Wearable personal ornamental items are widely popular in cultures throughout the world. Such items include, for instance but not limited to, watches, bracelets, and rings. Rings are widely worn ornaments used to decorate, for example, fingers and toes. Rings may be designed to fit a finger differently. For instance, “regular fit” bands include a flat interior. U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,053, to Seibenberg, reports “comfort fit” bands including a curved interior as reported in and shown in FIG. 2 therein. A ring interior including an annular circumferential groove is reported by U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,618, to Gefen.
Methods of fabricating rings and other jewelry items are known to those skilled in the art, and are set forth, for instance, in “The AJM Guide to Lost-Wax Casting” (MJSA/AJM Press); Mulock, J., “Cast-A-Way: The Complete Lost Wax Process for the Amateur or Professional Jeweler”; Romanoff, P., “The Complete Handbook of Centrifugal Casting”; and Romanoff, P., “The Art and Science of Centrifugal Casting Metal.”
Use of gemstones, enameling, engraving, and finishing techniques in jewelry has also been described. Gemstone-setting techniques are described in Wooding, R. R., “Diamond Setting Manual: Procedures and Techniques”; Wooding, R. R., “Diamond-Setting: The Professional Approach”; Wooding, R. R., “Bead Setting Diamonds with Pave Applications”; and Wooding, R. R., “Channel Setting Diamonds with Illustrated Procedures.” Jewelry finishing is described, for example, in Hoch, “Tumble Finishing for Handmade Jewelry.” Engraving of jewelry is described, for example, in Meek, J. B., “The Art of Engraving.” Electroplating and electroforming techniques are described, for example, in “Midas® Plating Guide,” Third Edition, produced by Rio Grande. Enameling techniques are described, for example, in McGrath, J., “First Steps in Enameling”; Werge-Hartley, J., “Enamelling on Precious Metals”; Cohen, K. L., “The Art of Fine Enameling”; and Matthews, G. L., “Enamels, Enameling, Enamelists.” Jewelry may also be constructed by die-striking or stamping, as discussed in McGrath, J., “The Encyclopedia of Jewelry-Making Techniques: A Comprehensive Visual Guide to Traditional and Contemporary Techniques.”
A secure fit is often desirable in a ring to prevent inadvertent loss of the ring. Preferably the fit of the ring is not so secure that the wearer experiences discomfort. Other personal ornament items may be designed to effect different fit characteristics including a secure fit similar to that desirable in a ring. For example, bracelets or watch bands may be constructed to have a snug, or tight, fit.
Although a tight fit may be desirable in a jewelry item, such a fit may cause issues related to ease of use of the jewelry item. For instance, a tightly-fitting ring may be difficult to put on or to remove. Once placed, for example, on a digit or around a wrist or ankle, a tightly-fitting jewelry item may also not be comfortable to the wearer. Previous attempted solutions for increasing the comfort of a tightly-fitting jewelry item, such as those reported by patents mentioned above, may not provide a level of comfort that is entirely satisfactory.
All patents and documents referred to herein are hereby incorporated by reference as if rewritten herein in their entirety.