When Sherry asked me if I would be willing to work on her heirloom ring, the answer was a resounding yes. She shared with me that she and her partner, Ryan, whom she shares a beautiful child and a dog with, were eloping, and that she wanted to use this special 1940s diamond stack as her wedding rings.
Heirloom rings are something incredibly special to work with. It takes a great deal of trust from a customer to give any jeweler access to a familial treasure, and to entrust them to make any alterations or fixes necessary. Heirloom pieces are often well worn, and are retired from daily wear because of their delicacy.
Because of my background as a bench jeweler specializing in antiques and vintage jewelry, I knew what the limitations were in this piece, and how we could make it durable enough again for day to day wear, modernize it a touch, but most importantly to honor its past.
Sherry’s heirloom rings are an engagement ring which holds a quarter-carat round diamond, accented by small round diamonds on each shoulder. The accompanying wedding band was a mostly straight bar band full of small round diamonds, and accented with millgrain detailing.
Before picture, in its original box.
Sherry loved the sentimentality of this heirloom, and wanted this to become her own wedding stack, but she wasn’t in love with the way the two sat together. She wished for them to be more formed together, but not to be soldered together as one ring. She also wished to honor her late parents with a special detail that symbolized the moon, a meaningful figure to them as a family.
I made a few sketches to try to get her ideas and my ideas melded together on paper, and show what we envisioned, and then started making.
I first took apart the two rings, as they were soldered together. Although we really just wanted to adapt the wedding band, the engagement ring itself needed a bit of love too. It needed retipping (this means that the prongs were very worn down and in danger of losing the stone) and the diamond was previously set at a bit of an angle. I removed the main stone, replaced each of the prongs, and then reset the diamond lower in its setting than it was previously in order for it to be more durable as an everyday ring, and less likely to get caught on things.
Next, I began the real work on the wedding band. I carefully removed each diamond out of the ring, measuring them, and putting them in special storage to keep them safe while we made their new home. I then removed the section of gold that held them before - our main piece of the band.
I wanted to still allow the ring to have its delicate look, but to make it durable enough for daily wear. To do so, I recreated a new thicker bar of white gold to replace the last removed section, and formed it with hammers and files to fit not only on the original shank, but to contour more snug against the engagement ring. Once I finalized the fit, I soldered it back onto the original band.
Next, I cut out seats for the diamonds, in the same channel set look as before. Each one of these “seats” was customized for each diamond, as they had subtle differences, and graduated in size. I then hand-carved a moon phase on the side. This doubles as Sherry’s nod to her parents, and to let light into the piece, allowing those diamonds to sparkle brighter. I then cleaned and polished up both rings to a shine.
The last step was to carefully set each diamond into place, and fold them in with a small wall of metal on each side. I added millgrain beading, (those little engraved-looking details,) to echo the details which it had previously, in its original setting.
To Sherry and Ryan, thank you for telling me your story, and for the privilege of working on such a special piece. I hope that this ring symbolizes your love, and generations of love, to the moon and back.
Congratulations to you both.
