The process began with the goal of creating a modern interpretation of my grandmother's ring, which my girlfriend is fond of. I wanted a platinum setting and about a 1ct stone; my grandmother's ring is gold and about 2ct.

During this time was looking for someone to build the ring. I had some pretty specific ideas about the design, so my main priority was finding an excellent platinum craftsman. There are a number of superb jewelers on the board, but I was in love with the quality of Mark Morrell's pieces. I emailed Mark with an overview of what I was trying to accomplish and some pictures of my grandmother's ring.

I had tried my best to guesstimate the scale of the setting for a 1ct. stone. Finally, I fired up photoshop and created some scale models at different widths. I printed them, cut them out, taped 'em up, and I had a pretty good idea of the size that I liked. I emailed that photo to Mark, and by the next morning he had some CAD mockups made to my specs. This was a great starting point - very exciting!

Mark suggested that we might soften the piece and make it a little more dynamic by making the setting thinner and giving it a little more concavity. He marked the changes up in CAD and I was sold. I was thrilled with the shape of the setting, but I thought the crown was a little too edgy. I wanted something that would cradle the diamond and continue the smooth, flowing shape of the setting. Mark made a few suggestions and ultimately recommended a 6 prong crown that he would custom cast and finish.

I gave him the go ahead and he modeled the setting in wax. This was a thrill--we were making some headway. Mark sent a picture of the wax crown. I got pretty nervous that it was going to dominate the diamond, but Mark sent me some before and after (wax model -> final platinum) photos that set my fears to rest.

A few days later my jaw dropped when Mark sent along photos of the final product. That night I couldn't fall asleep thinking about picking it up the next morning. Yesterday morning it arrived--I am speechless! Mark did such an amazing job. The contours of the ring are so perfect and everything fits together as if it couldn't exist in any other way. It is amazing to finally hold something in my hands that had been in my head for so long.