July 6, 2015: This morning at 10:30am, A. East arrived by motorcycle to Diener Studio. A. East lives out-of-state, and was wearing the belt buckle he designed and commissioned me to make in 2012.
A. East contacted me 4 months before his July 2015 arrival. This way I could fabricate the new component/addition for his belt buckle before he arrived. The addition had to be riveted. And the riveting had to take place quickly and successfully as A. East said "I can not separate from my buckle for very long.". Plus, he was en route to California.
On July 6, 2015 -- as A. East stood in Diener Studio -- he requested that a small hole be drilled out of his custom-designed and custom-made sterling silver belt buckle to signify the death of his father last September.
Next, a beautiful 14k gold heart made from his ex-wife's wedding ring and signifying the upcoming birth of his first grandchild was riveted on to add to the life journey symbolism of his belt buckle.
The little gold heart was made by melting the gold band, forging it into nice thick sheet, sawing the heart shape, filing and prettying the shape, adding a 16 gauge wire rivet to the back of the heart, gold soldering it in place, cleaning it in hot acid, filing and polishing the gold heart, drilling the hole into the belt buckle for the rivet, sizing the rivet and setting the rivet.
A. East was referred to me in January of 2012 because he was not having success finding a belt buckle maker to fabricate his idea of a silver belt buckle with "a small bike chain around the buckle" and incorporating symbols with personal significance. After 8 months of back-and-forth emails to clarify his ideas, I completed A. East's custom-designed and custom-made belt buckle in September of 2012.
Learn more about the first incarnation of the Belt Buckle here.
View the more of Kristin's commissioned work in the Commissions Gallery here. |
