To say I was excited when Dan approached me to design Cheryl’s surprise engagement ring is an understatement of the highest order. Here is a sneak peek…
Lets start from the beginning…
Roll back the clock to 2010, and I took a step away from jewellery industry and trained to be a secondary Art Teacher. Cheryl did the same SCITT course, training to become a Dance teacher. We had the same Upper School placement and shared the drives, working closely together and supporting each other through a really gruelling year. We survived the exhausting twilight training sessions together after long days in the classrooms, and somehow came out the other end still keen and enthusiastic about teaching. My true passion for jewellery revived and I took a wiggly route back to my original love, but Cheryl remains in education – an incredible teacher, and now in a role providing support to schools and teachers in personal development, with Fellowship Status no less! She is a real inspiration.
I had designed a necklace with Cheryl for her daughter Chloe several years ago, using the diamond from the engagement ring from her first marriage. It was really lovely to turn the diamond into something to celebrate Chloe and pass on the diamond in a new and meaningful way.
Fast forward several years and along comes Dan – a genuinely lovely guy who supports and loves Cheryl and her daughter Chloe unconditionally. Cheryl recommended me to Dan’s mother Hilary and she designed a fitted ruby ring to sit alongside her wedding ring with me.
Just before Christmas, Dan decided it was his time to work with me, and we met to design a surprise engagement ring for Cheryl!
He had been given his Grandmother’s diamond trilogy engagement ring and he wanted to use the diamonds from it as a starting point to include their legacy and history in this new ring. We talked over the sorts of styles that Dan was drawn to and he loved the look of pear shaped halo designs. We decided to use just the outer two diamonds as shoulder stones, and drew up a halo design with the sparkliest brilliant cut diamonds to frame the beautiful pear cut diamond I sourced for the ring.
The symbolism of the trilogy form of the design was absolutely perfect for Dan’s proposal – past, present and future.
I mentioned to Dan the idea of birthstones in the ring, and he loved the idea – we selected a green sapphire to represent Dan (September), a pink tourmaline for Cheryl (October), and a diamond to represent Chloe (April).
I felt really emotional when we came upon this final design – it felt right, and knowing Cheryl as I do, I knew how much she would appreciate all the sentiment and meaning packed into the design. It is not only beautiful – and my word, is it beautiful – but it packs an emotional punch too, as the best engagement rings should. A truly heartfelt, intentionally designed ring, designed and made with love and incredible craftsmanship.
Dan planned a romantic weekend away to London, booking a fancy hotel and tickets to see Cheryl’s favourite musical, Hamilton.
But the story doesn’t end here! Remember that left over diamond from Dan’s Grandmother’s ring? Well Chloe wasn’t only honoured inside the engagement ring with her birthstone. We designed a simple bracelet that would grow with Chloe with the central diamond from the trilogy. Children are the centre of a parent’s world after all! Dan gave Chloe the bracelet the weekend before the proposal, and showed her the engagement ring. What a fantastic young lady to keep this huge secret for a whole week!
I am so happy for this family and so touched to have been asked to play a part in their story.
If you would like to design a totally unique engagement ring packed with sentimental details just like Dan and Cheryl’s, I would love to help you – hit contact to start a conversation. Equally, if you want to send someone a major hint, why not share this article with your loved one?
Pro shots by Red Peacock Photography