Inspirations for Baguette Diamonds and Designs

Inspiration Strikes Every Day, Bracelet, Pin and Ring Re-Purposed

When my jeweler friend Link Wachler of Link Jewelry Designs shared this epic project of creating four gift necklaces from the jewelry left to his client I was wowed.

Many of my clients show me jewelry like this that they are not wearing. I’ll admit, when I see a ton of tiny baguettes my creative juices can be a bit sluggish. With Link’s inspiration that is a thing of the past.

I’m writing this blog to share ideas of what you can do with baguettes whether designing from scratch or re-purposing your unworn baguettes.

Baguettes Into Hoops

When Michael Knight, of Other Couture Jewelry, saw this little collection of different sized baguettes, he created a small hoop design that is absolutely delicious. He anchored the settings on a small 14kt gold hoop.

What I love about this re-purposing project is the fact that the baguettes are quite different in their lengths. They look beautiful together. That was a great challenge and Michael nailed it!

Many Baguettes Into a New Ring

What do you do with beautiful baguettes when they come from a differing lengths place? Well if you are Shawn Eshaghian, of Chrono Envy, you use as many as you can and introduce a wave pattern in the middle to follow the contour of changing lengths.

By framing the baguettes with tiny round diamonds Shawn has created a mock stacking ring effect.

Anish Designs with All Baguettes to Set Off a Tanzanite

When Anish Desai’s client said, “I like baguettes,” he delivered with this gorgeous all baguettes, all the time ring. Anish is owner of Star Gems.

A technical aspect that elevates this beautiful ring is Anish’s use of invisible setting between the two rows of baguettes on the shank coming down from the tanzanite.

A No Holds Barred Baguette Ring

This Harold Stevens designed ring has ChrisCut emerald cut diamonds. I realize I’ve deviated slightly from the baguette theme. Not sorry.

The way these gems are tapered, if we used baguettes would need to re-cut the ends for the angles where they are set. I find this simple and lovely design inspirational.

Baguettes with a Curve

My jeweler friend Joshua Hyman, of J. Hyman and Co. added this unusual curving design with baguettes to this conversation.

I love the clean lines and the angular vs curving beauty.

Elongating Designs, It’s What Baguettes do

This Lang Antiques ring is impressive with its long baguettes and Art Deco flair.

The setting really works with the older cut center gemstone.

I love the vintage look of the small table and the double side facets. Unusual and lovely.

Simply Elegant

Lisa La Bour Zimowsky, of The Diamond Girls in Boise, is wearing her wedding ring on her ring finger and a new design on her middle finger.

These two rings show how baguettes used simply with rectangular or square gems complement them wonderfully.

When Triangle Diamonds Come to the Party

When Shawn Eshaghian shared this baguette ring, I about fainted. This has an old world regal elegance that I rarely see these days.

I love how they incorporated the six triangle shaped diamonds to the already towering collection of bright baguettes.

This design would be perfect on the hand of a denizen of Downton Abbey. I swoon.

Older Baguettes into a New Cross

This wonderful new cross created by Justin Scott, of Solid Gold Jewelry and Repair, utilizing re-purposed baguette diamonds just sings.

My favorite aspect of this creation is that it successfully uses baguette diamonds that are numerous and small.

This small baguette category is one I’ve seen many times before when disassembling jewelry to re-purpose other larger gems. It is the most challenging category. Justin makes it work beautifully.

The Classic Ballerina Setting

The ballerina setting, so called because it goes up and down like a tutu, is a source of a many baguettes. This picture is from Joshua Hyman.

I have seen quite a number of these settings when clients ask me to design something simpler and less flashy or formal.

We remove the center gem which is usually fantastic, otherwise why create such a glittering setting design. Then we are left with a large collection of baguettes.

Baguette Diamonds for Men

Henry Trigg Armstrong, a jeweler friend, contributes this nice manly addition to the ideas of designing with baguettes.

These baguettes complement the center diamond beautifully.

Let’s talk about corners and baguettes. Henry clearly knows what he is doing.

Turning those corners often involves re-cutting the corner baguettes.

The baguette diamonds in the corner have to be angled just so to be able to touch the neighboring diamond.

Ordering a baguette in that exact angle is difficult. As much as we want our designs to be symmetrical, they aren’t always.

I personally prefer to have the cutting for the angle needed done by a local gem cutter. That was we can go back to make any tiny adjustments needed to the diamonds for a seamless look where they combine.

Using a Large Number of Baguette Diamonds All at Once

Sometimes you are asked to dream up a ring using a large number of baguette diamonds. That challenge ramps up when you are tasked with using baguettes.

Christy McKinley, of Gwen’s Fine Jewelry, rose to that challenge recently with a softly dome shaped ladies ring. She had a plentiful amount of baguettes to work with.

To add to her challenge, some of the baguettes were tapered as opposed to straight. In using prongs she was able to arrange the tapers and straights together and make it look delightful and fun.

Emerald Baguettes Like to Play Too

From the Neil Lane Archival Collection, comes this amazing vintage ring with emerald baguettes.
More common decades ago, cutting other gems like ruby and sapphires into baguettes has almost disappeared. It is a lovely choice.

Taking Baguettes to the Bail

I wanted to share one of my custom designs too.

After setting off this gorgeous Colombian emerald with baguettes, I wanted to do something a little different.

And so instead of attaching a chain to the main pendant or making a normal bail for the chain to slide through, I used three baguettes. It makes me smile.

Artistic Uses for Baguette Diamonds Break the Mold

From the amazing fantasy cut Paraiba Tourmaline in the center to the inventive use of baguette diamonds, this ring by Ann Ziff, designer for Tamsen Z blows my socks out of the drawer and into orbit.

This imagination igniter of a ring is something I’m happy I’ll never un-see.

Between Link Wachler inspiring me and all of my jeweler friends known and unknown, I am now officially excited to design and re-design with baguette diamonds. How about you?

 

Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla