Jewelry Redesign Story #33: Her Grandmother’s Earrings Become My First Post-Baby Redesign

THE REDESIGN CHALLENGE:

Danielle came to me in the summer to begin work on a custom redesign of her grandmother’s earrings. She’d been holding on to them for awhile and figured that the Pandemic was a great time to get started on going out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new. 

Danielle came to us just as we started taking on clients again after the start of the Pandemic in March. She knew that it was a time of uncertainty and upheaval — not only because of the unknowns surrounding the Pandemic but also because I was personally going through a big change: I was pregnant with a baby due in July! 

I thought that her project — turning her grandmother’s earrings into a ring — would be the last redesign I would take on before I had my baby.

Fate, of course, had other plans, and my son came into the world three weeks ahead of schedule! With a brand new infant at home with me, Danielle’s ring redesign had to be put momentarily on hold. 

Danielle, a mother herself, was so understanding and was happy to give me time to adjust to new motherhood. Once we were able to start working again, I knew that this project would be important to Danielle, but also to me, as my first project working as a mother. 

THE REDESIGN PROCESS:

Original Brainstorming Sketch Options

By September, Danielle and I were ready to dive into the redesign process. 

Danielle knew that she wanted to utilize all of the diamond stones from her grandmother’s earrings in her new ring redesign. Initially, Danielle wanted an asymmetrical cluster ring although she eventually decided that she preferred either the eternity band or “X” band designs we showed her. We offered her two options for the “X” ring, one with a narrower X and one with a wider X.

Casting image

Danielle decided to go with the wider X, featuring clean and graphic aspects that would make it easy to show off so many of her grandmother’s diamonds while also fitting well into her everyday wear.

THE REDESIGN REVEAL:

 The final jewelry

By the time Danielle received her final ring so much had happened. We’d all been living for months inside, I had a newborn baby and I became a working mom, and Danielle’s grandmother’s earrings were now a chic everyday ring! 

Although it took longer than usual for this piece to be fully realized, Danielle couldn’t be happier with the results. We were able to use all the diamonds from Danielle’s grandmother’s earrings and were able to sell the gold from the earrings to deduct from the final cost for the ring. With its clean lines, it was the perfect ring and Danielle knew it had been worth waiting for. 

Danielle knows this ring will always mean a lot to her as a stylish piece reminiscent of her grandmother, but it will also always be an important piece to me as the first redesign of my new life as a mother! 

Final jewelry on customer

Materials: 14k yellow gold with round diamonds in cut-down setting

Manufacturing Level: Medium

Design Level: Medium

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