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Diamonds, Wedding Rings, Engagement Rings
A custom wedding band to sit with a past custom engagement ring. A thick smooth hand carved band in 18ct yellow gold, set with Australian Argyle Champagne diamonds. Designed to be worn with the engagement ring and bold enough that it can also stand alone. A set to celebrate love and highlight the beautiful gemstones that come from Australia.
A custom wedding set for a lovely couple in New Zealand. The engagement ring is a custom Triple Setting Teeth Ring. For wedding bands, she chose the Atlas Ring in white gold with white diamonds to match, and he chose the Carved Wedder in white gold also.
Bespoke Commissions, Diamonds, Engagement Rings, Sapphires
I love this ring! It might be one of my favorite custom pieces of 2019. The ‘Teeth Gem Ring’ would be one of my most popular engagement ring styles, so it was fun to push this design and play around with an asymmetrical setting while keeping it balanced. My client chose two Australian gemstones- an oval Teal Sapphire from central Queensland, and a White Argyle diamond from Western Australia. Set in 14ct White Palladium gold- a good durable alloy which has a gunmetal colour to it, & brings all of the beautiful cool tones out of the sapphire.
Bespoke Commissions, Engagement Rings, Sapphires
A recent custom engagement ring with a big beautiful 1.01ct Teal Blue-Green Australian Sapphire, set in buttery 9ct gold. We gave the band a smooth matte finish, with my signature textured setting around the sapphire <3
A custom engagement ring I recently completed for Paddy. Read below to learn more about the process of creating this particular custom piece, & how he proposed to his girlfriend Claudia while on holiday in Italy.
Paddy got in touch via email about a custom engagement ring for his girlfriend Claudia. He had a good idea of what he wanted: he loved the Golden Teeth Solitaire style & knew he wanted to use a large central sapphire, but was open to me coming up with a few different ideas to create something entirely unique for him.
Instead of hand drawing some concepts up on paper, I mocked up some rough photoshopped images of different sapphires and stone placement. This allowed me to be a bit more playful with ideas and also helped to give Paddy a more realistic example of the finished piece. Paddy was drawn to the symmetrical design of the round central sapphire flanked by two Australian diamonds, as it combined traditional & contemporary elements. I mocked up a few more photoshopped ring concepts, this time with sapphires I had available to me and with quotes attached.
Rough photoshopped concepts for my client exploring gem placement, shape & colour.
Paddy chose a beautiful 0.96ct Blue Australian Sapphire sourced from Queensland & cut in South Australia. The ring was hand carved & cast in 18ct white gold, the sapphire set & flanked with two ethically sourced white Australian Argyle diamonds.
Paddy shared his proposal story and a few words on his experience working with me to create his custom piece.
"We have both been pretty busy with work and haven’t had much time off together for the last year or so. We had a two week holiday to Europe booked and it occurred to me that it would be a good time to pop the question. I’d made my mind up a while ago that I wanted to marry Claudia. But I wanted it to be at least a little bit romantic.
So with the ring stuffed away in my hand luggage we jetted off to Rome. On our first night I took Claud’s on a little walking sojourn. We saw a few sites along the way and ended up on top of one of the 7 hills of Rome over looking the setting sun. I fumbled around for the ring and dropped a knee. She was very surprised and thought I was joking for a little bit. Anyway she said yes and pop went the champagne. Claud’s was wearing another ring on that finger at the time, and because of the recent long haul flight was overloaded with fluid. We almost ripped her finger off to get the ring off and then slid the new one onto the red sausage like finger.
Having such a beautiful ring made the whole experience that much better. We both love the final product and its special to have been apart of the process from inception to finger. Allie was amazing to work with from start to finish. Professional yet personal. She guided me through the design process and the ring ended up being the dream ring."
A big thank you & congratulations to Paddy + Claudia.
To enquire about a custom piece of your own, please get in touch with here.
Australian Sapphires would have to be one of my favourite gemstones to work with, they come in the most beautiful array of colours: blue, green, yellow and beyond. I am particularly drawn to the Australian Parti Sapphire which can have multiple colours present in one stone. In different light and with movement, the colours change between blue, green & yellow making each piece entirely unique. Sapphires are second in hardness to a diamond, so they make a great choice for an engagement ring as they can withstand everyday wear & are less prone to chips and scratches. The Australian sapphires I use in my bespoke pieces are sourced and cut here in Australia, so if an ethically sourced gemstone or supporting small local businesses is of importance to you, then Australian Sapphires are a perfect choice.
Below is a recent custom engagement ring, featuring a beautiful Australian Sapphire which changes from dark blue to bright blue with flashes of teal green.
Claire was proposed to with a simple gold band with the intention of her being able to choose an engagement ring she loves.
I met with Claire in Auckland so she could try on some rings, she was drawn to my Golden Teeth Solitaire with an Australian Parti Sapphire. Back in my Sydney studio I contacted my supplier and found a few different sapphire options for Claire to choose from. She decided on the most beautiful teal blue Australian Sapphire.
