Jewelry Redesign Story #9: The Custom-Made Do-Over

THE REDESIGN CHALLENGE:

We all make mistakes. Luckily, in the world of jewelry, a diamond is forever but an outdated or unloved design doesn’t have to be. 

Catharine had this problem when she brought us a cushion-cut yellow diamond solitaire-set ring that she had custom-designed a couple of years ago. Catharine knew she wanted something different -- something that felt more romantic and feminine.

THE REDESIGN PROCESS:

We had a couple of ideas and sketches that we were looking into before Catharine had the idea to add leaf elements to the ring. We set forth to create a golden wreath band for her new custom design. Because the diamond was yellow, we decided to make the ring using a yellow gold to match the stone. 

We designed the leaf band that included space for the cushion cut yellow diamond from Catharine’s previous ring. 

FINAL SKETCH

OTHER SKETCH OPTIONS

The design process was a complex one with this ring. The exact shape, weight, and size of the leaf-patterned band had to be chosen and then sketched and rendered in our CAD software before it was 3D printed and prepared to be cast.

CAD imagery of the final design

Casting in yellow gold

THE REDESIGN REVEAL (PART 1) :

Catharine loved the shape and style of the ring although she found that the yellow gold material was too bright for her. We want to make sure every customer is happy with their custom-design and that everything is just as they like it, so we went back to the drawing board. 

Yellow gold ring on customer

New rose gold casting

In order to tone-down the intensity of the gold color we decided to send the yellow gold band back to the caster to exchange and re-cast for the rose gold. 

THE REDESIGN REVEAL (PART 2) :

The result was exactly what Catharine was looking for when she came to us. Despite the long process, Catharine was finally happy about her custom-made jewelry. 

Final rose gold jewelry on customer

Final rose gold ring

Materials: Cushion yellow diamond set in 14k yellow gold bezel with 14k rose gold leaf detailed band

*the yellow diamond was Catharine’s and thus was not a part of the final price

Manufacturing Level: Medium

Design Level: Difficult

Start your do-over here.