I've made thousands TK rings cast and die struck. Also hand engraved them a lot. Since I started to make notes approx in 2005 I've made little over 10 000 rings. So as engraver I will say that no way anybody would engrave such amonts of rings in round (finished) ring. It simply does not make sense. Next thing is quality/structure of metal for engraving. Cast metal ALWAYS is porous and often makes trouble with engraving.
Please Hapur, why do you say that? You can obtain very good cast rings and engrave them without any problem. Even the cheaper way to make a copy can reach good results.
Anyway we need proofs, here proofs led us in one direction only: they were cast. It is not me, it is not a theory, it is the metal that speaks by itself. Rings tell us how they were made, not us to them. I've done nice copies trying various ways, and if you don't look at them with big magnifier or microscope, you don't see they are copies. Engraving is the minor problem if you really want to copy those rings. Until today I read only theories and words, and saw NO ONLY single evidence that TK rings were pressed or die struck. The reason is very simple: because they weren't.
Proofs pro stamping: 0
Proofs pro casting: 1) Base metal is matching with cast copies 2) edges are all irregular 3) no pressure signs 4) casting signs everywhere. 5) EACH RING shows different cast signs, no one is perfectly matching with another. These proofs are irrefutable.
6) skulls are cast too.
PS: this is the worst TK ring copy I've done. And it actually is one of the best copies I've seen around.
