Design Stories
Tanya’s ring
For Tanya’s engagement ring an heirloom sapphire and diamond ring was re-modelled into this stunning contemporary design. She selected a central cushion cut sapphire with trios of side diamonds.
A + T came to me with 4 pieces of family heirloom jewellery. They had decided to use two 22ct Gold family rings as their wedding rings. These needed resizing and a little re shaping then were ready to wear! A decision was made to keep some of the unique marks on the rings to reflect the life that they had before coming to A + T.
Then it was time to think about transforming a family heirloom ring that was not being used and transforming it into a classic and contmeporary engagement ring.
I talked through the options with the couple and explained what was possible within the amount of metal that they had. And after listening to what they had in mind I drew up some initial ideas and a design was selected from there.
The setting was custom made to fit the vintage cut sapphire stone, and the side diamonds were taken from the ring, as well as adding 2 x lab grown side diamonds. With the remaining 2 x sapphires I made a simples pair of claw set studs to match for T’s wedding day.
April’s ring
The brief for this ring was to find a stone that reflected the customers love of wild swimming.
We looked at various stones with turquoise hues like the Paraiba tourmaline before finding this beautiful bi-colour Sapphire.
The branches in the design are inspired by a birch leaf canopy and the intertwined branches are reminiscent of traditional Celtic designs.
April’ s partner got in touch to find out about commissioning a unique engagement ring. He was interested to know where the materials are sourced from and was keen to work with a local designer. After an initial telephone consultation I had a few ideas for the design, but it seemed with this ring that it would be the stone that would be the integral part of making the perfect ring.
I actually only needed to present one design and we were on our way. As for the stone I ordered in a selection of different water coloured tones in the form of aquamarine, tourmalines and emeralds. But it was a blue and green Sapphire that stole the show. Once the stone was selected I began work on carving the branches and birch leaves into a wax model. Once refined the model was used to make a mold for casting the finished design.
Polishing and stone setting followed to complete this stunning 14ct + Sapphire engagement ring
Jarem’s ring
The design brief here originally began by looking at Celtic pattern and branches/nature within a ring design. Also the integration of the colour red, to symbolise a connection to the wearers homeland. The client was presented with 6 initial designs, from there they chose one that was developed further on paper before being modelled in Silver.
As it became clear that the ring had a very organic and 3 dimensional feel to it, Fiona felt the best option would be to carve the design in wax. This allowed for this beautiful layered leaves to grow around the setting of the ring.
The stone was narrowed down to a Ruby or Garnet, and an Indian Garnet was selected. An excellent choice for the stunning contrast with this 9ct Gold ring.
Testimonials
“I was lucky enough to get a necklace from the Cherry Blossom collection as a gift and have received so many compliments while wearing it. When friends 30th birthdays came around I knew they would love pieces from Fiona’s collections, they make such special presents.
Having watched Fiona at work, I’ve seen the love and care that goes in to each piece of jewellery and have such an appreciation for her amazing creations. I can’t recommend highly enough.”
“We just wanted to say thank you so much for the ring, she has repeatedly said that it’s the most beautiful thing she’s owned and best ‘gift’ ever! It really is amazing and just perfect for what we wanted.”
Fiona at work in her studio at Yorkshire Artspace in Sheffield.