it had always been Nana’s intention that her wedding set go to her granddaughter, and so mom made it happen. she knew her son-in-law to be an incurable romantic, and indeed he was all-in on this special project.
i first met this family years ago when we rode at the same barn. flash forward to 2018 when she stumbled across my website portfolio where backstories accompany my jewelry designs and completed pieces. intrigued, she phoned about possibly getting her mothers wedding set redesigned to her son on law by a specific date … and the rest, as we say, is history.
the magnificent center diamond came from Nana Rose’s original wedding set. one parameter we established was that her daughter’s chosen profession made the use of prongs impractical to hold that diamond. regarding the design, she offered little instruction and was quite open to design ideas from me.
also, she was insistent upon reusing the gold from the rings. before coming to me she had actually taken it to other jewelers who said the metal cannot be reused. i also felt it was my duty to explain the cons. it is common for jewelry metal to be comprised of 50% fine gold and the rest alloys, which puts at risks the integral strength upon melting. the original metal was so very important to her that we proceeded, with an understanding that the metal may not be as pliant as is optimal.
new ring design and re-engagement
after reviewing several of my ideas, she chose the one that was my favorite as well. by the way, the son-in-law and his leap of faith in leaving the project to his mother-in-law and me screamed volumes. i didn’t really have to reinvent the gestalt of the ring, instead took the existing ring design and modified it.
i tracked down the mold for the original ring – it was still in existence! we melted down the metal from Nana Rose’s ring to find the quality only negligibly affected, which we took to signify total success. updating the ring, i used platinum for the bezel which is very strong. the modern bezel for the diamond is an exposed setting. exposed diamonds in profile are just beautiful with the light floating in and around the stone.
he waited until their anniversary weekend to surprise his bride with this ring. yes, they are already married; but he asked her again – tears, gasps and a resounding yes!
- 14k yellow gold ring with a platinum bezel and one magnificent 2+ karat center diamond
- Location: Colorado
