[Art Deco platinum solitaire with .87ct radiant-cut diamond]

About a decade ago I was given this diamond as a not-so-subtle hint by my (now) mother in law. I was excited to make a ring out of it, but after some trying, found the square shape to be rather difficult to design for. Over the years I have drawn several (failed) designs and carved probably five of them. I actually had one cast but then decided I didn’t like it.

At long last, I scrapped my frilly and over-the-top designs and went for super simple. But I felt I couldn’t make it smooth and rounded, so I carved edges into the band and bezel. It’s pretty much perfect because I can wear it singly or stack it to my heart’s content and change up my stackers whenever I want.

I finally got my ring finished just before Christmas. Just about 20 years after Joshua and I got together. Pretty pathetic for a jeweler, I’d say.

Here’s what I find myself wearing the most: Platinum solitaire with 18K yellow gold Peacock ring & narrow leaf ring. I really like the color contrast between platinum & 18K yellow gold.

Sometimes I wear these! (18K yellow gold poppy eternity band.)

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This is a super wide peacock band in 14K white gold. When they asked me to make it 15mm to start, I was all, “How can I be sure that my 15mm is the same as your 15mm?” And I got all neurotic about measurements and details and they came back with, “Well, the ring I wear now is 16mm and it could be a bit wider, so let’s actually go with 18mm!” Whoa.

The set: Hers is my original peacock band with a 2.5mm tanzanite stone in the feather eye, and of course his is the wide band. It was a lot of fun carving this ring and it took me forever. 18mm is a LOT of real estate to carve up. I am so very happy with how it turned out.

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Well, it’s about time I finished this ring. I started it nearly a year ago and had it cast easily 6 months ago. Then I stressed over what would be Thee Perfect Stone to set in the top. Against the intensity of the 18K yellow color and the epicness of the snake motif, I decided that I needed a ruby to go here.

Then I couldn’t find one. Well, not one that I liked. I wanted a really red one that was actually clear inside, which is a hard bargain when it comes to rubies actually. The vast majority of them are a purplish red to downright pink in color, and it’s rare to find any that are truly clear inside. The whole “pigeon’s blood” ruby thing is, in my opinion, some seriously misguided romanticism. I mean, I’ve seen a dead pigeon before.

So I sat on it until I went to the Tucson gem show and spent two days on a quixotic search for the awesomest reddest rubies of specifically the right size for my ring. Out of the hundreds of gem vendors and tens of thousands of rubies there, I found three stones I liked and I bought all of them.

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One would think I have covered all iterations of the ginkgo ring; not so! Behold: his is a simple 6mm bright-polished band with a pair of intaglio-carved ginkgo leaves and hers is a ~2.5mm wide band with a pair of the same ginkgos, but regular relief carved. And about a million teensy leetle flush-set diamonds.

So. Many. Of. The. Little. Buggers. Her ring is quite small, size 4.5 maybe, and completely fits inside his! Cute!

18K ginkgo wedding bands! His ring has an intaglio design around the band, a carving style I had not yet tried but that I think turned out quite nicely. Very sedate and perfect for a low-key band. I bet this would make a cool stamp! Her band is carved with ginkgo leaves and roses.

Remember the art-nouveau inspired sapphire solitaire I made last year? Here is the wedding band to match. Both rings are in 14K palladium white gold (the solitaire has a 5+mm Ceylon sapphire).

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I love carving flowy convoluted designs and these were no exception. They are 14K white gold bands carved with a twisting old oak tree.

Her ring is swooped just so to fit against her sapphire engagement ring. The tree carving is over around 2/3 the surface of the band, the bottom smooth.

His ring is interesting in that it carved with two trees blending into each other at the top and bottom: Both bottoms originate at one end, then curve up their sides of the band, then the branches meet and mingle together at the top. The ring is more abstract or concrete depending upon the angle you choose to view.

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