Jewelry Redesign Story #31: COVID Can’t Stop This Dream Engagement Ring Redesign

THE REDESIGN CHALLENGE:

Liana is a Weather Channel host and broadcast personality who wanted her engagement ring to shine on the screen as much as her relationship shined in her life offscreen. While Liana had been living on the East Coast and her husband on the West Coast, she was finally planning to move to be with her husband this year and wanted to redesign her engagement and wedding ring to celebrate this monumental moment in their marriage and their lives. Liana wanted something fresh and new for this fresh and new part of their lives. 

Liana brought us a collection of old sentimental jewelry including her diamond engagement ring with a pear-shaped diamond and a heart-shaped ruby necklace that we turned into a dramatic ruby ring. 

While we started this project in February of 2020, we came across the biggest challenge of all in March with the COVID-19 Pandemic. Unfortunately our redesign schedule — and Liana’s move to the West Coast — were delayed by the life-changing and unforeseen circumstances of the global Pandemic and local and national quarantines but we still managed to make her dreams come true. 

THE REDESIGN PROCESS:

Original Brainstorming Sketches 

Before the Pandemic hit, Liana started the redesign process by sharing with us a couple of inspirational images for the jewelry she wanted. Once we virtually met with her she was quickly attracted to some of the designs that Studio Remod had created for her by blending Liana’s design inspiration images with Studio Remod’s own visions for the new jewelry pieces. 

When we began the redesign process there were two different ideas we were working with although both were geometric and architectural. One idea included criss-cross settings and the other centered on different line lengths with pave diamonds. 

We suggested to Liana that we could add her pear-shaped diamond to the center of the geometric line design. Liana thought this was a great idea and added the suggestion to include surround and halo diamonds around the pear-shaped diamond already in use in the design. It was a joint effort and Liana was thrilled to have so much input. 

Final design sketch

With all these different diamond ideas in place we finally had a working design to get started with. This complex design included a lot of meticulous work to place each and every differently shaped diamond in the creatively designed setting. This meticulous work was made more complex by the puzzle of using only the diamonds that Liana had provided for us. Complicated, but we’re always up for a challenge! 

It took some time but we were finally able to place every diamond in the right place and end up with this final Rhino CAD design using only the various shaped diamonds that Liana provided for us and have it all come together in the right proportions. The complicated design required the use of four different diamond cuts: pear cut, baguette cut, tapered baguette cut, and round cut diamonds. 

Multi colored design Rhino 

When COVID-19 hit the involved design process was slowed down significantly. Minimized travel, closed businesses, and of course the stress of an uncertain world made for a number of delays in both our redesign and Liana’s move to the West Coast to be with her husband. 

Eventually, however, things were able to pick up again and the redesign was completed if only a bit later than originally intended. 

For this particular ring design the casting was particularly complex with two separate castings. One casting was for the halo for the ring of diamonds around the centerpiece gem. The halo casting was very delicate and necessary to do separately to ensure that the other diamonds would be set without affecting this interior casting. Finally we created the castings for the setting of the bulk of the varied shaped diamonds. 

Casting images 

With the settings finalized we were ready to begin modeling the design in our Rhino program and do our 3D casting before creating the final finished piece. 

THE REDESIGN REVEAL:

 The final jewelry

Despite the delays, Liana was able to take her completed redesigned engagement ring and her new ruby ring with her when she was finally able to move to the West Coast. Better late than never! 

“I ended up receiving rings that surpassed my expectations!” Liana told us from her new home with her no-longer long distance husband. Liana even said that we had helped her to make her dream rings! 

Final jewelry on customer

Materials: Platinum ring with round, pear shaped, baguette, and tapered diamonds. Pear shaped diamond in prong setting, round diamond halo in cut-down setting, round diamond in cut-down diamond on the shank, all the rest are bezel setting

Manufacturing Level: Difficult

Design Level: Difficult 

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