Here's a custom piece that was near and dear to my heart...
The client had me upgrade her engagement ring several years ago, since it was a family ring and was still in the original setting that it was gifted to her in. She had me add two larger blue diamonds that replaced the little white diamond points that were previously on the ring (and were really entirely too small for the center stone - they were smaller than the band and yet still set up in prong settings that were made for much larger stones and had just been cinched up to hold the points. Which is all to say that the new stones were such a great upgrade for a sentimental family stone).
Her husband wanted to get her an anniversary band for their 10-year anniversary. She works with her hands and didn't wear her engagement ring as much because of this. She also cares a lot about jewelry and they wanted something spectacular, unique, and timeless that incorporated the original chips from her engagement ring and the blue diamonds that we added, an would stack nicely with her engagement ring. Further, she wanted something that challenged her as a goldsmith... Yeah, that client is me. Also, full disclosure: It took me THREE YEARS to finally settle on what I wanted for my anniversary band (and to have the time to follow through).
Here's the trick to this ring, though. Most anniversary bands are solid bands that stack nicely with an engagement ring. I wanted this one to frame my engagement ring and be wearable without it, but that is not easily achieved with a bypass design like this. How to fit a ring so that it will fit comfortably on my finger and over my finger with an engagement ring on it (and how to fit it to the engagement ring so that the fit was snug and stable and wouldn't encourage undue wear)? I couldn't thin this one out in the least, as it would become a weak point that would ruin the ring at some awful future date. My solution was to build up the ring so that I could make a channel that would completely hug my engagement ring and would thus also sit snugly against my finger even if the engagement ring wasn't there.
I love most that my anniversary ring is low-profile enough to wear all the time, that I can create multiple different looks with it, and that it's so, so striking. All the drama, none of the fuss. I was very nervous to make such a significant piece for myself, but I'm so glad I did. I'm proud of that work and the work that it represents of building a healthy relationship and family with my husband. Yay, team!
