Two engagement rings made with special meaning.
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This is a really lovely commission that I’ve very proud to have made.
I was commissioned to make two engagement rings for a couple. They wanted three stones in each of differing sizes. They wanted the largest stone to be a diamond and two smaller birthstones, one for each of them. At the start of the commission they said they wanted something that connected the two rings in some way but they weren’t sure how to do that. We looked at different designs in the shop and it was clear that they had slightly different styles and tastes to each other. They did though find one ring style that appealed to them both.
They wanted some small changes to the design so I created sketches for them to see what the changes they wanted would look like. When they saw the drawings for their commission however, they said although they liked the design they felt they wanted something no one else had and they started sending me images of other rings they liked online. We discussed back and forward why the designs they were sending conflicted with what they wanted which was a unique ring that was special to them so I asked them to let me design a ring just for them. All I needed to make it personal was something personal about them as a starting point for me to work with. This can be a really challenging thing for a customer to think about but I really can’t make something personal for someone if I don’t know anything about them. The design process is about going on a journey and not knowing necessarily knowing the route that journey will take. It’s a process that requires both trust and faith.
They said to me that the month they met was February. I researched February and found out that it is associated with purity. It comes from the latin word “to make pure”. It is linked to new life and new beginnings which seemed perfect to me. I checked with them if they like the idea of the rings being based on this before doing more work which they did.
I researched purity and kept coming across references to purifying using water or fire. The little sketches I was making as I researched made me realise that the symbol for a rain drop was very similar to the symbol for fire only fire has an inward curve at the top of the shape on one side. I like the idea of the fire and water as they are opposites but have similarities and this reminded me of how they had been in the first consultation having differing tastes but finding one ring they both liked. I then checked their star signs because they had told me their birthstones and by coincidence one of them was a water sign and the other a fire sign.
I designed two rings, one based on water with the November birthstone, blue topaz, bigger than the August birthstone, peridot. The other was designed based on the curves of a flame with the peridot larger. Both have a diamond as the main stone and are made of white gold. On the inside, the date they met is hand engraved in Roman numerals. Although the shape of each ring is different I think you’ll agree they look like a set.
The couple were delighted with their unique rings. The whole process took a little longer than just buying a ring off the shelf but I know that they mean so much more to them.