Honest Hands Ring Co. is what happens when a mechanical engineer and trained machinist finds the love of his life but cannot find a wedding band that matches the look and sentiments he wants.
The Morrison, Colo.–based company originated as a hobby after Benjamin Bosworth made his own ring to get married in 2016. He used titanium, which appealed to him as an engineer, and black walnut, the kind of wood his grandfather primarily had on his farm. With Honest Hands, Bosworth creates rings that incorporate personal objects from clients. He says he’s fascinated by the process of handcrafting rings and working with clients to add their treasured belongings to the metal they select.
For one client, Bosworth made a ring using the key to their grandfather’s Chevy—a work truck that was special to the whole family. Other favorite projects have involved the blade of an ice skate, a plant fossil, an arcade token, a vinyl record, and Michigan’s state rock, the Petoskey.
Bosworth recently finished a ring that includes material from the Apollo 11 lunar module, the very one that Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the moon in 1969. The customer had won some gold foil from the lander in an auction, and he already owned a piece of moon rock—Bosworth designed a ring inlaid with both, with the gold foil banding around the middle. The ring was cast in black zirconium, to simulate the darkness of space.
“Clients always send me things that I have never used before, and we have to figure out how to make a ring that not only has those materials in it but looks good,” Bosworth says. “People want a talking piece. The coolest thing is when people get married [and] everyone wants to know more about your ring.”
So how does a guy from Michigan go from majoring in mechanical engineering to designing cars and bicycles to founding a fine jewelry company in Colorado? It’s a fun story that involves luck, love, and a willingness to change.
As a student at Michigan State (he graduated in 2013), Bosworth worked on the university’s Formula racing team, helping design the chassis and steel frame for its race car. After college, he got a job in design and analysis engineering for Pratt Miller, a Michigan-based business that created concept vehicles for the automotive industry. He also cofounded Type 2 Cycles, a side hustle making custom hand-built, high-end bicycles.
Pratt Miller was a great gig, Bosworth says, but he had to pull up stakes when his wife, Karen, got her dream job in Colorado (she is a bridge inspector—really!). He was already getting requests for specialty rings from people who’d noticed and admired his wedding band, and even from strangers who reached out.
He’d formally turned his sideline into the Honest Hands company in 2018. By March 2022, ring requests were taking up so much time that Bosworth quit his engineering job and went full-time on Honest Hands. Recently, he purchased his own commercial space and hired two full-time employees so the company can produce rings faster and better.
“I’m so thankful for this opportunity—I was in the right place at the right time,” Bosworth says. “I’m thankful I can bring on a good team as well, all people who are passionate about this craft and care about manufacturing. My team members aren’t jewelers either. They’re people who are perfectionists and have great attention to detail.”
Honest Hands does lean manufacturing, which allows Bosworth to keep costs in line with other jewelry brands, maintain quality, and produce unique rings in a timely fashion, he says. It’s become his dream job.
“I would never consider myself an artist, but through the function of making the rings and the process, I am making art,” says Bosworth. “I just wanted to make something for myself, and through word of mouth, other people wanted the same thing.”
Top: Benjamin Bosworth founded Honest Hands Ring Co. after the wedding ring he created for himself inspired others. (Photos courtesy of Honest Hands Ring Co.)
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