The last March Meet The Maker post of 2025…

The last March Meet The Maker Prompt is “Product Story”. I’ve been thinking about which piece to choose for this post for ages as every one of my commissions comes with a story, but I’ve decided to go with this set of engagement and wedding rings, mainly because I love the images I was given as inspiration to work from…Photographs of a very special tree where the leap year proposal was made.

There were three rings, all to be made from my clients old (and sentimental) old jewellery so as with every commission, after an initial chat, it all started with some drawings.

They wanted the rings to feature the “gap” and the textures and patterns in the old tree bark as well as make use of the diamonds from a sentimental pair of earrings.

They both liked the idea of keeping the different colours of gold and platinum visible, so I came up with a design that kept them separate. I used my special hybrid engraving technique to carve the gold in a way that would represent bark texture but not be completely literal, and juxtaposed this with sections of shiny platinum.

I loved making them, but handing over finished commissions never seems to get any less nerve wracking. I know it’s silly really, but those “what if they don’t like it” fears still kick in every time! Of course they did love them and I’m now pretty sure they’re being worn and enjoyed every day. Which is after all, what jewellery is intended for!