Stacking Ring
Client: J. J.
1. What stones/pieces did J. have to start with?
This project started with many stones, some loose and some in settings and one finished ring. Here’s what we started with:
-1, blue cushion cut sapphire
- 1, white gold, four prong, set earring with a small blue sapphire
-1, white gold necklace slide link with a bezel set white stone
-2, white gold, bezel set earrings with two green, emerald cut stones
-1, white gold bezel earring with a light blue sapphire
This project included many different kinds, cuts, and settings. It was so fun going through everything, taking them apart and creating something new!
1. Where or who did the stones and rings originally come from?
This client’s collection of stones and setting were gathered throughout her years. Some pieces were heirlooms. A few were earrings that lost their match. The pair of emerald earrings were a gift from her husband that we bought while traveling overseas. There was also a finished ring that another jeweler had already redone for her. We had to go off of that design and make matching rings to stack with the rest of the loose stones.
1. Did Jamie bring any inspiration photos or visions to the table?
Jamie was a unique client in a couple of ways. Firstly, she came with one of the three rings already finished. A previous jeweler finished the first ring. We already had a theme and design to work from. Secondly, Jamie came with drawings of what she wanted the other two rings to look like. This doesn’t often happen, most clients leave the designing up to us. There were decisions and design elements that Zoelle had to come up with but for the most part, we knew what the end result would be.
1. What style was Jamie looking for?
We didn’t have a specific style we were going for but there were key elements that needed to be included. The first was that they needed to stack/nest. Jamie wanted to be able to wear one ring at a time, two, or all three and for them to seamlessly stack together. Overall, I would say this project is more unique, and can’t be categorized into one specific style or category. However, I do think that because the medium (the stones and the white gold) is classic, this piece will be in style for quite some time.
1. What obstacles did you encounter during the design process?
There were a few obstacles throughout this project. The first was that the finished ring had a more traditional prong setting. Jamie’s drawings reflected more of a durable, bezel setting. The client had to make a difficult decision. 1) to go off of the current ring design and make the other two look and compliment that style. 2) to redo the finished ring to make it also a bezel setting to reflect the drawings. Or 3) to have the first design stay the same and have the other two to be slightly different and reflect the drawings. Jamie decided to forge ahead and create the other two rings to match the original. We agreed, this would be the easiest and best way to move forward with the project. The other obstacle during this project was that they were not going to be attached, therefore we needed to create 2 separate CAD designs and to be EXTREMELY precise with measurements so all three rings, including the finished one would nest and stack together seamlessly. We also had to keep in mind that each stone needed to look finished and complete all on its own. This wasn’t necessarily an obstacle but this did make the process a bit more complicated than most projects. Overall, it was such a fun project and it turned out beautiful!
