A New Heirloom

I just finished a wedding ring set for some good friends in Seattle. Lee's ring is a classic style in 18K yellow gold and was a complete pleasure to make. I rarely get to work with 18K yellow gold and it is a dream of a material. It just works so beautifully. Lisa's ring was a rework of two family rings that she wanted to combine: a filigree band and a channel-set diamond band. I really love how this one turned out. The two pieces complement each other perfectly and Lisa's ecstatic reaction when she saw it for the first time echoed my thoughts.

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Do You Know About My Wedding Rings?

Betsy and Scott-the first set I made back in 2002

The other day I was reviewing all the images on my Facebook Fan page and discovered that my wedding rings were not among the over 1400 images I've posted. I just added them there now. I don't make a lot of wedding rings, maybe three or four sets a year with the occasional trifecta of bride and groom bands and the engagement ring, but I really enjoy making them when I do get an opportunity. I know I've said this before and I'll say it again: Making wedding and engagement rings is a challenging and rewarding process and a big responsibility because they are such significant and personal pieces of jewelry. I find such joy in the process, though, and it always feels pretty special.

Amy and Glen
a more traditional style and my favorite image of a set I made

Melissa
made for my friend and still my hands-down favorite design

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Dotted

I completed this wedding ring set last week for friends in Portland, OR. The bands are steel with 18K gold dots and blacked with gun blue. (Nathan Blank helped me with the wider band. Thanks, Nathan!)

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the happy couple

towards the end of the summer i made wedding rings for chelsea and kerri, a sweet couple from austin, tx. they were married in october and sent me this photo from their photographer, kat bevel. i love it and thought i would share it with you now. wedding rings are always a (rewarding) challenge to design and make, often further complicated by distance. i make most of my wedding rings for people who do not live anywhere near me. we have to email and talk on the phone to work out the details of the rings. chelsea and kerri were easy to work with and i enjoyed the process with them.

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new wedding rings

my friends, tes and jason, are getting married in a few weeks and they asked me to make their wedding rings. i finished them recently and just got this image back from my photographer. i am especially pleased with this new set and i know tes and jason are, too. the design plays off tes' engagement ring which features a tanzanite encircled by a frame of tiny diamonds. i chose to use the frame as a graphic element and chased tiny circles to mimic it around the center of each band.

in addition to these rings, i have also recently made bands for another couple in minneapolis and have two more sets to go, one for a couple in brooklyn and another in philadelphia. i really enjoy making wedding rings. i love making such important pieces of jewelry and working with gold is always fantastic. i must admit, the time leading up to the making can be a bit daunting for me just because wedding rings are so significant - it's a big responsibility. however, once i get started, i find such joy in the process and in knowing i'm making such an important piece of jewelry for a client. it feels pretty special.

also, i've been so into wedding rings these days (between all the making of them and reading about the history of rings) that i finally got myself a copy of 500 wedding rings. the designs are incredible and inspiring not only for wedding ring design, but for jewelry design in general.

to see more of my wedding rings, please visit my website or my flickr.

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