The ring was already a finished ring. However, you can make the same design by twisting two wires together. For welding the bead onto the ring, I used solid 14K gold wire. We wholesale that, as well as solid 10K and gold filled, on our website. You can see the range of thicknesses and metals here: stonesandfindings.com/?s=gold+wire&post_type=product
that's the brush - there's just a bit of soot and smoke. It happens more when the electrode, or the metal you are welding, is a bit greasy from creams or just dusty.
