Method of making ornamental jewelry stones

A process of forming a decorative jewelry stone wherein a photographic film image, created by photographing positive artwork and being essentially transparent except for the image thereon, is utilized as the mold for receiving an uncured plastic resin in substantially liquid form. The resin is permitted to cure, the resultant partially formed article with the film portion attached thereto reversed in position such that a second amount of similar resin can be applied thereto to essentially embed the film portion therein. Since the film portion is essentially transparent except for the image thereon, the remaining portions of the film visually merges with the resin segments on either side thereof such that only the image is readily observable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to decorative jewelry articles and particularly to a 
novel process of forming such. 
It is known to embed actual objects including photographs within clear or 
partially clear plastic material such as commerically available epoxy or 
acrylic resins. In order to accomplish this, a first segment of the 
article is usually cast within a mold and, after hardening to a sufficient 
extent, the object placed directly thereupon. Thereafter, further 
identical or at least compatible resin material is added to the mold and 
on top of the object so as to completely embed such within the resultant 
article. The article then can be reshaped to its final form and, if 
necessary, polished or otherwise mounted or supported for its appropriate 
use. Such methods, although generally practiced, include serious drawbacks 
including the expense and often the unavailability of substantially 
identical actual objects to be embedded in those cases where substantial 
conformity is desired, such as in mass production. Another drawback is the 
obviousness and resultant cheapened effect of utilizing a photograph when 
the intent is to create the impression of having used original artwork or 
objects for embedding. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a process 
for forming decorative jewelry articles such as stones wherein the 
impression of having embedded original objects or artwork in the stone is 
created, yet, such is accomplished in a substantially less expensive 
manner. 
A further object of the present invention is the formation of articles as 
indicated immediately above, which process lends itself to assembly line 
production, that is, the repetition of a series of steps which can be 
easily performed by relatively unskilled labor. 
A still further object of the present invention is the provision of a 
process for forming decorative jewelry articles of the aforementioned type 
in which the necessity of utilizing separate mold elements is eliminated. 
These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by a 
method wherein a portion of a photographic film transparency formed from 
photographing an artwork positive and having at least one image thereon is 
utilized as a mold element and receives on the uppermost surface thereof a 
preselected amount of an uncured plastic resin which is either transparent 
or translucent and in substantially liquid form, yet viscous enough such 
that it hardens to form a desired article configuration while supported on 
such film portion. Thereafter, such segment with the attached film portion 
is reversed and a second preselected amount of a similar or at least 
compatible uncured plastic resin is deposited in a similar manner on the 
other film portion surface such that the completed article is formed. 
Inasmuch as the non-image parts of the film portions are substantially 
transparent, they visually merge with the resin segments such that the 
resultant appearance is that an original object or artwork has been 
embedded within the stone. 
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention shall become 
apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection 
with the accompanying illustrative drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Turning now to the drawing, and in particular FIG. 1 thereof, master 
artwork 10 in the form of a two-dimensional drawing upon suitable artist's 
board 12 or the like is shown in the form of a butterfly. The artwork 10 
is preferably colored and may take three-dimensional form or include an 
actual article, i.e. a butterfly, in lieu of a representation thereof as 
shown in FIG. 1. The upper surface or face 14 of the board 12 is unadorned 
except for the presence of the artwork 10 and is preferably of an even 
color such as white or off-white. 
From such master artwork, as shown in FIG. 1, a multiple image film 
transparency 16 shown in FIG. 2 is formed by photographing the artwork by 
a camera which reduces the artwork to the desired image size and 
thereafter repeating such photographic step the desired number of times 
such that when the film utilized for such purpose is developed, a film 
strip results which has a plurality of the reduced images thereon. The 
resultant film strip negative is then cut into sections and mounted on a 
glass backing to form a production negative which is thereafter developed 
so as to provide a positive print having the desired number of individual 
artwork images thereon. Thereafter, the positive photograph, i.e. the 
print, is photographed with a camera that bleeds out the background such 
that the resulting film transparency 16 reproduces all of the individual 
artwork images simultaneously but on a transparent background. Such 
individual images are referred to by reference numeral 18. Other known 
manners in forming a transparency 16 having a multiple number of 
essentially identical images 18 thereon may be utilized, such as 
photographing the original artwork so as to produce a single negative and 
then forming a plurality of positive prints from such negative and 
thereafter assembling such prints in a secondary master artwork assemblage 
which is then photographed to produce the multiple image negative or 
transparency 16 as depicted in FIG. 2. 
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4 in particular, a die set 20 is shown 
including a die 22 having a central opening or cavity 24 formed therein 
and defining a peripheral edge 26 such that the transparency 16 is adapted 
to rest thereon. The die set includes a punch 28 having a slightly smaller 
diameter than that of the cavity 24. The punch 28 is adapted to move into 
the cavity 24 as shown by the progression between FIGS. 3 and 4 of the 
drawing so as to sever a film portion 30 of the transparency 16. The 
portion 30 is substantially of circular planar configuration and includes 
one of the images 18 generally centered therein, that is, the multiple 
image transparency 16 is oriented with respect to the die set such that 
the film portion 30 severed therefrom by the above-described die-cutting 
procedure includes that portion of the artwork image 18 desired to be 
displayed in the final article. Obviously in the case of the butterfly 
depicted in the drawing, the entire butterfly would normally be disposed 
within the film portion 30 and in a centered position, however, with some 
artwork images only a part thereof may be desired to be displayed in the 
final article and accordingly in such cases the orientation of the die set 
20 is such that those desired parts are removed from the multiple image 
transparency 16. The above die-cut operation is repeated until the desired 
number of film portions 30 have been produced, that is, one film portion 
30 for each final article A desired. 
