The Lockshank® was developed in response to the many problems that expandable ring shanks present to both the wearer and the installer. After spending several years doing repair work in a mall store and being called on to repair a continuous stream of expandable shanks, Dave Patton, the Lockshank developer, recognized the need for a product to solve the problems he and his customers were encountering. He began building and installing an improved design, the Lockshank®, a simple, elegant solution for many of the problems he’d seen with other designs. The Lockshank® is easy for a jeweler to install and simple for the wearer to use, and its durability is superior in many ways to other products designed for the same purpose.

The Lockshank® is distributed by several jewelry industry catalogs available to goldsmiths and jewelry stores. In addition to the most common sizes offered through catalogs, the remaining sizes are available on special order, either by requesting them from the catalogs or by contacting Mr. Patton's company, De le Vin Designs.

Computer modeling was used to generate the three pieces of a prototype Lockshank®, then replicated to create 66 sizes. A metal mold was created for each piece, ensuring that each finished Lockshank® operates with the same clean, tight and reliable mechanism. The molds are injected with epoline, a plastic substitute for injection wax. They are then cast in the lost-wax procedure, assembled and finished for distribution.

Mr. Patton earned Graduate Gemologist certification in residence from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in 1976, and then completed an apprenticeship to a master goldsmith to become a custom hand-fabricator of fine jewelry. He has been producing Lockshanks since the early ‘90’s, and has developed a loyal following due to the consistency of the product and his fast response time in both delivering and installing Lockshanks®.

De le Vin Designs is a member of both the American Gem Society and the Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America.