The Reinvention Of An Old Friend

“I love the stone but I hate the mounting! “

I hear it all the time.  You buy a piece of jewelry, and you love it.  But over time (for whatever reason) you find that it’s always just sitting in your jewelry box.  It just seems to get passed over like Cinderella ‘s sisters were.  Well, this isn’t a fairytale; it really happened.

We talked at length about what was wrong with the old design.  This story really begins with an idea that I had which was to keep part of the original setting.  We decided to turn the large Kunzite east/west across the finished ring.   We are both fans of Celtic and Art Nouveau designs so we decided to follow those themes too.  We see here how the design is refined in the carving of the ring wax model.

There were lots of variables in the design, and I felt that I wanted to experiment with the design details.  We have worked on numerous pieces, and I knew the wax would communicate better than a drawing in this case.  You can see all of the physical characteristics of the ring better in an actual model.   So I wasn’t surprised when the first design was vetoed.  Here is a photo of the second idea in  wax in a rough transitional  state. The great thing about a wax model is that you can get “a do over”.

Here is the finished wax ready for viewing approval.  The Celtic knot design added a theme and detail to the ring that wasn’t in the previous design.  I always enjoy collaborating with a client because it is very satisfying to end up with a shared vision while working on a custom piece.

Here you see the new finished jewel!  The Kunzite comes alive and exhibits the importance it deserves.  The large 18K yellow-gold mounting frames the gem and diamonds.  The Celtic design personalizes the ring and adds its historic feeling of beauty and craftsmanship.  The setting also has the ergonomics to keep it from rolling on the finger.  That was a major problem that we wanted to alleviate.

Was it worth it?  Well, you decide.