Though we are not parents, except of course of our adopted dog Coraline, it is clear that one of the joys of being a parent is to gift treasured items with their offspring (maybe that is why we love sharing our food with our little girl).

Diamonds are a favorite item to pass on for new engagement rings, pendants, or earrings. Our customer had diamonds that she had inherited from her mother. Once upon a time they had been made into two necklaces, one for herself the other for her older sister. The necklaces were a classic design of diamonds in bezels with chain in between. The older sister wears hers all the time. The one who came to us never wore hers because the necklace was just not her style. She wanted to use her diamonds in a piece of jewelry to celebrate her older sister’s 75th birthday. She wanted to express her appreciation of their friendship with Mom’s diamonds.

Jewelry draws out the best in people, whether it’s for their appreciation of it as an art form, or as a gift for oneself or someone else.

We asked our customer if she had any idea what she wanted us to make. She thought earrings because there was already a necklace. She showed me an earring she liked for its style and size and we spoke about the sister’s other jewelry, her lifestyle and anything that might illuminate what design would suit her best. Once we had the diamonds on hand we started to design loosely.

We showed these ideas to her and she liked one in particular. We gave her two options in keeping with what she liked.

Once we knew the direction of the design we could invest the time in making a scale cad model. We showed this to our customer for approval to begin production. If we don’t cut the waxes ourself on the milling machine we have them grown and cast at our casters.

There is a meticulous sequence of events once we get the castings. The grow lines have to be removed, the surfaces brought to a high polish, parts joined and stones set.

The sister who received the gift was thrilled. We were too because that is our goal, to please the wearer.

Once upon a time I took a video of the finished earrings but my phone died before i could save it to the computer. Still, the render of the cad is very close to the look of the final product. The design is simple, with subtle dimensionality and a twist of the ethnic which makes the design very day wear appropriate. Taking stones from dated designs or from jewelry that is never worn is a great way to get a new piece of jewelry without the added expense.