This is a short story about an inspirational character and the project we made together.
A couple of months ago an old friend called me and said he had a friend who was getting engaged and wanted to know if I would be interested in helping him design a ring. Of course, this is my profession, so when David called I did my best to listen and form a plan that I thought would create the best possible ring. This time there was a unique request, a fundamental design element that had to be a “honey bee.” It turns out this was really the symbolic heart of the idea behind the ring.
I have made many, many rings in my career (thousands actually) but never a honey bee. I have once made a honey comb and bee cufflinks which turned out quite nice, but a 3 dimensional bee on a ring posed some real issues.
The first issue for me was simply durability. A bee has articulated legs and wings that would simply not take the wear and tear of everyday abuse that a ring must withstand. Second of all, a literal “bee” was going to be a bit odd for one thing, and then a nuisance to the wearer in that it would be catching on everything.
I expressed my concerns to David and to my surprise and delight he was completely willing to hear me out and take my suggestions.
Now I had a project that was entirely my responsibility with a client who trusted me to make an important symbol of great value and completely outside the box…the pressure was on. What to do?
I decided that the bee could be represented and keep all of its character if we made an image that was a reverse impression of the image.
The idea was to make a “coat of arms” so to speak and use the bee as a symbol that we would hand engrave in a type of signet ring. We could add other elements but this was the gist of it…and it worked!
David suggested leaves and vines for a more floral and organic impression, and we added a small circle of white diamonds as well as a single yellow diamond at each North, South, East, and West point.
The ring was made in sections and assembled, and finally hand engraved by a master engraver named Richard Hughes who I have worked with for close to 20 years.
The rung turned out better than I imagined and David was thrilled.
(This is only a computer render so the detailed hand engraving is not shown)
It was, in the end, one of the more thoughtful and rewarding pieces I have worked on for quite a while. Upon reflection, the reason it turned out so well was the trust and positive energy of the client who made it such a fun and creative project.
We are truly blessed in this field of endeavor and have the opportunity to work with beautiful material, creative thought, and inspirational clients. This month I will be celebrating 20 years of custom jewelry commissions in our studio and my deepest, most sincere thanks goes to all of our wonderful clients who have collaborated and supported our work.
