Sometimes a Straight Wedding Band Just Won’t Do

Carol called me from Kentucky. “I’ve looked at every wedding band on offer. There are all straight and even the vintage ones don’t look right with my engagement ring. I love my engagement ring and I want a wedding band to love to. What would you do?”

Once she’d sent me pictures, I saw that her center section nicely bumped out making it look wrong with a straight band. She also had beautiful engraved details on the side walls of her ring that needed to be honored in her wedding  band.

We decided on a nice contoured band with diamonds to match and hand engraving to match as well.

Carol was over the moon.

To celebrate her happy story I thought I’d share pictures of other contoured wedding bands I’ve created. Continue reading →

Unique Shapes, Textures and Colorful Sapphires Are CeCe’s Dream Come True

Car Customization and Custom Designed Rings

What is ‘custom’ anyway? With a little help from my jeweler friend Gary Dawson of Gary Dawson Designs in Eugene Oregon, and founding member of the MJSA (Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America) Council of Custom Jewelers, let’s talk custom design.

Gary says, “It can be confusing. When you order a custom automobile, for example, you pick a model you like and then you get some choices.  Exterior and interior color might be part of that, automatic or manual transmission…maybe; leather seats?  You will likely have some choices in trim and detail.  And that’s about it. All of your choices will be limited to what the manufacturer already has in production and only assembled to your preferences.  You cannot go to the car dealer with a sketch of the dream you had about an outrageous car design and have her make it from scratch.  You CAN do that with custom jewelry!  That’s HUGE!”

Continue reading →

That Diamond Just Sparkles!

White Sapphires vs Diamonds?

I could make a case for setting white sapphires in wedding and engagement rings. Then again, I could make a much stronger case for using diamonds.

Both white sapphires and diamonds are rare and valuable and each is steeped in rich history. They’re both great gems. However only of these gemstones is suitable for wedding rings. Continue reading →

Why Should You Engrave an Inscription in Your Wedding Rings?

Before answering: what to engrave on a ring, it might be a good idea to first answer the question: why? It’s not required, right? The chaplain’s not going to inspect the rings before they’re exchanged, right? Continue reading →

Are You Wondering Where to Shop for Your Engagement Diamond?

On occasion a client asks me about diamond shopping at pawn shops vs. diamond shopping with a jeweler, so I decided to write this to answer most questions you may have.  Let me start by showing you all this interesting exchange I got from DiamondReview.com:

“I plan on buying a possible engagement ring in a pawn shop but I don’t know what to look for. How can I tell if its a good diamond and can I fix it up to look like its brand new so my girlfriend won’t know i bought it in a pawn shop. thanks, greg”

Response:

“1. You will get a better deal (better diamond at a better price) if you buy from a jeweler, not a pawn shop.

2. Although this website is not for relationship advice, I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that being anything less than completely straightforward and honest with your girlfriend may not be the best way to start a lifelong trust-based relationship. Ben” Continue reading →