First things first...Yvette and Jay live in London and ordered their engagement ring via correspondence! You have no idea how impressed I am with them for taking such a leap of faith. They had come across my work over on One Fab Day and picked up the phone to place their order.

In the absense of a face to face meeting Yvette and I chatted about the shape of her hand, about skin tone and about the kind of work she does. That last one may seem strange, but lifestyle can really impact your choice of metal and stone. As she didn't intend to wear her engagement ring every day the whole range of gemstones was available to her including this relatively soft peridot which just so happens to be Jay's birth stone.

The top left image details the raw materials - two pieces of gold, one long for the shank and one wide for the setting and the lovely green peridot. First the wider piece was turned up into a conical bezel setting and then the longer length of gold into a ring. The two pieces were then fitted together via a series of cutting, filing and offering up the setting to the gap in the ring. When they fit perfectly they were soldered together with a little excess setting protruding. This excess was filed away before emerying and cleaning up the ring to take the peridot.

And here we have the finished ring which the guys flew in to collect one Monday morning. They are planning their wedding here in Dublin later this year and I wish them both the very best!