Commission: Rose Gold and Cherry Wood

This commission was such a joy and an interesting project.
A set of matching his and hers wedding rings.
 
Her ring.  9ct Unpolished Rose Gold with 0.5ct center Diamond.


His Ring.  9ct Unpolished Rose Gold with Cherry Wood

Diamonds are a girls best friend...

I've been getting a lot of questions regarding buying diamonds for an engagement ring. What's the right one? How do we pick? What's not good?

For the first time buyer, or even if you’re seasoned, buying one is daunting.  So I've put together a handy guide using the 4 C’s to help you.

Probably the most important of the C’s is Cut, determining your stones shape.  Whether it’s round or the popular Princess cut or even a fancier one, such as Pear Shaped, each stone is uniquely cut make the most of it's shine and maximise its potential.

 

The Colour's Chart is probably the most daunting one.  The whiter (colourless) a stone is, the more it’s worth.  Stones that are valued less have a slight yellow tinge. You also get ones with a very vibrant colour called fancy yellow and the rarest of all Diamonds can be coloured pink, blue or even red. Just keep in mind, the fancier the colour: the rarer the stone and thus more the more expensive.

 

Clarity refers to stones having flaws.  Most of these you can’t see with the naked eye, the less of these, the higher your stones value.

 

And then Carat.  This refers to the stones size in terms of weight, the higher the carat, the rarer the stone is and the more expensive it is.  The closer the stone becomes to a true carat the more you’ll pay.   For example a 0.48ct is much more affordable than 0.5ct which in turn is much less than 1 Carat Diamonds.

For more in depth information please go here.

Hopefully this helps a little.  The more you know, the easier it is for your jeweller to help you and the less stress for you.  Think of it as buying a new car (talking to you boys), you want to check the horsepower before you take it for a test drive.

:)

Pearl and Sapphire ring...

I think this is such a cute engagement ring.
One of the more original ones I did.
9ct White Gold, Pearl and Sapphire ring.
So cute and dainty!

Favourite commissions upto April

Here's just a few pics of some of my favourite commissions I did recently:

I know I've blogged about this one before... But it's still a favourite.
Sterling Silver Gents Wedding ring, Roman Numerals reading the wedding date.


A Gear Heart Brooch in sterling silver with hand pierced cogs.
Made this one that the cogs fit snugly into each other
and cannot turn but the effect is amazing when worn!

And then one of my Heart Rings.
I oxidised the sides and polished the edges of this one.

I'm feeling an urge to play with this idea again and bring out some pieces inspired by it...

Design Indaba... it was rad

Design Indaba came and went.

It was rad!

So much work, but amazing experience though.

This is my stand... Isn't she pretty.... Feedback I got about my jewellery was amazing and so many new ideas for new pieces.

My next door neighbour was Oh Dear Megan, this girl had her hands full with people. I think she must have sold out on day one. Traded her one of my pieces for a ring... So chuffed!

But we also met the two coolest girls from Durban: Michelle Stewart (above) and Lauren Batchelor (below). Both currently finishing their degrees, I can't wait to see what they come up with in future!

And then there were my old favourites... my dear friends, Lauren Fowler from Lost is a place too, an illustrator and thing maker... I need one of her x-stitch hoops....

Pictured below is Chantal Louw (being a bit crazy) from The Fringe Arts... Their stand was amazing, I kept hearing the most amazing things from people about them....

It was an amazing experience and I really can't wait to see what's in store now....

let's get married....

Hello my little blog monkeys.... So I've gotten a bit of a suprise recently...

My best friend told me she is getting married...

I'm very very excited for her, love both her and her boyfriend to bits...

So my wedding gift to them is I am making the engagment ring and wedding rings for them... Something I would do for oldest and closest friend....

So this is the design process of her ring... She already has the stones, infact she might even be getting more... And now I am just playing around until we find the perfect combination.... It has to be traditional, with a bit of flair and ellegance.... Add to it that I am her best man (she's not having a maid of honour) and I feel this has so be very very special.... It only happens once in a lifetime, unless divorce is an option for you...

Let's hope it's not....

golden bunnies and crosses... (birthday gifts and boredom)

so.... the end of year dawned upon me... it brings the end of my acedemic year and my birthday, which incidentally is also my younger brothers birthday (2nd birthday, thanx mom, can we get a refund?) So before I lost acces to a mayor big workshop, only until mid January though...

I did the following:

For those who have seen my portfolio from 3rd year might remebr my bunnie rings...

anyway I made a master of it and made a large amound of them (as seen above)

cast these into silver and treated them.....

The one above I gold plated, some I polished and the others I sandblasted or oxidised....

They don't look half bad, gonna sell them soon...

So coming back to my brother (and my birthday) I decided to make him a rosary (I never give him a present btw, and vice versa). the rosarie is the same as Ive made before, which he liked and just made it with black tourmaline... think of it as a belated 21st present....

renderings... for clients...

So these are renderings I did for clients... It's a pair of rosaries... Made for a couple for their aniversary The trick with this is the guy is a Pagan, so his has pentacle as the main piece and the first prayer bead is replaced with a cross. His girlfriend is Christian, hers has a cross and the bead is replaced with a pentacle... The actual pieces are in sterling silver with black tourmaline beads.... they came out stunning.... and it's a beautifully symbolic piece...

cufflinks....

So these are a pair of cufflinks I made for a client (my mother).
I took longer to make them than I should have, this I owe to being out of practice...
thank you sickness...
They are hollow ovals with 2 blackened lines running over them in sterling silver.
They look so amazing when worn... Such a simple design, so effective...