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.

His future wife started by telling him that she didn’t want him to spend a lot of money and being with him was treat enough for her so whatever ring he got her was fine since she didn’t wear many rings anyways and she didn’t really care.  It didn’t take very long to figure out that it wasn’t that she didn’t care, it was that she didn’t know anything about jewelry and no one had ever taken the time to sit with her and find out what she actually prefers out of all the options available.  She had been in jewelry store before but was always so overwhelmed by the sparkle that she felt blinded and didn’t look any further.

I decided it was time to educate both her and my father-in-law a little about jewelry so they could see that what you see in every mall jewelry store isn’t all of what is available.  So I took them to one of those dreaded stores where they have everything and if you don’t know what you want you are in trouble.  The difference was that I was there to lead them through it and take notes as we went.

I took her directly to the solitaire case so she could see the different diamond cuts as well as different sizes.  She didn’t like a lot of sparkle and seemed to be attracted to rectangles so we looked at Emerald Cut stones for her.  I had her put a 1/2 carat, then a 3/4 carat, and finally a 1.0 carat emerald cut solitaire on her hand.  We then found out that she didn’t want anything smaller than a 1.0 carat stone!  So much for not caring!  I also showed her ascher (or asscher) cut stones as well since they are a step cut but with a few more facets than an emerald.  She didn’t like the aschers because they were square and she really wanted a rectangular stone.

Now that we had a stone shape and size, we could talk about her mounting.  She thought she didn’t want any side stones because, again, she didn’t like the sparkle of the brilliant cut stones and for the most part, that is what was in any 3 stone rings we saw–so we looked at solitaire mountings.  She looked at thin bands and wide bands and decided that she preferred a wider band on her solitaire because her hands are a little larger.

Now that we had done some research and found out what she liked, I could start designing!  She also knew she wanted a wave design in the side of her engagement ring because it is the tatoo that my father-in-law, brother-in-law, and husband all have and is kind of their family logo.  Because she wanted the design on the side, I knew I the band had to be thick enough to accommodate the design without being so thick that it would make the ring too heavy to wear.  After a few minor changes this is the design we settled on!

We also had to find a diamond for her to fit her design.  One of my vendors happened to have a 1.0 carat emerald cut stone and he sent it to me for her to look at.  The corners of the stone were cut a little heavier than most emerald cut diamonds which might be considered a flaw, but it brought the faceting into the center of the stone more and gave it a little added shine!  It was perfect.  A truly unique, special stone for a special lady.

I added a 2mm plain band that fit right next to the engagement ring for her wedding band, and voila!

I had both rings cast in platinum for her because she has a nickel allergy and should therefore not wear white gold and because she is sensitive already, I wasn’t positive she wouldn’t also have a reaction to palladium.

The rings turned out fantastic!  I hope she loves the finished product as much as she loves my father-in-law!

He wasn’t really sure about using a different metal but he trusted my advice and decided to give it a try.  The piece I designed for him was super simple without a lot of embellishment in order to keep labor costs down but it really highlighted his stone.  I used heavy prongs to give the piece a little added style and since we were using palladium the added weight wasn’t a big added cost.

I think the piece turned out really well and he was very happy when he picked it up.

He did insist on a platinum chain.