There's something I really enjoy about working with sentimental jewelry. You never quite know what you're going to get, and sometimes the stones themselves end up dictating the design.
That was definitely the case with Joanna's wedding ring.
Joanna came to me with ten tiny baguette diamonds from one of her mom's rings. She wanted to reuse them in her wedding ring, which I loved.
The diamonds were small, thin baguettes and at first glance they all looked pretty similar.
They weren't.
Designing Around Ten Different Diamonds
When you're working with stones from an existing piece of jewelry, you can't assume they're all exactly the same size.
Once I started looking more closely at Joanna's diamonds, there were slight variations between them. That meant I couldn't simply design ten identical settings and drop the diamonds into them.
Each setting needed to be made for the particular baguette that was going into it.
This is one of the things I love about custom jewelry. Rather than trying to force the materials into a predetermined design, I can design around what we actually have.
I created a clean, minimalist band in 14k yellow gold, with each of Joanna's ten diamonds sitting in its own individually sized setting.
Why the Diamonds Don’t Go All the Way Around
Ten diamonds weren't quite enough to go all the way around the band, so the design leaves a small area at the back without stones.
And actually, that has a practical benefit too.
Having that area free of settings gives us a little more flexibility if Joanna needs a small size adjustment in the future. It’s something I considered alongside how the ring would look.
From Her Mom’s Jewelry to Her Wedding Ring
Once all ten baguettes were set, those tiny loose diamonds had become a simple, modern wedding band made for Joanna.
The original piece doesn't necessarily need to be fashionable or something you would wear yourself. Sometimes it’s simply the materials and the person or memories attached to them that matter.
We can take those elements and make something that feels much more like you, while still keeping that connection to where they came from.
And now Joanna gets to wear her mom's diamonds as part of her own wedding jewelry.
Do You Have Diamonds Sitting Unworn?
If you have an old ring, a single earring, loose gemstones or another piece of sentimental jewelry tucked away somewhere, you might have more options than you think.
I can take a look at the stones, see what we have to work with and talk through a design with you. They don't have to be perfectly matched.
Get in touch and tell me what you've been saving.