined by a family-run refiner in Attleboro, Massachusetts that certifies recycled content. Emeralds and sapphires are traced to the mine or the cutter, and the baroque pearls are freshwater, bought directly from one grower.
Can you remake my grandmother's ring?
Yes. We can reset her stones in a new setting, melt and refine her gold into something you will wear, or both. Bring the piece to a free consultation and we will test the metal, check the stones and give you a written quote. Remakes start at $950 when you supply the gold and stones.
What if my ring does not fit?
Resizing up or down one size is free for the first year. Plain and hammered bands can go further. Stone-set rings sometimes need a new shank, and we will quote that before touching anything.
Can I visit the studio?
Yes, by appointment Wednesday to Friday from 11 to 6 and Saturday from 11 to 4, at 214 Wickenden Street, Studio 3, in Fox Point. Request a time with the form below.
Come to the bench
Visits last about forty-five minutes. Try things on, bring the heirloom, ask anything. There is no pressure to order.
- Studio
- 214 Wickenden Street, Studio 3
Providence, RI 02903 - Hours, by appointment
- Wednesday to Friday, 11 to 6
Saturday, 11 to 4 - Write or call
- studio@odilevarga.com
(401) 555-0148
Thank you, friend.
Your request is with Odile. She will write back within two working days with a couple of times that work at the bench.