Earlier this year I inherited a ring from my great uncle–a diamond set in a large 1950’s-style men’s ring. The setting did nothing to showcase the diamond, and since the ring had been sitting unworn for decades in a safety deposit box, I knew it was time to make a change. My first thought was to bring the ring to Gary at Goldworks. He created the wedding bands for my husband and me, and has done other beautiful work for my husband’s family in Eugene, OR, where we were visiting at the time.

The ring had never, to my knowledge, been appraised. Gary was able to tell us about the old diamond, based on its cut and color, and a little about the history of the diamond business. I didn’t have any solid ideas about how I wanted the ring to look, so Gary showed us his online portfolio of different styles of rings, and we browsed through the Goldworks store and photo albums there for inspiration. I found one that had some elements I liked, but others that I wanted to change. Gary sketched a new design, incorporating what I suggested, and explaining what would be possible and what would best showcase the stone. We left the ring with Gary and flew back to our home in Boston.

Gary made a wax mold with the diamond in it and emailed pictures of the prototype ring at different angles to see what we thought. It looked great and we asked him to go ahead with the final version. Gary was able to use the gold from the original setting to create the new ring, so while it is in some ways a different ring, it is still a piece of family history–and one that will certainly not sit forgotten in a safety deposit box! I truly appreciated the chance to be so involved in the creation of this ring and am very pleased with the result. I know Great Uncle Louie would approve.

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