Once the sapphire arrived in the studio, I started hand carving up the ring in wax. I sent photos & videos to Claire of the wax on my hand and with the sapphire in place, to make sure it was exactly what she had envisioned before casting it in the chosen metal.The wax was then cast in rich yellow gold & the sapphire set securely with subtle beads disguised within the molten hand carved texture.
I can source all shapes, colours and sizes of Australian Sapphires, and can even have them custom cut to your specifications. To see what pieces I currently have available for bespoke commissions, or to book a custom piece consultation in Sydney or Auckland (next Auckland appointments available in June 2018), please get in touch.
A custom engagement ring featuring a rough hand carved claw setting cast in 18ct White Gold, and a beautiful oval 1.76ct teal blue Aquamarine.
This was made for a client very sadly lost her engagement ring. She wanted to keep elements of the original ring which was a more traditional claw setting, featuring a blue topaz in white gold. I found this beautiful translucent Aquamarine & set it in white gold to keep icy tones of the original ring, and transformed the traditional claw setting into something a bit more contemporary.
I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to regularly work on personal commissions for my clients, and to create precious pieces that represent such important moments in their lives. Read below to learn more about the process of a recent commission, a bespoke engagement ring commissioned by Matt for his girlfriend Ellen.
Bespoke Engagement Ring. 18ct White Palladium gold with Blue Australian Sapphires.
The Process
Matt got in touch via email inquiring about having a custom engagement ring made for his girlfriend Ellen. He included a few reference images of other pieces of my jewellery he liked- this past custom bespoke engagement ring, and our signature Atlas wedding ring, as well as a short description to describe her favourite things. He wanted something unique and irregular, with several gems rather than one central stone in a classic solitaire design. He liked the idea of blue sapphires or black diamonds set into a white metal. After a bit of forward and back discussion via email, I drew up a few quick sketches for him to check I was heading in the right direction, and he picked out his favourites.
As Matt was based in Auckland, he was unable to come by my Sydney studio, so each step was thoroughly documented so he could feel involved in every part of the process.
The next step was to carve up a few wax models based on the drawings, to give Matt an idea of what the finished piece would look like. Each piece was a unique variation with different textures and gemstone placement, photographed from every angle and on a hand so that he could
After the chosen wax model was finished and refined, I then cast it into the chosen metal- 18ct white palladium gold, a high quality alloy which is a beautiful gunmetal colour. Matt was still a little unsure about which gemstones or diamonds to use in the final piece, so I photographed the cast ring and photoshopped a few different options in place, so he could better visualise the finished piece.
Australian sapphires were the final choice and were embedded into the white gold in my signature rough textured bead setting. The ring was packaged up in a hand made leather pouch and personally delivered to Matt in Auckland.
Initial Rough Concept Drawings
Hand carved wax models
Matt was kind enough to share his proposal story.
"I had the ring in my pocket all evening, but no real plan of how I was going to give it to Ellen. Allie had just dropped the ring off to me that day, and I hadn't properly thought of some big flashy romantic way to propose - I just wanted to do it. I remember having my hand in my pocket on the couch, making sure it wasn't going to fall out. Looking back it must have looked pretty suss - the me clutching my pocket for hours while we were watching TV and having dinner.
Eventually we were in bed, watching The Office. The exchange before I proposed went something like this:
Ellen: "Hey..."
Matt: "You want desert."
Ellen "Yeah can I..."
Matt: "Have frozen raspberries."
Ellen: "Yeah but..."
Matt: "The fancy ones, not the supermarket brand ones."
Ellen: "And can..."
Matt: "You have them in a mug, not a bowl."
Ellen: "But..."
Matt: "Only fill the mug 3/4, not fully."
Ellen: "With..."
Matt: "A teaspoon, not a tablespoon."
Ellen: "Thenk yewwww."
I went into the kitchen and figured, if anything, that's the perfect time to ask someone to spend their life with you. It probably comes off as homebody-esque and cliche, but finishing sentences and knowing exactly what someone wants at any point in time while watching one of your favourite shows together... that's pretty much what couples do. It's not a cinematic romance, but it's real and that's what was important to me.
So I came back with my hands behind my back and said pick a hand. She picked one, and it had the fancy frozen raspberries filled 3/4 up with. I said "Pick the other hand", which she did, and I got down on one knee and said "Do you wanna get married?". There weren't candles, there wasn't a song, there wasn't a grand gesture. It was us being us, with a beautiful ring which was perfect.
Looking back I think the ring is like that story. I didn't know what I wanted it to look like, but I knew I'd know it when I saw it. And Allie was such an integral part of that. I wanted it to look vintage, but be brand new. I wanted personality in it, not clean cut. And it's honestly perfect. It's ours, and no one else has it".
<3
If you’d like to talk about a having a bespoke piece of jewellery made, get in touch here.
