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Being entrusted to design a bespoke wedding band to complement a unique vintage engagement ring is the utmost privilege. Whether an inherited family heirloom or a pre-loved piece of jewellery offered a second chance at life, a vintage engagement ring is a relic of a bygone era that tells a thousand stories and celebrates metals and gemstones already above-ground. We’d be fibbing if we said the presence of a vintage jewel wasn’t intimidating at times, however. For us, the challenge lies in the task of ensuring that the new wedding band is sympathetic to the characterful nuances of its older and wiser neighbour, embodying some of its spirit without stealing its thunder.
Thankfully, we enjoy rising to a challenge. Today, we’ll explore some of the wedding bands we’ve designed to match with unique vintage engagement rings.
Weighty and angular, Carolyn’s Art Deco-style engagement ring presented itself to us with a knowing glimmer in its emeralds, challenging us playfully to do our very best. Although its wide split band and low-seated central cross-over of gemstones are exactly the features that make Carolyn’s engagement ring so special, they created testing conditions for any wedding band with any hope of schooching cosily alongside them. Keen to avoid a gap between her rings, Carolyn expressed a keenness for her wedding band to accommodate the geometric contours of her engagement ring. Jewellery design of this level of precision cannot rely on guesses hazarded by eye, so our goldsmith kept hold of Carolyn’s engagement ring, scanned it in using a Computer Aided Design (CAD) program, then used that print to create a resin mock-up. This resin was then used to help cast a wedding band with a recess that invites its neighbour to slot in as flawlessly as a matching jigsaw puzzle piece.
To match the hardness of Carolyn’s engagement ring, her new wedding band was cast in recycled platinum. Instilling it with personality of its own, our master hand-engraver Darren adorned its surface with delicate vines, flowing organically in a playful contrast to the ring’s linear form.
Rosie’s vintage engagement ring boasts an elevated central setting, making it slightly more accommodating of a straight wedding band than the wide and shapely centrepieces often characteristic of rings from yesteryear. This engagement ring is no off-the-shelf job, however. Evidently antique, its hand-faceted old cut diamonds are charmingly organic, its gemstone settings chunky, its band proud and wide. In Rosie’s mind, a contemporary wedding band – all gleaming surfaces, precise lines and brilliant diamonds – would create an uncomfortable paradox.
Our Liberty wedding band is characterised by a style of grain-setting which secures its gemstones a comfortable distance from one another, each pinned into place by small beads of metal and enclosed within a hand-scored box; an uncanny parallel to that of Rosie’s engagement ring. Spotting an opportunity to further customise the design, Rosie commissioned a modified 3mm band width and a row of 2.5mm cognac sapphires to replace the customary dazzle of diamonds. Unlike the surface sparkle of contemporary brilliant-cut diamonds, the gentle shimmer of these dusky sapphires are the perfect match for Rosie’s old-cut diamonds, originally faceted by hand with the purpose of twinkling quietly under candlelight.
The toi et moi engagement ring is a design classic, its namesake – ‘you and me’ in French – referencing two gemstones resting eternally against one another. Timeless, elegant and extremely romantic, the toi et moi blueprint is an excellent choice for an engagement ring. We urge no client of ours to be deterred by its demanding shape.
Understandably, Melody’s authentic Art Deco toi et moi engagement ring is her pride and joy. Crowned by two 6mm old-cut diamonds, its tapered shoulders grain-set with an additional 10 small sparklers just for the sheer joy of extra sparkle, this antique jewel is the epitome of a show-stopper. Keen to maintain its ‘main character’ role, Melody’s vision was of an understated wedding band – as slender as possible – that would slot quietly alongside it. Though symbolic in its own right, this new jewel would enhance, not detract.
Via the same CAD resin process employed in the design and creation of Carolyn’s shaped wedding band, our goldsmith tailored a jacket that would fit Melody’s diamonds like a second skin. Slim, plain and polished to a gleam, this subtle addition says ‘less is more’.
Feeling inspired? We leap at the chance to design a matching engagement ring and wedding bandset. Familiarise yourself with our award-winningbespoke service anddrop us a line to get the ball rolling…
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