It should be noted that as the punch 28 moves through the transparency 16 
so as to sever the film portion 30 therefrom, it cooperates with the 
somewhat larger opening 24 of the die 22 so as to deform the edge of the 
film portion 30. The deformation caused by such coaction of the punch and 
die portions of the die set 20 results in a permanent deformation or 
reshaping of the peripheral area of the film portion 30 and specifically 
results in an upturned peripheral lip 32. In that regard the diameter of 
the punch 28 is purposely undersized an amount greater than is necessary 
to effect a straight cutting of the disc-like film portion 30 from the 
transparency 16 such that a permanent bending or deformation of the 
peripheral edge of the film portion 30 occurs to form the upwardly 
directed peripheral lip 32. It may thus be apparent that the central 
portion of the upper surface area 34 of the film portion 30 is of a 
generally planar configuration and such in cooperation with the upturned 
peripheral lip 32 thereof defines a shallow dish-like configuration. The 
film portion 30 also includes a bottom surface 35. 
Reference is now made to FIGS. 7 through 9 of the drawing in particular, 
wherein the manner in which the film portion 30 is utilized so as to form 
the completed decorative article A of the present invention is best 
described. In FIG. 7 the film portion 30 is supported in a generally flat 
position, with surface 34 upwardly disposed, by any known means and 
thereafter a predetermined amount of an uncured substantially fluid 
plastic resin such as commercially available epoxy resin is deposited on 
the upper surface 34 of the film portion 30. The resin 36 may be applied 
drop by drop from the nozzle 37 of automatic or manually operated 
dispensing equipment of known design (not shown). In this regard the 
surface tension of the plastic material is preferably sufficient so that 
the resin 36 assumes a somewhat rounded or bead-like configuration and is 
in part retained on the upper surface 34 by such surface tension effect. 
In addition, the resin, much in the manner in which rising bread will 
overlap the peripheral edge of a baking pan, slumps over the peripheral 
lip 32 so as to form a slight bead 38 which radially extends outwardly of 
the outer edge of the peripheral lip 32. 
The configuration assumed by the first resin material is depicted in FIG. 
8, that is, the resin forms a first segment 39 having a smooth, somewhat 
centrally raised domed shape. It should be understood that the first 
segment 39 is at least temporarily attached to the film portion 30. 
Thereafter, the partially completed article as shown in FIG. 8 is reversed 
such that the first segment 39 supports the film portion 30 such that its 
bottom surface 35 is exposed in the uppermost position. Thereafter a 
predetermined amount of a second uncured plastic resin 40 is deposited on 
the bottom surface 35 of the film portion in a manner similar to that 
previously described in relationship to FIG. 7. In this added procedure, 
the second resin 40 to some extend is retained on the now-uppermost 
disposed bottom surface 35 by reason of the outwardly extending bead 38. 
Upon curing, the resin 40 forms a second segment 42 which essentially 
merges with the film portion 30 and the first segment 39. By reason of the 
essential transparency of those parts of the film portion 30 not having an 
image or portion of an image 18 provided thereon, the resin segments 39 
and 42 essentially combine such that in the completed jewelry article A, 
only the image 18 is discernable therein, that is, the transparency of the 
segments 39 and 42 enables one to see directly through or at least 
partially through the article A and thus the non-image-bearing film 
portions 30 are not readily observable. In this regard, generally both of 
the segments 39 and 42 may be transparent, translucent, or a combination 
thereof, that is, one of the segments may be translucent and the other 
transparent so as to obtain various desired visual effects. 
Turning now to FIG. 11 of the drawing, a modified form B of a jewelry 
article is shown wherein support means in the form of an attachment stud 
50 is embedded into the article B in such a manner that it can be used to 
attach such article to ones clothing and the like as in combination with a 
clutch mechanism of known construction. The stud 50 includes a pin 52 in 
turn connected to an enlarged generally planar head 54. In this regard, 
the weight of the attachment stud may in some cases be useful to prevent 
the film portion 30 from becoming wrinkled or curled as may happen in 
certain cases as when the resin curing or hardening process develops an 
excessive amount of heat. It is desirable to prevent such wrinkling or 
curling since such may distort the image 18 provided therein, The weight 
of the member 50 has been found useful to prevent or minimize such 
possible undesirable distortion. It has also been found in some cases 
desirable to place partially completed articles such as shown in either 
FIGS. 7 or 9 under refrigeration so as to dissipate or reduce the amount 
of heat generated by the curing of the resinous material. 
While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure 
embodying this invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art 
that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made 
without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive 
concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein 
shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the 
appended claims. For instance, in some cases the normally partially 
finished article as shown in FIG. 8 may form the completed article, i.e. 
when the stone is used as the decorative element in a ring or pendant or 
when the article requires a substantially flat back as for mounting.