Engagement rings

2017 started with love in the air for a wonderful couple. The proposal took place at the Grand Canyon in America and she was thrilled by the engagement ring that we had secretly made for her.

18ct white gold claw set centre diamond with leaf detail on the band and small diamonds set within the leaves.

Young love is not the only love being celebrated in the month of February. I also revamped a '70's style 18ct yellow gold engagement ring. The customer was thrilled with the fresh and modern look of her new engagement ring using the stones from her original ring.

Wanted- Jewellery and Watch Magazine

I was honored to be one of the twelve Contemporary South African Designers who were asked to make a signature piece for the end of year edition of the Wanted Magazine.
The theme was tourmaline and the description "Gob smacking"  was used. Free reign was given and this is what we produced.

9ct yellow gold and sterling silver rotating, hand-pierced petal ring with trillion cut pink tourmaline.

Sizzling Summer

For Veronica Anderson's Sizzling Summer 2016 exhibition, I decided to go geometric. Florals are always popular but shapes are making their come back in a big way. Pair that with bold colours and you can't go wrong, making these pieces easy to wear with jeans and pumps or a business suit and heels.

The Sizzling Summer 2016 Exhibition invitation

Sterling silver geometric, asymmetrical necklace with cushion cut, chequer-board Chinese coral and rectangular cab lapis lazuli.
Sterling silver geometric, asymmetrical square ring with round, facet lapis lazuli.
Sterling silver 3-way, geometric studs with briolette Chinese coral drops. These earrings can be worn 3 different ways. 

Wedding Bells in the Air

I was asked a few months ago to design a ring for a colleague of my sister-in-law. He told me that his soon-to-be fiance loved floral without being flowery, organic without being fussy and something that she wouldn't be able to find on Pinterest. Not an easy thing to do as all designs (especially in Jewellery) have been done before and a lot have been posted on social media.

So we started the process of coming up with something that reflected her personality and style but also something that was different from what is available in the shops.
I looked for inspiration in many of the artistic fields: Textile design; wrought iron works; art periods, namely Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts, and even interior and furniture design.
With a mood board to give me some direction and bearing in mind the parametres I was given, I came up with a number of designs which we kept narrowing down and refining until we got The One.

Rough sketches of different designs.

The One.

This drawing was then 3D rendered for final approval before I started with the manufacturing process. This showed my client exactly what the ring was going to look like as well as showing him the scale of the ring.

3D CAD rendering of the final design.

Once he was happy with these renderings, the manufacturing and setting started. A couple weeks later this is what he received and a couple months after that, he proposed! 

An 18ct white gold engagement ring with a claw set centre diamond. 12 smaller diamonds surrounding it in a floral halo.

She loves the ring!!

His and Hers wedding bands. A pair of sterling silver, half round sleeve rings with a band of 9ct yellow gold in the middle.

A sterling silver chain necklace with flat cut smokey quartz, green amethyst, garnet and amethyst.

Keeping the Balance: May 2016 Exhibition

As I mentioned previously, I've been madly working on pieces for the next exhibition that Veronica Anderson will be hosting. It seems the hard work has paid off and one of my necklaces made it into the invitation that was sent out to her clients. Nothing like seeing your jewellery piece in amongst such great work from well-known South African contemporary jewellers.

A sterling silver pendant strung on facet tourmaline beads. Triangle, cab fluorite with round, cab amethyst and oval, cab milky aquamarine.

A pair of sterling silver drops with polki rubies, briolette lapis lazuli and hand stitched blue beads.

A sterling silver neck piece with irregular cut, shards of aquamarine and smooth pyrite beads. A large, facet oval pyrite makes up the magnetic clasp.