Reimagined Heirlooms
2003 - present
As a maker of objects, I have navigated the waters of sentiment and studied the point when an object becomes a beloved object. This often involves a transaction: a gift, a purchase, the exchange of wedding vows. It involves time. The years spent wearing (or living with) the piece –getting to know it a little more each day. In the case of a wedding ring, it requires understanding its relationship to your body, the weather, the environment, the work one does, and one’s age. The Mexican essayist, poet, and diplomat Octavio Paz, in one of my favorite essays, said “The handmade object does not charm us simply because of its usefulness. It lives in complicity with our senses, and that is why it is so hard to get rid of–it is like throwing a friend out of the house”.
I am humbled that some of the objects I have made live daily with friends and strangers alike. In these last years of making jewelry, I’ve returned to this idea of making the quiet things that are worn daily, that are impossible to part with. What would make your list?
On this page is a selection of custom projects that reimagine client heirlooms and/or source unique stones that speak to the beauty, inclusions, and lasting power of diamonds.
GOLD + diamonds
If I had to draw a chronology of gold, it would be horizontal, like a timeline, and vertical, like a column, and circular like a ring, which is how we humans draw infinity. It would move in all directions, revealing that this top-of-the-food-chain material doesn’t itself care about hierarchies. Irises propagate this way, ginger too; turmeric, bamboo, sorghum.
The majority of gold objects throughout history have been melted down and recast. Gold is conductive, malleable, ductile, impervious to tarnish, and can be easily brought through a physical transformation, from solid to liquid back to solid within a matter of seconds and with a suitably hot fire. This particular quality of gold makes it difficult to trace. The material worked by the contemporary goldsmith might have origins in a mine, a pawn shop, an ancient gold artifact, a coin, or all of the above.
Diamond slab ring in 22k
A stack of smooth, flat stones of various gray and brown shades balanced on top of each other, with a small gold ring placed on the top stone.
Barnacle bands
Stacked rosecut anniversary bands
Rose cut diamond, open diamond and knot ring star
Bespoke bypass ring
Bespoke diamond ring
Diamond slice ring
18k silk band and 5-stone band
Bespoke 18k and diamond ring
Wave ring stack
Bespoke classic diamond ring
Heirloom minecut stacked rings in 18k gold
Heirloom mine cut diamond studs
Bespoke heirloom diamond band
Heirloom diamond pendant in 18k yellow gold
Anniversary barnacle bands
Faceted gold band with Paraiba tourmaline band
Custom oval rings
Rosecut diamond pendant
Open diamond slice and silk stack
Process
Rosecut diamond starburst studs
Textured 18k gold band
Diamond slab pendant
Bangles in golden hour
Forged 24k band
Forged 24k chunky band
Ancient bronze coin pendant
Reverse, ancient bronze coin pendant
Bypass ring
Chunky band
Melting
Freshly cast ring
Process
Process
Ancient bronze coin ring
Stack in 18k gold and diamond
5-stone barnacle band
PINK + Green
Gemstone candy.
Custom watermelon tourmaline ring
Emerald pendant
Watermelon tourmaline and peonies
Montana sapphire with Pariba band
Star ruby slab ring and tulips
18k silk textured band, Montana sapphire barnacle band, 20k gold band
Diamonds and emeralds
Emerald eye ring
Aquamarine ring in 18k gold
Opal ring in 22k
Raw, rosecut and cabachon sapphire stack
Earring stack
Garnet ring, open moonstone ring
Vesuvianite ring
Chrysophase slab earrings
Have an heirloom to re-imagine?
Please get in touch