He initially sent me this picture of a piece he must have either found on a different site or created on a different site.

He also told me he wanted Turquoise for the center stones and 4 diamonds on the side instead of 2 diamonds and 2 brown stones.

I sent him a render of my version of the ring he sent me.

The program I use to render my designs does not have Turquoise so I used Blue Topaz instead since the colors are close. He ended up liking the stones so much he asked to see what the piece would look like with faceted Blue Topaz. He was looking for a color not a stone so he wanted whatever would look the best in the ring.

He loved the look of the faceted stones and decided to go ahead with manufacturing using 14K white gold as the metal.

Even from the raw casting, I could tell this ring was going to be really neat.

When all was set and polished, the piece turned out amazing.

The client was super happy and said he would come back to me for wedding rings when the time comes! I can’t wait!

When I got the request for this piece I was amazed because the customer knew just what she wanted and just how to describe it. All I had to do was make it a reality.

She wanted a ring that looked like a braid with one of the strands covered in diamonds. I was surprisingly difficult to get the computer to make a braid considering that I’ve been braiding my own hair since I could reach the back of my head. Eventually I got it. I sent my client a couple of versions with varying widths, tightness, and curvy-ness.

She loved the tighter, curvier piece but wanted it a little thinner which I was happy to do. She decided to use Platinum for the metal and real diamonds for the stones.

The casting was a little rough with all the prongs…

but the finished piece turned out beautifully!

And she even asked me to engrave a super cute message inside the shank.

I recently had a client come to me who was looking for a band for her engagement ring. The problem was that her ring was not standard and she wanted to accentuate the unique angles of her ring.

She wanted a lot of extra sparkle in the band but she wasn’t sure if she wanted the diamonds channel set or prong set. I sent her 2 rendered options to choose from using her ideas.

She loved the prong set band with the curl to accentuate her ring. Every other jeweler she had gone to wanted to fill in the sides of her ring exactly where she wanted to accentuate it.

I sent the file out and got back he casting. Once I have a casting I start getting excited and for this piece it was particularly exciting. The casting was rough but I could already tell the finished product was going to be just what she wanted.

I sent the casting to the jeweler to have the diamonds set and to have the wrap soldered to her engagement ring like she wanted so the finished product would be one single ring for her to wear.

The finished product ended up looking amazing and she was super happy with the ring! It has 18 diamonds that are SI clarity and GH color for a total of 1/4 carats of diamonds total. The metal is 18K white gold to match the engagement ring. It’s always great to have an ecstatically happy customer!

I’m not usually someone to think ANYTHING is lucky but if I did, my lucky piece of jewelry would be a pearl ring.

When my grandmother died a few years ago, I inherited a bunch of her jewelry. The favorite piece of hers that I have now is a pearl and diamond ring. It is like nothing I have seen in stores and it has proven to be lucky for me.

I don’t think the ring has any actual special qualities, but when I wear it I feel sexy and pretty and like I can do anything–for me that feeling creates good luck.

The other day I was watching Rachael Ray and she was talking about gifts and things and she had two jewelry professionals in her studio talking about jewelry and what to look for if you don’t have a huge budget but still want something pretty. I was interested but had low hopes for her segment since usually people don’t say anything of real interest about jewelry on their shows. I was really impressed! The women that were brought on to talk about specific things to look for said everything I’ve ever said (it’s always good to be validated.)

The first thing they touched on was, of course, diamonds. They really focused on the cut of the stone. She said that if a stone is cut well, it can compensate for a slightly lower clarity and color. If a stone is well cut, it will sparkle so you don’t see the other things.

They also talked about gold and what to look for when you buy gold. I haven’t ever really talked about gold but I thought they hit every important point. A big determination for price of gold is the karatage. 24 karat gold is pure gold and you will probably never see jewelry made of 24 karat gold because it is too soft. The most common karat you see in the US is 14 karat gold. You will also see 18 karat gold in higher end stores and 10 karat gold in slightly lower end stores. In other countries you will see both 22 karat and 12 karat gold but those are generally not seen in US stores.

Gram weight is hugely important with gold, especially right not when gold prices are so high. The heavier the gold weight, the more expensive the piece. This generally means that if you are looking for a big flashy piece, it is going to cost a little bit more. You can find some chains with hollow links that will give you a big look without the weight.

It was kind of fun to watch a show with good information about jewelry that wasn’t too overwhelming but that was 100% accurate!

For a complete synopsis of the jewelry segment on the Rachael Ray show go to http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/save-vs-splurge-jewelry/.