Published on by Olivier Maupas-Sehikyan · Rings
Some commissions begin with an object placed on the workbench, and with everything it has to say. This one reached me with a precious contribution: a piece of gold heavy with memories, a selection of carefully chosen diamonds and a striking pink sapphire. My client wished to make a modern pink sapphire and diamond ring, one that reflected her personality. I sensed within the first few minutes that this project would matter to me.
Gold full of memories, a request for a bespoke ring in Nantes
When my client walked through the door of my workshop as a jeweller in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, near Nantes, she had not come to choose a design. She had come to entrust me with a story. I took the time to listen to her, then to look at what she had brought: the gold first, with the invisible weight of what it represented for her, then the diamonds, then this pink sapphire whose soft colour spoke to me at once.
In this trade, a bespoke ring in Nantes is never simply a successful drawing. One must understand what has to be preserved, and what one may dare to change. With these materials, the challenge was clear: to give a second life to personal treasures without betraying them, and to offer them a contemporary form. My heart raced, I confess. It is the kind of commission that reminds me why I chose this profession.
We talked about how she would wear the ring, her taste for clean lines, and the balance between the coloured stone and the brilliance of the diamonds. Nothing was rushed. Before touching a single tool, I wanted us to agree on the essentials.
Designing the ring and choosing palladium white gold
Then comes the time for the pencil. My first sketches sought the right proportions: a pink sapphire at the centre, well displayed, with diamonds on either side that accompany it without stealing the show. Several versions were drawn, compared and refined until the silhouette of the ring felt entirely natural.
For the metal, I chose palladium white gold. It combines elegance and durability, two qualities one expects of a piece of jewellery meant to be worn for a very long time. Its pale tone also leaves the sapphire all the room it needs to express itself: set against this neutral background, the colour gains in softness and depth. It became the canvas on which my imagination could take shape.
Once the design was approved, I sculpted the ring in wax. This stage allows me to hold the piece in my hand before it truly exists, to check the volume, the comfort and the way the light will fall on the pavé. Then came the casting, that moment when the metal takes the form the wax has prepared for it. The gold entrusted to me by my client thus found its place in the ring, and its memory with it.
The pink sapphire and the diamond pavé, the heart of the ring
At the centre, the pink sapphire radiates a soft, bewitching hue. For me, this colour evokes subtle emotions: a tribute to my client's femininity and grace. It needed a setting worthy of it, neither too discreet nor too showy.
On either side, two bands of diamond pavé frame the stone. Set one by one and held by tiny beads of metal, they sparkle like little stars. Setting is the stage that demands the most calm: one overly firm gesture and everything must be started again. I work under the loupe, almost holding my breath, so that every stone sits perfectly and the whole appears to have been formed in a single piece.
Filing, soldering, polishing
Every stroke of the file, every soldered joint, every pass of the polisher was carried out with an almost meditative precision. The workshop falls silent, wholly focused on the material. Polishing, above all, reveals the ring: the surfaces soften, the white metal takes on its light and the stones at last seem to be where they belong. My aim remained the same from beginning to end: to bring my client's vision to life while preserving the integrity of the original materials.
Presenting the ring: a past that continues to shine
On the day of the handover, I presented the ring before slipping it onto her finger. I never tire of that moment. In a few seconds, one can read what weeks of work have tried to say: the recognition of familiar gold, the novelty of the lines, the light of the pink sapphire between the diamonds. The emotion was there, quiet and genuine.
This ring captures the essence of the past while celebrating the promise of a radiant future. It no longer resembles what the gold was at the outset, and yet it holds it entirely within. That is, for me, the deeper meaning of jewellery transformation: to erase nothing, but to carry it forward.
This experience strengthened my conviction that a piece of jewellery is far more than an adornment. It reflects emotions, stories and the bonds between people. To take part in that is a privilege, and I hope this ring will continue to shine through the years, perhaps well beyond.
If you too own some old gold, stones set aside or simply an idea that is still taking shape, come and talk to me at the workshop in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, near Nantes. We will take the time to look together at what is possible, with no obligation and no rush.
