On her first trip out of the country, Kaitlin's mother bought her own mother a sapphire ring. When her grandmother passed away, Kaitlin was gifted this ring, to celebrate her birthstone, sapphire, and her connection to her mother and grandmother.
Over the years, Kaitlin has worn the piece a bit ironically--it's not really her style. Because the ring has mostly decorated the bottom of her jewelry box, not her hand, we set to work to revive this meaningful piece of jewelry and create an object that she will wear and love.
When I think of Kaitlin, I think of this solid gold bar custom necklace I created with her husband Toby years ago. This gold bar swivels on a custom finding that allows Kaitlin to wear it either with the gold information showing, or to reveal a secret rose on its back.
It seemed fitting that her grandmother's ring took on a floral bloom effect in the way the textured gold loops sprayed out from the center--the rose theme has a multi-generational depth!
And almost by coincidence, Roses took the theme again as Kaitlin and I began to explore options for recreating her grandmother's ring. Wanting to use as much of the original ring as possible in our redesign, we came up with three separate pieces with the elements of the ring:
The first creation is a ring that Kaitlin can wear daily. In 18k Rose Gold, we used five sapphires from her grandmother's ring arrayed and framed by round brilliant cut diamonds of the same size. Each station of diamonds and sapphires is bookended by a triangular impression that guides the eye around the ring and help us continue the story of three generations who are bound together through one piece of jewelry.
The second piece we created is an Open Rose Necklace using the textured loops of her grandmother's blossom ring. These loops have been styled to create a pendant that uses negative space and texture to unfurl petals like a rose.
The final piece is a small Rosebud Pendant in 18k Rose Gold that uses a cluster of three mismatched sapphires from the original ring as a central point around which an organic arrangement petals gather.
It is a rosy new beginning for Kaitlin's heirloom sapphire ring. With three pieces that can be worn together or apart, her original ring can be styled and appreciated in multiple ways, allowing for versatility in celebrating her family connections through her jewelry collection.