Jane's aquamarine and diamond ring
Jane came to see me with quite a few pieces of jewellery that she has aquired over the years. She’s very lucky to have some fantastic pieces with decent quality gem stones set into them. It was was clear that her taste has changed over time, as well as her emotional relationship with some of the pieces. There are also only so many rings we can wear for the number of fingers we have: it made so much sense to amalgamate the metal and re-design her old jewellery.
Here are a few of Jane’s rings that we had to ‘play’ with:
Whilst sat in our Design Studio and looking at examples, I noticed Jane was drawn towards some of our simpler, more contemporary pieces with what we call ‘rubover’ settings. Through discussion and trying on samples, we started to build a list of ideas that all followed a similar theme and were starting to look like a really lovely collection.
I developed up a design brief specifically for her aquamarine ring and did a scale drawing so I could layout her diamonds and give both myself and Jane a really good idea of how it was all going to look. I think how a ring feels on a finger is just as important as the asthetics so I also wanted to check to wasn’t going to be ‘too big’ on her finger either.
Here are my design notes:
Jane had enough 18ct yellow gold for us to use for the ring shank and I suggested that we supplied some new platinum to make the head of the ring. Platinum is harder wearing than white gold and I knew her diamonds and the blue of the aquamarine would really pop in a white metal.
We could then proceed to the manufacture stage and our goldsmith Behzad set about melting and refining Jane’s old gold in order to then handmake her ring. I love how brilliantly he has interpreted my design and ensured that every detail is in keeping with the simplicity of what we were after. The detail of the profiling at the shoulders of the shank and how they join onto the head of the ring is spot on.
We’ve worked hard to find and maintain relationships with top setters and this is reflected in how immaculately Jane’s stones are set in her ring too. Her diamonds are ‘grain set’ around her aquamarine which is a really pretty style of setting whilst the setting edge offers some security from knocks too.
You can see above the picture that our goldsmith Behzad took of the finished ring and our portfolio pictures below that we are really proud of: a perfect ‘Petra piece’!
“I’ve been to see Mitch a few Fridays in a row now as we develop my new collection of fabulous designs, all made from my old jewellery. I just LOVE my new ring and the journey I’ve been on with Mitch. The coffee and chat is really lovely too!”
“We’ve all look forward to Jane coming into the shop, her enthusiasm is infectious and she’s been a dream to work with. It’s been rather special being able to help her create new memories from her old ones.”
If we’ve inspired you and you would like to discuss having something made yourself, please get in touch with us using the button below or you can contact us through Facebook messenger!
Or, if you still need a bit more inspiration, you can see these pieces and many other gorgeous designs in our bespoke collection here:
