Bypass

Bypass

Bypass builds a crossover shank: two arms that rise from the bottom of the ring, drift apart along the finger axis as they climb, and pass each other at the top instead of meeting. The gap they leave is where the centre stone — or a bridge, or nothing at all — goes. It is the shape behind the classic bypass, toi et moi and open-top engagement rings.

The command runs from the ribbon (Shanks, inside the Cathedral group) or by typing ArtisanBypass. It opens on the library of saved styles: pick one to start from, or press Edit to work on the one already shown in the viewport. When you accept, the Bypass is baked as a parametric object and appears in the Outliner, so you can reopen and re-edit it later.

Finger Size

Sets the ring size the whole shank is built on. Every other measurement is applied over this curve.

Shank

The first tab holds the metal: the cross-sections swept along the arms, the rail shape, and the bridge.

Profiles

The arm is swept through a list of stations — each one a cross-section with its own shape and size, placed at a position along the half rail (0 at the arm tip, 1 at the ring bottom). The sweep interpolates between them, so a two-station list gives a plain taper and adding stations in between lets you swell or pinch the arm wherever you want.

• Apply All Profiles: makes every station share one profile shape. Sizes stay per-station, only the outline is shared. Turn it off when you want a different section at the top than at the bottom.
• Add profile (the orange + button): inserts a new station between the two ends.
• Station cards: one row per station. Each has buttons to edit, duplicate and delete it — the two end stations cannot be deleted.
• Station editor: opening a station replaces the list with its own editor — an asset preview for choosing or editing the cross-section shape, plus Width and Height in millimetres, and, for interior stations only, Position along the rail (0–1). Confirm with the tick, or close with the cross to revert everything you changed in that editor.

Shank

• Width: Width of the arm section, in millimetres.
• Height: Height of the arm section, in millimetres.
• Opening: How far the arm tip is displaced along the finger axis. This is the crossover — the other arm is displaced by the same amount in the opposite direction, so the number is half the total separation.
• Angle: Arc swept on the finger circle by each arm, in degrees (45–180). Lower values keep the arms short and steep, higher values make them wrap further round the finger.
• Rotation: Roll of the tip profile about the rail tangent. Only the section turns; the arm keeps its path.
• Tangency: Slider, 0 to 1. Controls how the arm leaves the ring — 0 continues straight, 1 flares it outward.
• Start Curvature: Slider, 1 to 8. The rail point where the displacement starts. Below it the arm stays centred on the band; from there it ramps up to the full Opening at the tip. Low values start the crossover near the bottom, high values keep the band straight and swing it late.

Bridge

A small piece of metal joining the two arms where they cross, so the ring is closed rather than open. The toggle in this section turns it on and off.

• Width: Width of the bridge.
• Thickness: Thickness of the bridge.
• Diameter: Diameter of the central cylinder that joins the two displaced halves of the bridge.
• Angle: Angle from the top of the ring where the bridge meets its arm.

Gems

The second tab sets a pavé run along each arm. The toggle at the top of the tab enables the stones; everything below it is inert while it is off.

Gems

• Start size: Diameter of the first stone of the run.
• End size: Diameter of the last stone. The sizes step linearly between the two, which is what gives the arm its graduated look.
• Vertical: Radial lift of the stones over the arm surface.
• Min Distance: Minimum gap between adjacent stones.
• Min inner width: Width of the seat cut under the girdles.
• Inner Height: Depth of that seat.
• Inner Margin: Metal left below the stones, on the inner side of the arm.
• Bright Cut: Height of the bright-cut edge between the metal and the stones.
• Start: Where the gem run begins along the arm.
• End: Where it ends, in degrees (0–180).
• Gem Shape: Round or Square.

Prong settings

Three mutually exclusive settings styles:

Without prongs — the stones sit in their seats with no beads. No further parameters.

Shared prongs — one bead shared between neighbouring stones:

• Prong height: Height of the bead above the girdle.
• Prong grow: Extra material added to the bead; negative values slim it down.
• Min diameter: Smallest diameter the bead is allowed to take.
• Prong distance: Transverse separation of the two rails of beads. Positive moves them apart, negative brings them together.
• End prong mode: Single end prong finishes each end of the run with one centred bead, Double end prongs with one on each side.

Scalloped — the arm is scalloped between the stones with cutters instead of beads:

• V-Cutters: Adds V-shaped divider cuts between adjacent stones, and enables the V-Cutters section.
• Boolean: Subtracts the cutters from the metal instead of only showing them.
• Remove Channel: Removes the channel left under the stones.

Cutters — the scallop shape:

• Start Height / Start Width: Section of the cutter at its top.
• End Height / End Width: Section at its bottom.
• Length: Length of the cutter.
• Move in Z: Vertical placement.
• Move Middle in Z: Height of the cutter’s middle, which bows the scallop.
• Shape: U Shape, V Shape, Square Shape, Trapezoidal Shape or French Shape.
• Mode: Both Sides keeps the start and end sections linked; Independently frees them.
• Shape Scale: Slider from 0 to 2, sweeping the section between round and square.

V-Cutters — the divider cuts, shown when the V-Cutters toggle is on:

• Start Width / Start Height: Section at the top of the V.
• End Width / End Height: Section at the bottom.
• Length: Length of the cut.
• Move by Normal: Displacement of the cut along the surface normal.
• Mode: Both Sides or Independently.

Drill settings

Two buttons choose between no drill and a round drill under each stone. With the drill on, its shape is set here:

• Allow Intersection: Lets neighbouring drills overlap instead of being clipped against each other.
• Show: Displays the drills in the viewport.
• Height Top, Height Crown, Height Girdle, Height Pavilion, Height Drill: The five vertical steps of the drill profile, from the top face down through the crown, girdle and pavilion to the through-hole.
• Size Top, Size Drill, Size Bottom: Widths at the top, at the drill and at the bottom, as a percentage of the stone.
• Gem Inside: How deep the stone sits into the metal.
• Type: Gemstone Shape, Round, Square or Hexagon.

Working with the panel

• Save defaults in the header stores the current parameters as the starting point for the next run. Right-click the same button to clear them and go back to the factory values.
• Save and Update write the current design into your styles library, so it shows up in the gallery the next time the command opens.
• Accept bakes the shank, its stones and its prongs into the document as a single parametric group and lists it in the Outliner. If the preview has not finished computing, the panel asks you to wait or to preview first.