"keep my diamond from ending up in a cake!"

Vanessa was very clear about her needs and wants.

White metal. Diamond that's protected, since she's a pantry chef. Subtle finish. Want to show off the diamond. Nothing irregular in shape--symmetry a necessity.

Here's the result...

A 14K white gold ring with a cup into which a 1/3-carat round diamond is bezel-set. Inside of the cup sandblasted so that the diamond "pops."

Just when I thought a particular set of "druthers" couldn't be combined...

I was wrong.

modern taste, but matched for tradition

Ute hails from Germany, and her taste aligns with that. She likes clean lines and straightforward geometry. When it came time for Rich to select his ring, it was made clear that the rings needed to look like they "go together." So, whereas Ute's ring had the one feature of a faux tension-set diamond, Rich's ring had a simple, centered, pair of straight, engraved lines. Both in brush-finish 14K white gold.

what's so great about an old mine?

Old Mine-cut diamonds!

Old Mine-cut diamonds have so much personality! I always feel sad when someone wants them recut to modern brilliant-cuts. These diamond predate the invention of the rotary saw, and are almost always at least 100 years old.

This cut came into existence in the late seventeenth century. The old miner was the first diamond cut that had all the facets of the present round brilliant cut: the bezel, the star, pavilion mains, etc. However, the facet alignment and sizes were in a different manner as compared to the current round brilliant. The old miner was also more of a square or cushion cut, rather than being round. In fact, today's cushion cut is an improved old mine cut.

This cut of diamond is characterized by a high crown, small table, deep pavilion and large culet. Other names for this cut are: old miner, Peruzzi cut, and triple-cut brilliant.

These cuts follow the original shape of the rough, and are therefore usually heavy and deep and may have poor symmetry. I call it character, however.

While being cut with less than exacting proportions, these diamonds have a beauty and magic of their own which give them a desirable, distinct beauty just as the bygone era in which they were fashioned. To properly show off this charm, they must be set in a customer mounting.

Here, Miss Nora from NOLA was seeking a home for her seven mine-cuts as well as single-cuts, which were put into the halo.

happy new year!

He interviewed every jeweler in town over the phone to make the engagement ring for his beloved. John Trayser was phoning from Chicago, but was also about to move to Bozeman, as soon as he secured Colleen's hand in marriage.

He later told me that he gave the same info to every jeweler, and that I was the only one who seemed willing/able to transform that information into design ideas. I remember well the information, which wasn't really so much about the ring as it was about Colleen herself. My favorite--love it!

Here's the result from that conversation, which was all about a rough-and-tumble, flyfishing, no-nonsense girl. A secure, beautiful mounting for a 1.10 carat white diamond and a series of Yogo sapphires set in two raised channels.

Yes, it was all going to be a perfect New Year's Eve engagement...I told him I would have the ring ready in time.

There's just one thing he forgot...he would be up in Big Sky today, and he failed to figure out an excuse to come to Bozeman to pick it up.

Guess what I'm doing this New Year's Eve?

another halo before its time

The striking Lela came in, with an absolutely stunning family diamond. Big. Beautiful. And in need of an equally beautiful "home." Too bad several jewelers had turned her nose up at the project because the diamond had not been purchased at their respective establishments.

Unless a diamond actually has issues that affect its longevity, durability, or ability to withstand the rigors of the setting process, I cannot understand why a jeweler would not want to have the honor of setting a family heirloom. It really is one of the highest compliments bestowed upon a custom jeweler.

Lela knew she wanted a softly octagonal halo, made with metal that was "barely there," allowing all the diamonds to show themselves off. She also knew she wanted a ring against which any straight band could sit flush. The result is the profile you see, which actually makes the diamond part of the structure. By having the culet (point at the bottom) drop into a tiny hole in the shank, it actually provides additional stability to a basically delicate ring.

Lovingly crafted in my favorite metal, platinum; and set with Russian-cut diamonds for the most amazing brilliance on earth.

oh! the places they'll go!

The most important thing I can impress upon the dear reader at this point is....what I am about to describe is NOT suggested jewelry care. That said, this is also a story of how being brutally honest with your custom designer can make the very important difference between a ring you can "have and hold" for a long, long time; or ending up with a memory made of precious metal.

It all started with this fun, lovely couple. It was clear they knew each other and knew themselves. Not only is this a delight to see, but a wonderful platform for making a custom ring for someone who "isn't a jewelry person."

The bride, Kirsten Kainz (née Reese), is now a celebrated Bozeman sculptor. At the time, she and her groom, Patrick, were pretty new to Bozeman, as was I. She explained how her sculpture was made from found objects, which she pounds, hammers, forges, and welds into pieces of art.

"How cool" crossed my mind about a million times as she and Patrick talked about her work. And then I realized...this self-admitted "no jewelry wearin' girl" was probably going to exhibit ideal jewelry care habits. I was promised otherwise, but that initial hunch was correct.

So, I braced myself for this little "child" to get some rough treatment. The design needed to be "interesting but not complicated." I settled on a three-stone ring with the outside diamonds being brilliant-cut half-moons. All three set in bezels, and then crafted in platinum for good measure.

I am proud to say that two daughters and countless hours of sculpture later, this ring is doing dandy. It doesn't look any more like this photo, showing it shiny and new and minus any dings. But, I can say it has been much-loved, which makes me smile.

quintessential

This design is quintessential for my process of cusotm designing.

Kate came in nearly sure that no one could do as she wished. She and her beloved had each found a beautiful, richly colored rock on the same magical excursion in nature. The rock she had found, a pretty shade of green, was a smooth and interesting shape, but about as large as Kate felt she could "pull off" in a ring. But ideally, her groom's red rock sould be incorporated, as well. What to do?

My design idea was to leave the green rock basically intact, except to cut a circular disk out of it, which would be inlaid with an identical disk of the red rock. The colors looked great together, and the symbolism was the clincher. A simple, 14K two-tone mounting completed the concept. But will it work?

Some rock materials are used in jewelry with some regularity: lapis lazuli, malachite, rhodochrosite. Generally, rocks that are of fine enough quality to qualify as gem rocks have fairly consistent and predictable behavior. Which means that decisions such as shaping, cutting, filing, finishing, and inlaying can be readily made.

But these rocks were not gem rocks. They were just rocks. Just really beautifuly ones. But, as non-gem rocks, while I could certainly have attempted to educate myself on them, I still wouldn't be able to learn anything about cutting or doing inlay work with them--no data. But I felt their existence told me everything I needed to know. The green rock was clearly water-tumbled, and so had survived a lot, through the millenia. It would be stable. I just had to take a chance cutting the red one.

Could not have gone more smoothly.