This story really makes me happy and quite honestly, it’s really amazing to me that my “little business” has allowed me to work with people from around the country. You see, while I often work with locals who live in Savannah, I love the opportunity to work with people from outside of the area. This North Carolina client reached out to me with an idea and wanted to know if I would be able to meet with them (husband and wife duo), during their upcoming anniversary trip to Savannah, to see if I could design and create a special piece for their special occasion. The husband really wanted to create an experience for his other half! You know how much I love that type of thing, so how could I say no? Of course, I said yes! We planned a surprise meeting and started the process during their first trip to Savannah, knowing that they would return for part two of their trip when their piece was ready to be picked up. Isn't that fun? Read on to see how this Marquise Motif ring came to life.
So many diamonds!
With this piece, we had a lot of dazzling materials to work with - diamonds from their existing engagement and wedding bands, diamonds from her grandmother's ring and diamonds from her other grandmother's pendant. The goal was to incorporate as much of this beautiful material as possible, without overwhelming her tiny size-five finger. I knew for this design I had to start with hand-drawing the sketches and once we had better direction, then I would move on to CAD (computer-aided design). So that's what we did...
Parts, pieces and memories
Through several different rounds of brainstorming, we landed upon this single-combined design. It's one whole piece, consisting of three different parts. We found that my client kept gravitating toward Designs 1 and 4 (see ‘Materials & Design’ image above), so I decided to combine these designs into one piece and see what my client thought of that idea. When the client saw the design, she was really excited...it was exactly what she wanted! The ring would ideally consist of the marquise diamonds from the wife's original engagement ring at the center, surrounded by 5 diamonds from her grandmother's pendant and 3 little diamonds from her other grandmother's ring. Then on top, we added two more tiny clusters of diamonds from her original wedding band. Various parts of each of the original contributing jewelry pieces, all carrying their own pieces of memories and sentiment, were able to be woven into the new design. Once the design was approved by the client, it was off to the races.
Yowza!
This piece was quite intricate, from the setting of the marquise diamonds to the setting of the bigger round diamonds and last, but certainly not least, the smaller clusters of tiny diamonds. Each part had to be worked on one section at a time to get the most perfect fit. I spent a lot of time testing and retesting and testing some more, before finally getting all 17 diamonds set. Yowza! After rounds and rounds of cleanup, polishing, and refining to our “Kristen Baird standards”, the ring really took shape.
She is magnificent!
As you can see, this Marquise Motif ring is just magnificent. She incorporates diamonds from three different sentimental pieces of jewelry. Her lines are elegant and flowing, the stones are both bezel-set and prong-set, with the main stones being bezel-set, allowing for a very comfortable and “snag-proof” ring. The perfect simplicity of white gold really pops the dazzling diamonds and the piece fits like a glove. I was so excited when my client left this happy review...I don't think I could have said it better myself! I sure do love what I do!
“Thank you for taking and bringing us through this journey. We couldn’t have chosen anyone more perfect to design and bring to life this heirloom piece that will forever hold a special place in our hearts. When my husband started looking for someone to design my ring before we came to Savannah for our 25th wedding anniversary back in March, he knew we needed and wanted someone to help make my ring into its own unique and exquisite piece since we were bringing together three pieces of jewelry that meant so much to us. It was so wonderful getting to work with you during each step, from the beginning drawings, through the CAD designs and tweaks, all the way through until the end and getting to see the final reveal on our vacation as we visited Savannah again. I knew I would cry at the reveal because the ring is much more than just a ring. I could see all the love and special meaning behind the ring as well as the story that goes along with it and the care you put into making it perfect for me. Thank you for everything you did in listening to all our ideas and taking the time to explain the steps and processes and answering all of our questions throughout. We will miss you as you have become a special friend to us that we will cherish always. Thank you so much for our piece. It’s absolutely perfect!! Lots of Love!!” -J&M J
Do you have sentimental pieces from family members lying around in your jewelry box? Do you want to use them and translate them into something new, something fresh? I'd love to be a part of your journey. Reach out by using my convenient commission inquiry form or the simple contact form, both readily available on our website. I look forward to hearing from you!
