Karen's Arabian Star Ring

My regular blog followers will remember my trip to the United Arab Emirates last year. I came home gushing over the fantastic artworks of geometric patterns which adorn the facades of buildings, bridges and street lamps there. At the time, I posted a "pattern inspiration" story with a montage of some of my favourite pattern pictures from Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

 

One of my lovely readers, Karen, was considering commissioning a ring from me when she spied a particular pattern amongst my montage. That pattern was a snap shot of a small section of a bridge, which I myself was particularly taken with.

 

The Inspiration- Souk Al Bahar Bridge (Central Dubai)

 

Full of Arabian inspiration, Karen used the octagon and star features from the latticework on the sides of the bridge to draw up the below computer generated image of a ring concept.  

 

I opened the email from Karen and was immediately excited about the idea. Soon we were meeting up to work out the finer details of the design. Karen selected a combination of white and rose gold with a mix of champagne and white diamonds. I can't go past a gorgeous Australian champage diamond. This arrangement is so similar to my own wedding ring, that I knew I would love the results.

Thanks Karen for sharing in my passion! I really do adore your design and it was my pleasure to turn your drawing into reality. Enjoy wearing it.

Love from The Jeweller. xx

The Lapis Lazuli Ring for Cath

Late last year Cath asked me to make her a ring for a significant birthday. She indicated that she liked some of my past creations with rectangular stones, and also that she liked blue coloured gems. Lucky for Cath, I had a gorgeous rectangular piece of lapis lazuli in my gem box which fit the brief nicely.

Choosing the gem is the best place to start. The features of the stone became the inspiration behind the metal design which holds the gem in place. On this occasion, tiny gold flecks amongst the deep blue colour of the lapis, led me to suggest a yellow gold setting would be fitting around the stone. To the concept we then added a sterling silver band, both to keep costs down, and to tie in with Cath's usual choice of silver jewellery.

Stone selected, metal chosen, onto the design!

Cath’s preference was for something in an old-fashioned style. She isn’t into anything too flowery or girly. Again, inspired by the stone, I settled on an art deco style to compliment the long, straight lines of the rectangular-shaped lapis. The lines of the ring are strong and clean, with little geometric detailing on the sides of the setting.
 

Over the weekend Cath collected her ring and looked thrilled as she glanced at it upon her hand.
It always gives me a little kick to see a finished piece on the new owner.
Thanks for the order Cath. Enjoy that ring!

Love from The Jeweller. xx

The Dream Ring for Jenni

Jenni and I met at the Old Bus Depot Markets as fellow stall holders back in 2008. As well as adding several Japonicity designs to Jenni's wardrobe over the years, I remodelled her engagement ring a few years ago. You might even remember Jenni from my story, "The Ring With Bite" last year. So when she decided that she wanted a big ring for her 40th birthday, I was lucky to be first in line for the job.

Jenni had always wanted a one carat diamond but had never been able to afford (or justify) the expense. Her husband's recent purchase of a very fancy motorcycle gave her the extra incentive she needed to spoil herself with the purchase of a dream diamond. Her darling husband offered to then pay for the making of the ring to hold said stone as her 40th birthday gift.

After months of looking at diamonds and different design aspects, Jenni drew up a rough sketch of the design she wanted me to make (shown below).

The next step was to find that perfect diamond. I ordered in a selection of stones from which Jenni chose a breathtaking 1.11 carat beauty.

With a couple of weeks up my sleeve before the special birthday, I set upon creating Jenni's ring. Around the stone is a solid and strong platinum setting. The band is hand carved in 18ct yellow gold. The result: Jenni's dream ring.

It was with great excitement that I handed Jenni's ring over to her husband the week before her birthday. She wasn't allowed to see the results until the actual day. Sure enough, at 8am on Jenni's birthday I received a text message with a single phrase, "It is just stunning, thank you so much!". A couple of days later, another text came through, "I have been staring at my ring for days now and am so happy, love it!!"

You are very welcome Jenni. Thank YOU for giving me the chance to work with that incredible stone and make your dream ring.

Love from The Jeweller. xx