With This Ring » Wedding Ring & Engagement Ring Education

I have always loved to make things and more importantly customize whatever I had that someone else may have also had.  My stuff always needed to be different.  As a mechanic,  I have always worked with metals and with my hands. Jewelry was just much much smaller but lots of similarities. Believe it or not,  it was a very natural progression.

Photo by: Claudia Chandler

My name is: Rich Sandomeno
Based in: Los Angeles (Echo Park), California
I work as a: Jewelry & Accessories designer/ fabricator
If I’m not doing the above, I’d be:
working in the conservation department in the Museum of Natural History in NYC, tending to the taxidermy and skeletal specimens….
On my day(s) off, you’ll find me:
who has days off? just kidding, working on my 1930 Model A Hot Rod, at a swap meet or flea market with my wife to be!
I’m often inspired by: everything I see, the world is my muse!
My fridge always has: rice milk, eggs, fresh veggies, leftover Thai
Two songs from my current playlist: No More of That by Stiff Little Fingers & The Cat the Crow and the Snake by The Billy Nayer Show
The best place to eat carp jerky in LA is down at the L.A. river
Love is: the last place I thought I would ever be
If I could pick anyone to be my date to a wedding, I’d go with: my fiancee
If I only have $10 for a wedding gift, I’d get: the ingredients for a pancake breakfast in bed
My drink of choice when giving a toast: sparkling apple cider
If you see me at a wedding, it definitely wont be during the garter toss
Word of advice: be careful what your wish for, you just might get it!

Spragwerks is such a unique & interesting name, what is the story behind the name?
I used to be an industrial diesel mechanic. A coworker and I were on a job overhauling a pair of 12-cylinder engines in an old 110-foot motor yacht. The job was tough. The engine room where we were working was hot and the space was really tight. There was also a lurking captain on the ship, a drunk, who kept poking his head in the engine room, going on and on about “sprag” clutches he used to rebuild for Ford in the olden days. To say he was annoying would be a major understatement. After about a week, we started calling him “Captain Sprag” We still goofed about Captain Sprag and his antics long after the job was done.

Fast forward to 2002: I had been making jewelry for around seven or eight years, mostly for myself and my friends. As my work started to get noticed by friends, and friends of friends, I realized that this could be something that I could pursue on a more serious level. I knew the business needed a name, something that embraced my love for machines, decaying urban surroundings, the obscure, and the organic, as well as my odd sense of humor. The word “sprag” kept popping into my head, so I went with it. I bounced between different names, when, finally, a friend suggested I add “werks” to the end. “Spragwerks” was born.

What attracted you to jewelry-making & design?
I have always loved to make things and more importantly customize whatever I had that someone else may have also had. My stuff always needed to be different. As a mechanic, I have always worked with metals and with my hands. Jewelry was just much much smaller but lots of similarities. Believe it or not,  it was a very natural progression.

Please provide a short description of your style & the aesthetic of your pieces
My prior career as a heavy-duty diesel mechanic, as well as my upbringing in the post-industrial wasteland of northeastern New Jersey,clearly informed my aesthetic. My work explores the tense intersection of the organic by the industrial, and particularly the consumption of one by the other.

What kinds of materials do you mostly work with?
As far as metals go,  Sterling Silver and 14/18K Gold, as well as a variety of precious and semi precious stones. As for models, anything from wax, to beetles and everything (literally) in between!

Compared to other pieces of jewelry, is there anything different or unique about designing & creating wedding bands?
Having the opportunity to make someone’s wedding bands or engagement ring, is such an honor. Particularly if you have ended up at my shop you’re looking for something special, something unique, and having a part in that is an experience that words just can’t describe. That and making something that represents a commitment that is till death. Come on, it doesn’t get any better than that.

If you could design a piece for anybody, who would it be & what would it be?
For my Grandparents, Jean and Paul Sandomeno, two of my most favorite people in the world. Matching 18k hand forged gold bands, both simple and exquisite!

Do you own/wear rings (or other jewelry)? Please pick one/a few of your favorites & describe it for us
Yes I do, a few of them. The first and favorite is an enormous (size 13) skull ring (3.5 ounces of silver). I sculpted it to be used in something else. I liked it so much that I made a ring out of it! I have had a fascination with skulls my entire life (literally), for me that’s what it symbolizes; my life and the people ,places, and things within it. I also have a vast collection of belt buckles (all Spragwerks), most of these are cast from random car and motorcycle parts.

Anything else you’d like to share?
I absolutely love what I do, it is my life’s passion. One of my favorite parts of doing what I do is working with other people, helping them create something one of a kind. Over the years, I have earned a reputation for making jewelry that is off the beaten path. Your imagination pushes me to be a better artist and designer.

[More of Spragwerks & Rich Sandomeno's custom-handmade rings]