Every few weeks, I sent Don a message. Maybe he had just forgotten to tell me that he and Kelsie had gotten engaged? Maybe he was waiting for an event I didn't know about? Maybe they skipped the engagement and went straight to the altar?
I sent Don the finished ring in April. Kelsie had been intimately involved in designing the ring with us... She must have been losing her mind still not having it on her hand! I was losing my mind waiting to be able to congratulate them on their engagement!
Now, it is official and the ring is on Kelsie's finger. Seeing pictures of the moment, I think everything about this engagement was worth the wait!
Don, Kelsie, and I created a
Custom Designed Platinum Engagement Ring with an Oval Diamond.
This unique, certified post-consumer recycled diamond, has had a contemporary modification: the pavilion has been faceted into a rose cut.
Rose Cut diamonds were originally cut during the Victorian era to be worn in candlelight. Rose Cuts are made up of triangular facets that look like a rose unfurling. They reflect light off their surface with a soft sparkle. They tend to have a flat base, but in this ring, the original crown of the oval brilliant serves as the base. This gives this diamond a mesmerizing pattern and unusual display of fire.
Set with Rose Cut pavilion facing up, raised to accommodate perfect nesting with the future wedding band, the diamond is the main focus of the ring. To highlight this beautiful stone, the knife-edged band pinches in as it approaches the diamond before flaring outward into triangles that are hand engraved with a striped pattern. For comfort, the knife edge smooths to round under the finger, making this ring not only sculpturally dynamic, but also very wearable.
The groom-to-be and I attempted to incorporate elements of Kelsie's Puerto Rican heritage, including use of the Puerto Rico's Coqui frog's webbed hands. It was a challenge: I came up with a variety of three-prong, split prong, and three-nub designs to hold the diamond, but nothing was quite right... and then Don realized the frog has a thumb! The four-pronged design was the result of this incredible ecological discovery and now the diamond is secured in a beautiful setting that is not only balanced, but is also meaningful.
On the interior of the ring, the Puerto Rican Flamboyant Tree is engraved into the band. Opposite the flamboyant tree, Don and Kelsie's initials are hand engraved into the band as one would carve their initials into the trunk of tree.
Don rented a lodge outside Zion National Park that overlooks the canyon. While Kelsie showered, Don went outside where he laid down roses. They got ready for dinner and made their way out back where Don presented this rose-cut diamond ring to his bride-to-be under a canopy of trees on a bed of rose petals.
Don and Kelsie, I wish you both a lifetime of love and happiness. Thank you for including me in your story!
