Marcus got in touch with me wanting to get a bespoke ring crafted for his wife for their 5th wedding anniversary. We discussed options and he emailed through images of what he thought his wife may like. We quickly recognised the Fancy Cut Pounamu was a favourite and then decided on a setting option, he liked the full bezel around the stone which is a really safe and sturdy design. The clean lines on the smooth, plain ring band married with the same sleek, clean lines of the faceted Pounamu and full bezel were an instant winner.
I wanted to create something special for them so I chose a piece of Pounamu that was really unique. This particular piece of Pounamu is from the Takaka river in Nelson. Pounamu from that region is quite rare, especially in that lovely light green colour with pale blue streaks/veins running through it. So that was perfect for what I wanted.
I start off with by cutting my piece of Pounamu and glueing it to my dopping stick.
Using industrial diamond gear to cut the Pounamu I then pre form it, getting it into the shape I want.
After that I add each facet, one by one, slowly.
I then use a much higher grit to get the final top table and to polish them perfectly, all of this is done on my faceting machine.
After the final polish it is ready to have a ring made for it to sit in.
Now I hand fabricate the 9k Gold ring to go with the custom cut stone. All hand fabricated in my studio in the Waikato. A lot of measuring, sawing, bending, filing, soldering and sanding goes into the fabrication process…its a lengthy process and each piece needs to be absolutely perfect right, down to the 0.1 of a millimetre otherwise the stone wont fit or the ring band will be to big.
I start with gold wire and sheet, measuring, bending, soldering and hammering the ring band into shape. And measuring, cutting and filing the pieces for the bezel around the stone so it can fit perfectly in place.
The bezel soldered together and the stone fits like a glove!
Its then soldered to its base, some more sawing, sanding and filing to get it into shape and ready to be soldered to the ring shank.
Freshly soldered at the soldering station and is almost camouflaged into the soldering board and borax. It now needs to be cleaned, every edge, corner and flat needs to be sanded and polished to prepare it for the stone setting.
Nearly ready.
The ring is put in the setting goo to support it so I am able to use both my hands to set the stone with precision.
All set! Now to take it out, give it one more final polish and its ready!
There are so many more steps in between all of this, but I had to narrow it down. You get the idea. A lot of love, time and effort goes into creating a bespoke ring. From the precision faceting of the stone to the fabrication of the ring. It’s all worth while to have a result as stunning as this.
Once the ring was complete I contacted Marcus and gave him his information about the ring, including that I had chosen a piece of Pounamu from the Nelson region, Takaka River. It turns out, they both grew up in Nelson and have shared many memories together around Takaka. So in the end, that piece of Pounamu was far more perfect than I had ever imagined.
Thank you Marcus for trusting me to craft such a precious ring for your wife, I hope she loves it.
Courtney Marama