Published on by Olivier Maupas-Sehikyan · Rings
The story of an 18-carat white gold Art Deco ring with an emerald-cut blue topaz and a diamond halo
Some creations combine timeless elegance with a carefully managed budget. This 18-carat white gold Art Deco ring, set with a magnificent 10 by 8 mm emerald-cut blue topaz in a closed setting at the centre and enhanced by a halo of diamonds in grain setting, is a perfect illustration. It grew out of a touching project: the transformation of a client's old jewellery, as she wanted a piece in the spirit of the Roaring Twenties. Made entirely by hand in my jewellery workshop at 36 rue du Général De Gaulle, in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, south of Nantes. Allow me to tell you its story.
The brief: an Art Deco ring on a carefully managed budget
It all begins with a visit to my workshop-boutique. My client steps through the door with a small box containing several old pieces of 18-carat white gold jewellery and a few small diamonds gathered over the years.
Her brief is precise. She has always been passionate about the aesthetic of the Roaring Twenties and the Art Deco style. She dreams of a ring with a geometric design and a rectangular blue centre stone. She does, however, wish to keep her budget under control, as a fine aquamarine would far exceed what she had in mind.
As a gemstone dealer, I suggest a perfectly suited alternative: a 10 by 8 mm emerald-cut blue topaz, with a limpid colour very close to that of an aquamarine. Transparency is my rule: I explain clearly that this is a topaz, with a hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale and a time-honoured heat treatment that is universally accepted.
I draw several sketches. The design we choose features the topaz held in a closed setting at the centre, surrounded by a hexagonal halo of small diamonds in grain setting with softened corners. The project is approved.
Blue topaz and the Art Deco style
The Art Deco style officially emerged in 1925, at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. Born as a reaction to the curves of Art Nouveau, the movement champions geometry, symmetry and clean lines. In jewellery, it produced some of the most iconic creations of the twentieth century at Cartier, Boucheron and Van Cleef & Arpels.
The hallmarks are well established: pure lines, geometric forms, cut corners, and a halo of diamonds around a coloured centre stone. These characteristics have crossed the decades and never go out of fashion.
Topaz is a semi-precious stone from the family of aluminium fluorosilicates (Al₂SiO₄(F,OH)₂). Its hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale makes it an ideal choice for a ring worn every day. The emerald cut chosen, a rectangle with cut corners, sits perfectly within the graphic language of Art Deco.
18-carat white gold, an alloy of 75% pure gold enriched with palladium, provides a sober, luminous setting. Enhanced by a final rhodium plating, it heightens the contrast between the whiteness of the diamonds and the soft blue of the topaz.
Handcrafted at 36 rue du Général De Gaulle
Now for the technical stage. Everything was made on site, by hand, in my jewellery workshop in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire.
I began by melting down the 18-carat white gold recovered from the old jewellery. The metal was heated to around 1,064 °C, its melting point, then purified with borax and cast. The ingot was rolled into sheet and drawn through the draw bench.
The ring shank was cut out with the piercing saw, bent around the mandrel, then soldered into a band. The rectangular top plate with its cut corners, an Art Deco signature, was cut out with scrupulous respect for the geometry of the style.
The central mount for the topaz was built from a fine strip of gold, shaped to the exact perimeter of the stone to form the closed setting. The seats for the halo diamonds were cut with a conical bur, in a perfectly regular rhythm.
Then comes the setting. The blue topaz was gently seated in its closed setting using my bezel pusher. Each diamond in the halo was then set in grain setting with the graver and the beading tool.
Finally, the ring was sanded, polished with felt and cotton mops, then rhodium plated. Would you like a bespoke Art Deco ring of your own? Step into my workshop at 36 rue du Général De Gaulle, in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire.
