Engraved Engagement Ring

20 March, 2013 Leave a comment

Pretty simple to make, fiddly and time consuming to carve. The clients grand mother had a pair of diamonds, 1ct each, in a ring. It was broken down and each of her grand daughters was given one of the diamonds. The shoulder diamonds were an after thought. Unless circumstances make it unavoidable, I don’t like putting diamonds of the same shape but different eras together. In this case, the centre diamond is an old-brilliant cut from the 1920’s. To put it with a modern brilliant cut from post 1960 makes note of the combination. I sourced the old single cuts to go with the main diamond so as not to detract from it.

White gold and diamond, engraved engagement ring.

White gold and diamond, engraved engagement ring.

Details: 18ct white gold engagement ring. Main setting is bezel set 1ct old-cut with 3pt single-cut diamonds pressure set in the shoulders. Hand-made ring with engraved shoulders.

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Diamond Heart Pendant

11 March, 2013 1 Comment

One more for the road. It’s hard to get something I like in the theme area for this blog. Fiddling about takes up so much time…

This is a white gold pendant. Paved, as they say, with diamonds. They are 1pt diamonds and each has a diameter of 1.4mm, about 150 of them in a space 21mm wide and about the same high. It is about 5mm thick with a slightly domed cross-section. This didn’t take very long to make but it took daaayyysss to mark out, drill the holes, carve the claws and set the diamonds. This was a commissioned piece too. I went to the trouble of doing a drawing to scale and to size using CAD (computer aided design) with a rendering to give an almost photorealistic impression of the finished piece, all following the clients instructions. I had to be sure they were sure they knew what they were getting. Disappointingly, it was returned with no explanation, delivered by a third-party. I had posted it to the client in good faith without receiving payment, there wasn’t much I could do. I got the feeling that they wore it to a function and didn’t need it after that. It’s not the sort of thing that sells quickly, a puffy heart covered in diamonds, so I “gave” it away for the cost of materials to recover expenses. A big loss, but I did enjoy making it. A real challenge with all those little beads having to be carved out of a solid lump of gold.

White gold and diamond heart pendant.

White gold and diamond heart pendant.

Details: 9ct white gold hand-made heart-shaped pendant, claw set with over 150 1pt diamonds.

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Art Deco Bangle

11 March, 2013 Leave a comment

Another workshop piece while I learn the language of the blogger. This was for one of those customers who walks in with a pile of old jewellery and says “Make me something, anything. But, it has to be a bangle and old fashioned.” So you ask the question “How old fashioned? Fifties, twenties, 19th century…?” It soon turns out that they don’t want just anything. The diamonds were old cut and single cut so anything more modern than “art-deco” would not have suited – they can look a bit flat in contemporary design. Anything older than mid to late nineteenth century and the diamonds become too modern for the design. It’s either “art-nouveau” or “art-deco” to fit in with the materials supplied. This is the outcome, the first piece where I did everything, consult, design, manufacture and set.

Art Deco inspired gold and diamond bangle.

Art Deco inspired gold and diamond bangle.

Details: 9ct yellow gold and white gold handmade bangle. Old-cut and single-cut diamonds, pavé and bezel set with milligrain edging.

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