Kelly's Bespoke Garden Signet Ring

Bespoke Project
Kelly's Garden Signet Ring, sharing the story and process.

This was a very special bespoke project I created for my dear friend of 30 plus years.

She loves birds, as did her late parents.

In this pictograph, signet, garden ring, there are details of salvia on the top and hummingbirds on each side.

This is the jewelry she sent me for the materials to be re-imagined. It's been 2 years since losing her mother to dementia. Her father, who cared for her mother, passed away last year. The jewelry was her mother's with the exception of the band with the small sapphires.

A rough sketch concept for Kelly's Garden Signet Ring.

I carved 2 wax models. The one on the right was my first carving, which my client and I decided was too big in scale. I carved another one that was tightened up a bit for a smaller more comfortable ring. Kelly also wears a wedding set that I made for her many moons ago and wanted her signet ring to not overwhelm the ceremonial rings. I'm so glad that I made another carving that was smaller and more aligned with her style and everyday jewelry.

Final wax carving and stone placement to show my client before casting in metal.

Detailed images of the rough casting before clean up and stone setting.

Originally, my intended design was to repurpose Kelly's 5 melee sapphires for the sides near the hummingbirds. The sapphires ended up not being in great shape and were really difficult to set. We decided to eliminate them from the design and only use diamonds. The replacement diamonds were taken out of a setting from my late mother's jewelry who also passed away from Alzheimers.

Kelly had asked that I send the finished piece in time for her visit to the cemetery. She wanted to be wearing her lovely ring. This past Sunday was the anniversary of her mother's passing. She showed the memento to her sweet parents, resting side by side.

Journal

Kelly's Bespoke Garden Signet Ring

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