Published on by Olivier Maupas-Sehikyan · Rings
Family jewellery that no one wore any more
Some requests arrive quietly, and they are often the ones that move me most. One day, clients came to my workshop in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, near Nantes, to entrust me with several old pieces of jewellery. They no longer wore them. Their children, now grown, did not see themselves in designs from another era. Yet no one wanted to part with them: the sentimental value of these pieces remained immense.
Their wish could be summed up in a few words: to pass something on without freezing it in time, to modernise without erasing. They pictured a bespoke emerald ring, designed to be worn and loved by the next generation, so that the family's story would not disappear at the back of a drawer. I listened to them for a long time. In meetings like this, the project is born as much from what people tell me as from what they place on the table.
This commission inspired me straight away. Transforming family jewellery requires delicacy, because you are not simply working with gold and stones: you are handling memory. You have to know what to keep, what to change, and why.
A natural emerald and a leaf motif to speak of heritage
Among the stones we recovered, a beautiful natural emerald held my attention completely. Its deep colour evoked nature, renewal, continuity. As I held it between my fingers, the idea came almost of its own accord: a botanical theme. A leaf design, then, a symbol of growth and of what is handed down from one season to the next, from one generation to the next.
I put this idea to the family, who welcomed it with enthusiasm. It remained to give it form. I wanted a yellow gold leaf ring with movement and lightness, far from the solemn piece that is kept under lock and key. A piece of jewellery that lives on the finger and accompanies the gestures of everyday life.
The choice of 18-carat yellow gold came naturally. Its warmth answers the green of the emerald, and it carries something familiar, like an echo of the original pieces. The old jewellery was carefully taken apart: its gold was melted down and reworked, and the stones were sorted and cleaned. Some were reused. In this way, part of the story was preserved while a new page was being written.
From melted gold to finished ring: the work in my workshop in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire
The drawing, then the metal
It all begins with the pencil. I drew several sketches to define the lines of the future ring, exploring how the leaves could wrap around the emerald without overwhelming it. The motif had to look natural, almost as if it were still growing. Once my clients had approved the design, making could begin.
The gold from the old jewellery was melted, then rolled. The structure of the ring was then shaped by hand, step by step. The shank was fitted to guarantee optimal comfort, because a beautiful piece of jewellery that is uncomfortable always ends up staying in its box. The leaf motif was then carved with precision, to give it the organic, living quality I had in mind from the very first sketch.
The setting and the finishing touches
Then comes the moment I love most, and the most demanding: the setting. The central emerald was set with great care in a claw setting, which lets light in from every side and shows the stone to its best advantage. Around it, several diamonds were set one by one. Their brilliance adds contrast and reveals the depth of the green.
Then come the finishing touches: filing, polishing, the last adjustments. Every detail is checked, and the ring is examined from every angle, under the loupe and with the naked eye. This is how I work on all my jewellery: each piece is designed, made and finished on site, in my jewellery workshop, which allows me to control the process from start to finish.
A leaf-motif emerald ring between nature and modernity
When the ring was finished, I felt that quiet emotion I know well: a mixture of relief and calm pride. It is elegant, both botanical and resolutely contemporary. The leaves bring softness and poetry, the diamonds a touch of light. And the emerald at the centre reminds us that this ring was born of an inheritance.
Today, it is worn with pride. It is no longer simply a piece of jewellery: it has become a symbol of the bond between generations, suited to today's tastes without ever forgetting its origins. The emerald is often associated with hope and renewal, the diamond with permanence. Brought together in a single 18-carat yellow gold ring, they say quite well what this family wanted to pass on.
Preserving a memory while giving it a new purpose: this is what gives meaning to my work as a designer jeweller.
If you too have family jewellery sleeping in a drawer, and the idea of a new piece appeals to you but you do not know where to begin, you are welcome to come and talk about it at the workshop in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire. Together we will look at what you have, what these pieces tell you, and what they could become. With no obligation, simply to talk about a project.
