From start to finish this job exactly matched the second lockdown in Melbourne 2020. We were able to choose the softly coloured Australian Argyle champagne and pink diamonds just before we were relegated to our homes and he collected the ring the moment we were allowed out again. It was an introspective period for me and I realise now how fortunate I was to have this beautiful job and customer to fill those strangely quiet city days.

She is a competent, wise and intelligent woman with a lovely gentle and disarming demeanour that in no way obscures a very, very good sense of humour, you definitely want her on your team. Although now officially girt by sea she grew up in Poland moving to Australia as a young woman on her own, which I consider a profoundly brave undertaking, especially without family or friends to catch you when you land.

I saw this bravery and quiet confidence in her unwavering courage to explore an unusual and sophisticated sculptural design.

She spoke of happy childhood memories with her dear sister staying at her grandparents in rural Poland, and the pictorial nature of this ring relates to this memory with the curved layered edges as softly rolling hills. I often work with people who move permanently from their birth-country. Listening to a customer discuss vivid childhood memories, no matter how long it’s been since they migrated, lets you imagine their footprints are still present in the soil around an early family home, keeping a memory-thread of connection to their first country. 

Holidaying with her beloved in the new country, Australia, is expressed in the sparkly waters-edge of the rippled gold with bright, shimmering diamonds.

Her fella is a very talented and interesting man, he is a musician and collector of vintage guitars and around the time he met his girl, he bought a guitar that had distinct decoration on the body of the instrument. The guitar reminds him of their early flush with love so as a way to weave his story into the design I lifted sections of the intricate floral pattern from the guitar and Ray from @Londonengraver hand engraved with incredible skill, the pattern on the underside of the ring and across the band.

The quiet uninterrupted days of lockdown allowed us to play with the design and practice the complex construction using silver samples, which we posted back and forth. The long and considered process meant I embarked with confidence on the final gold piece. The warm gold colours match and highlight the light honey and pink tones of the stunning Australian Argyle diamonds. The result is simply magical, I love this ring, it’s feels as though we created a diamond galaxy in a small, hidden sparkly rock pool.

I can see now how the design holds a richly detailed inner world that intriguingly
reflects how I experienced the unusual and sometimes challenging isolation of last year’s lockdown.