A while ago I learnt that a few 3d printing services will do the entire process of lost wax casting metals. I always thought it'd be a cool idea to have a piece of jewellery which used a tritium vial to glow in some way. A friend suggested the phial of Galadriel with its attendant flower and vine gilted stand from the Lord of the Rings films, which seemed like a good fit considering the phial glows with the light of Eärendil's star. My 3d modelling experience is fairly limited but I eventually produced a design I was satisfied with.

The result of a lot of learning
The result of a lot of learning

I sent the design off to Shapeways, bought some cubic zirconium stones of the size and cut I'd designed for, and found someone selling a Tritium vial in the right size. I chose white for the vial which I thought would go well with the clear stone and silver ring body, but it does mean it's one of the weaker brightness vials available. The final product is shown below.

ring with tritium vial visible
Side view showing the tritium vial sitting right underneath the stone and the surprisingly high resolution of the fine details.

The hardest part of putting all the pieces together was installing the stone in the claw setting. I've read that jewellers use needle files and have specialised tools to prevent scratching when manipulating the claw prongs. In my case, I used confusion and unsuitable other tools. In any case, the final setting feels secure and looks pretty darn good.

Ring claw setting
A little out of focus but you can see the six sided claw setting and importantly, you can't see the tritium vial from above.

The illumination from the Tritium vial works better than I'd hoped. From the side it shines and reflects through the ring body and from the top it sparkles through the zirconium stone. Anyway, it's been a fun project. Props to Shapeways for an impressive and relatively cheap service.