Computers have their uses, but not when it comes to making the rings crafted by Eric Pless of the Titanium Rings Studio in Grass Valley.

The Web has provided a boost to his two-man business, to be sure. Pless now sells 75 percent of the rings he makes online through his web site www.tirings.com.

But he draws the line at the numeric-controlled computers that his competition uses to mass-produce most of the rings on the market today.

“I’m making this ring as a wedding band,” Pless said as he recently held up one of the titanium blanks he starts with.

“To me it’s just insane to buy something that’s manufactured,” he said. “Do you want something that’s handcrafted, or do you want something that just popped off the computer?”

Pless makes five rings a day the old fashioned way in his small factory behind The Center for the Arts, each ring customized to his customers’ tastes. He sells 1,200 to 1,300 a year.

Starting with blanks that are punched from titanium rods by a machinist, Pless sizes the ring, anodizes the ring to give it color, creates a distinctive design, and then inlays it with gold or gems if requested by the customer.

The finished product goes through a three-stage review before it’s sent to the customer, and Pless backs his work with a lifetime guarantee — protecting not only the titanium, which is practically indestructible, but also the craftsmanship.

Pless believes strongly in customer satisfaction. “It’s the only way to be,” he said. “Somehow we’ll make it work. We do a lot to satisfy a customer.”

None of this comes cheap, which is both the strength and bane of the business.

“We can’t dominate because we’re handcrafted,” Pless said. “Our prices are higher. I can’t compete with the low-ballers. Machinists who see our operation think we’re insane. They say, ‘I can have 30 of them out in the time you do one.’

“It’s not easy for me because I’d like to make more money.”

But Pless sees himself as an artist, and he’s not willing to create just another product. “Do I want to stay with something that’s easy, or do I want to make something that’s really beautiful?” he said. “I just prefer the art.”

Pless got high grades in his machine shop class in Vancouver, British Columbia, but had no intention of becoming a craftsman when he went to work as a painter. “I was fed up with 9 to 5,” he said. “I was a pretty unhappy interior/exterior painter.”

He ex-wife sold a line of rings, so he decided to try making them. “It was like a duck to water,” he said.

Pless initially made silver rings and beaded gems before he met a titanium sculptor at a show in Palm Springs. “I fell in love with the colors,” he said. “I started contrasting them with silver and gold. I still remember the initial excitement.”

He started his business 18 years ago, making ear rings in a home shop that he sold at art shows and street fairs. Pless eventually migrated to the rings he produces today.

Pless likes working with titanium, a metal usually prized for its strength and resistance to corrosion, because it is strong, durable and light. (Contrary to popular belief, a titanium ring can be cut off a finger in case of an emergency.)

“Titanium is a very tough metal to work with and it’s worth the extra time for the unparalleled comfort, feel and look,” he said.

Pless went online 4 1/2 years ago to give people an idea of the kind of rings he makes. “I wanted to create a catalog online,” he said. “I didn’t see it as a sales tool.

“Then a guy called me and said, ‘I want to buy this ring.’ That was the first person who found me there. That was 10,000 rings ago.”

Pless has a subcontractor, machinist Tom Gleason, working for him and doesn’t see the business getting much bigger, even though he puts in 50 or more hours a week. In fact, he would like to see more local walk-in business.

“This is a slow-growth business,” Pless said. “Being an artist, believe me, I’ve made some mistakes.”

<I>The Union staff writer George Boardman can be reached by e-mailing georgeb@theunion.com or calling 477-4236.</I>

Titanium is a chemical element found in numerous minerals and has characteristics that make it useful in a variety of industrial and consumer applications.

Some 95 percent of it is consumed in the form of titanium dioxide, an intensely white permanent pigment with good covering power in paints, paper, toothpaste and plastics.

Because of its very high tensile strength, light weight, extraordinary corrosion resistance, and ability to withstand extreme temperatures, titanium alloys are used extensively in aircraft, armor plating, naval ships, spacecraft and missiles.

<B>Source:</B> www.wikipedia.org