she inherited a mid-century classic pearl and diamond cluster ring from a favorite aunt. it had been gifted to her by her uncle, an elderly gent. she knew she would never wear it as a ring and that her uncle would take great pleasure in seeing her wear it. she indicated she was more of a necklace gal so we pursued the idea to turn the ring into a pendant.
initially she was reluctant to take the ring apart because she thought it could never be redesigned while keeping the cluster center together. i also had trepidations because the ring had such a great flow and balance in classic mid-century style that would be a shame to ruin.
additionally, she had brought in several other jewelry pieces for disposal or re-use, one of which was a yellow-gold machine rope-style pendant chain! the classic chain perfect for this redesign.
i love the opportunity to really examine older pieces. understanding the construction allows me to be creative in the redesign process. her ring was very well constructed and of high quality, and we were pleased that it did lend itself to being taken apart and reconfigured. i needed to remove the pearl so the work being done on the cluster would not cause any damage to it. expert jewelers respect that pearls are organic gems and scratch fairly easily. pearls also absorb solvents, oils and contaminants easily, another good reason to protect it!
when the pendant was ready, she came right over
to me the ring top is like a solar system, a celestial design with a pearl sun and diamond stars. the ring had been attached to the tiered cluster at the center. when we removed the shank from the cluster (basically took the top off of the ring) we were relieved to find that it was uncomplicated to disassemble. using one of the “spokes” from one of the prong-set diamonds, we were able to create a hidden bail that i fed the chain through. the cluster design is so very well balanced, it hangs just beautifully and intact from the original.
when the necklace was ready she came right over. thrilled, she put it right on and planned to have dinner with her uncle so he could see what she had done! smiles all around. what a lovely referral from one of my customers.
- pearl, diamonds, 14k white gold cluster pendant on a 14k yellow gold classic rope chain (converted from a mid-century ring)
- location: Avon, CT
