I got this custom wedding bands request from Brain and Margaret last month. They are getting married in June, so it only allows me 1.5 months to come up with the ring ideas to finish both rings. I always enjoy making custom designs, it's challenging, interactive, and I love it comes with the rush and high when I'm under the pressure of deadline (only my SCAD FAHMily will probably understand this part lol).
I started this project in the middle of April, had few meetings with B&M to figure out their expectations about their rings. Brian's ring is simple and contemporary, I designed a half round brushed finish 6mm 14K White Gold band for him. I used a half round 14k white gold wire to hand fabricated the ring, it was HARD, but with lots lots of annealing and hammering, I'm very happy that the end result for his ring is just perfect.
The real fun stuff is to design Margaret's ring, she has a clear picture about what style of her ring should look like. Fortunately, we are both huge fans of Art Nouveau era style, so it was very pleasant process to communicate with her about the designs. I decided to go with the floral scene for her ring because one of the most recognizable characteristics about Art Nouveau is all about flower flower and flower!
I combined her favorite flower "Lily of the Vally" as the main theme, hand carved the wax, and set with mix of three 2mm diamonds and four 2mm Period (which is also her birthstone) around the flower buds and veins to give a nicely visual flow. Dustin Walker did an amazing job setting the stone and milgrain texture. The ring is cast in 18K White Gold, and the milgrain texture is added on the veins and bezels. Her choice of white gold, diamond, and period makes the color combinations just as perfect as this ring ever could be!
Congratulations!