a member of the mascara-and-manure set looked at her hand and then screamed and scrambled to search for her missing diamond.  a sad discovery after mucking out horse stalls, topping off water buckets, dumping muck buckets and setting grain for evening feed.  truly she was trying to find a needle (or in this instance, a princess-cut diamond) in a haystack.

they came into the shop, and he surprised her by replacing her original stone with a new diamond on the spot! it happens that they just celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary and are still crazy in love.

along with replacing the diamond, we performed additional work to secure it to the ring. it was decided to set the stone in a bezel such that the metal goes all around the diamond since the failed prong setting was how she lost the original stone.

now the ring is completed and looking marvelous!!

location: Suffield, CT

the original ruby and diamond ring was given to his paternal grandmother on her 45th wedding anniversary in the late 1940’s. she in turn passed it along to her daughter-in-law upon her 45th anniversary. and now on his own 45th anniversary, the family ring was passed on to his wife as well.

so the tradition of this family developed to pass along the ruby and diamond band on the paternal line upon the 45th wedding anniversary. a wonderful and unusual tradition but the original band has been well-loved and well-worn – too worn to be repaired. after 90-plus years of daily wear the rubies were damaged, some of the diamonds were missing and the ring was just in bad shape.

design notes with old and new ring parts

instead of duplicating the ring at great expense, the decision was made to capture the essence and flavor of the original piece using the diamonds where needed, replacing the rubies with new ones and – the extra special feature – we found a way to incorporate her original wedding band.

we created a new band with the ruby and diamonds theme plus the open floral pattern. in the original ring all of the stones were set in platinum with rose gold borders. in the new band the stones are all set in rose gold and white gold borders (from the original wedding band of the most recent recipient).

i love that the tradition is continuing and that i could be a small part of it.

redesigned anniversary ring in white gold, rose gold, rubies and diamonds.

location: New Hartford, CT

she had a sterling silver ring that she once wore. interchangeable glass and silver beads (remember those?) were the ring’s main feature. at long last she decided it was too much of a hassle to keep changing the bead. well, i am lucky to have Read more →

she does not wear a lot of jewelry but appreciates it and has some beautiful pieces, including a beautiful ruby and diamond pendant her husband had made to commemorate their two daughters. she wanted a piece to wear daily, not too frilly and nothing to catch. as a member of the “manure and mascara set,” she is around horses regularly so barn-wear is important!

but what to do when you cannot stand to have anything around your neck? when sometimes even your hair is too much to feel on your neck? we decided to repurpose the pendant into a simple band design ring.  the stones kiss each other set in bezels.

14k yellow gold mothers ring with one brilliant cut diamond and one genuine ruby.

location: Canton, CT

she lost her original oval brilliant cut diamond in her engagement ring. luckily the ring was insured.

what to do? what to do? what to do?! do not panic! here is how we handle getting jewelry fixed and ready to wear with insurance monies. of course to insure ones engagement ring or any jewelry, you would have had an appraisal to determine the value prior to getting the correct insurance policy coverage.

be patient… it’s a process…
you call the insurance agent to report the damaged or lost jewelry

the agent sends the information about the claim with the appraisal to an insurance adjustor

you call the insurance agent to report the damaged or lost jewelry

the agent sends the information about the claim with the appraisal to an insurance adjustor

the adjustor contacts a jeweler (me) to quote how much to “get the insured whole again” (yep, that is a  legal insurance term!)

i quote based upon the information contained in the appraisal on which your policy was based. my job is to get you whole again, to find the correct diamonds and to estimate the cost of the repairs for insurance approval.

you  can then decide to use the company’s jeweler or you own. well, you can tell them you want to use your own jeweler (me) but the insurance company may have a service they use and does not allow the choice. (i also get insurance work through insurance adjustor recommendations; some agents are aware of great reputation for repair services.)

i, the jeweler performs the work – does the magic. for this ring the center diamond was missing, but the mounting also has four round brilliant cut diamonds, two on either side of the center stone, that had to be accounted for.

you are thrilled to get your ring back!

at the end for payment, i bill the company directly or the you pay the jeweler at time of pick up because if the insurance company sends the check to the you.

the repaired platinum classic engagement ring pictured had round brilliant cut diamonds set in shared prongs. the new oval brilliant cut diamond is in a six-prong center set.  the client was a lovely person, who had a lovely original diamond. although it was sadly lost, i was able to find her an equally beautiful stone – smiles all around.

location: Avon, CT

don’t worry, her finger is fine! she tore her wedding ring set during a nasty encounter with a fireplace. the ring got skewed where her diamond was set into the crown.

wedding sets were very popular in the 1980’s. the wedding band is a wrap style with the marquise cut diamonds and it fits over the engagement ring.

this couple has been married for 30+ years so we needed to

• supply and assemble a new center crown
• set the diamond
• repair the tear… yes gold can and does tear with enough force
• reshape the wedding band wrap
• solder the wedding and engagement “set” rings together

her comment when she picked it up? “wow it looks like new!”

i love what i do

location: Canton, CT

she lost her original engagement ring and this solitaire ring is the replacement. from the top, it looks like a traditional solitaire engagement ring, but the under-gallery (not visible except from the side of the ring) is quite beautifully scrolled.

the diamond in this new classic ring is not new but is part of a continuing story for the family. the stone was from her dad, now gone; he had given the diamond to her stepmother for a domed ring she had made for herself. when dad passed, stepmom gave it to daughter to use in this ring, keeping it in the family with all the memories and tales to come.

i love what i do.

location: Granby, CT

it began with a call (a bit frantic) to the insurance agent, who sent it over to the adjuster, who sent it over to me for quoting and subsequently replacing the lost diamond in her well-loved ring.

yes, we had to replace the crown. amazingly, gold does wear out!

she chose the diamond from a selection i provided. the result is a new, yet familiar, well-loved ring and a new customer/friend!

location: West Hartford, CT

it began with three stones from both sides of the soon-to-be family… his grandma, her grandma and his mother. she really wanted to use all three stones but did not want a line of diamonds.

i carefully listened to what they both were saying, and when i pulled out this model it was love at first sight. with slight modifications and setting the three diamonds in bezels… voila! an unusual engagement ring using all three family diamonds.

i was thrilled that they found me on line and then came into the shop, but the most rewarding part of this process was being trusted with their treasured family diamonds.

location: West Haven, CT

he positively beams when he talks of his intended. i offered suggestions and guidance but he did the actual choosing. she has an etsy shop so i was able to get an idea of her style.

14k white gold engagement ring with a pear-shaped center diamond and six round diamonds on the shoulders.

referred from a fabulous group of guys. how wonderful is this? i predict a long happy marriage!

location: Coventry, CT and somewhere in Maine!