Why I Bought A Bespoke Engagement Ring

Well hello there!

I mentioned before that I decided to get the engagement ring designed rather than shop-bought. I’m writing a post about my take on this process, so hopefully it gives you guys a good idea if it’s going to suit you (and your better half, of course!)

This is the sort of scene that makes you want to go bespoke!

Reasons Why

Getting  something “off the peg” seemed the most suitable idea for me – there are lots of nice designs out there. The type of rings Sharon had pointed out as part of her jewellery-making seemed simple enough, and should have been common enough to make a selection fairly risk-free.

And that is what bugged me: Common. I didn’t want common – Sharon’s certainly not “off the peg” so why should the ring be?

Where to look

I started by looking on a number of sites that claimed to have bespoke rings – I got to choose my band, setting, stone;  and they put it all together for you online to view the finished product. Awesome, I thought. But if they were able to give these options, surely the components had to be manufactured? Ok, I was picking a combination of these parts, but there was a chance that someone out there had chosen exactly the same as me. Sharon’s ring still wouldn’t be unique.

With Google as my friend I was led to Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, the same people that brought us the “Proposal in a Box” that Staggered featured a little while back. Their site is a wealth of useful knowledge – from the normal cut, clarity, carat to stones, metals, finishes, profiles – the whole kit and caboodle. This one-stop-shop of information won me over, and once I had the money ready, I emailed them.

Next steps

My scribbles - it's worth thinking about how the ring will fit next to a wedding band

I arranged to meet one of their designers, and I had a telephone call lined up to discuss designs. I had actually spent some time building up a “mood board” of ring pictures and other things that Sharon would like, and emailed these over in advance. When it came to the day of the call, I ended up going to a meeting not too far away from their workshop near Stevenage. A taxi ride later and there I was.

Kerrie, my designer, met me and we went through the mood board, as well as some sketches that I had thought of. Kerrie was extremely helpful, and used her real-world experience and obvious eye for design to prompt and nudge me with thoughts and ideas. At the end of the session I had a design and a quote for it – I went home a very happy boy indeed.

Storm Clouds Ahead

Using her jewellery as a prompt, I sounded out the design features with Sharon to gauge her opinion on some things I had chosen. Disaster. She hated some of the things I had included – when sneakily taking pictures of rings she had liked I had taken away the design aspect she least liked, not vice versa.

Kerrie drew this especially for me, and emailed it over after I explained the redesign

I hastily wrote an email to Kerrie, telling her of my dilemma, and providing a prompt to the features Sharon actually liked. The next day I had a great email from Kerrie with a sketch of the new ring and a new quote. Just how she pulled together a rambling email into the features I wanted I’ll never know!

Making the One Ring

Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design takes a 50% non-refundable deposit, and this is used to source and purchase materials. Personally it would have made me feel more secure if there were any payment plan options available, and this is something I’d recommend them looking into. Rings normally take 4-6 weeks to create but if you have a specific date in mind they’ll do what they can to achieve that for you.

Once the ring is complete, you pay the rest of the amount and they send out the ring to you by Special Delivery – which is covered and tracked. The quality is top notch and the box itself is crafted wood. A lovely thing to present and indicative of the quality of their engagement rings.

The finished product

Other thoughts

Not really a criticism, but my day job is a project manager,and I am an advocate of making the process high-visibility.

I felt a little in the dark as it was being made – Kerrie was there on phone and email, but I couldn’t see this ring take shape. I’d recommend that they look at improving this part of the process, and send out pictures of the ring as it goes – this would really be icing on the cake.

So there you have it – a run through my commissioning adventure! I’d recommend Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design to anyone.

Soon I’ll have an interview for you with Kerrie, my designer, so that she can cover some hints, tips and tricks to make the process as enjoyable as possible.

STD

Related Posts:

• Mmmbop And Questions Popped Part One
• Commission In A Box: Ingenious Proposal Solution
• Too Much Prep?
• She Said Yes! (Part 1)
• One Ring To Rule Them Both