Published on by Olivier Maupas-Sehikyan · Rings
Some commissions almost design themselves from the very first words. This was one of them. I was told of the wish for a piece of jewellery for a couple, with an idea that was simple to state and delicate to realise: two metals becoming one, two stories entwined without either one overshadowing the other. As a jeweller, I love these requests where the symbol comes before the form. They leave me room to imagine, but they also oblige me to leave nothing to chance.
A request for a bespoke two-tone gold ring in Nantes
It all began with a conversation in my workshop in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, a few minutes from Nantes. I did not start by talking about metal or budget. I first listened to what this ring was meant to say: companionship, the desire to build together, the feeling that two different people can nonetheless share a single momentum.
From that listening came a very clear image. A bespoke two-tone gold ring, made of two interlaced bands, one in yellow gold, the other in white gold, with a diamond set at the centre. I saw it immediately, before I had even picked up a pencil. That is rare, and I am slightly wary of such certainties, because they demand a great deal of rigour afterwards if they are to be honoured.
Interlacing 18-carat white and yellow gold
I chose 18-carat gold for both bands. The choice is as much about beauty as it is about durability: it is a noble alloy, a pleasure to work, and it can be worn every day without deteriorating. The yellow brings warmth, almost the light of a late afternoon. The white, cooler and crisper, provides contrast. Set against one another, they answer each other.
Then comes the design, the stage where everything is decided. I sketched several curves before finding the one that made the two bands seem to cross naturally, with no apparent effort. An interlacing that was too emphatic would have looked heavy. Too timid, and it would have lost its meaning. A balance was needed, and I redrew the line until it seemed to flow by itself.
From wax to metal
Once the design was approved, I sculpted the model in wax. It is a moment I particularly enjoy: the material is yielding, and can be reworked, refined, felt beneath the fingers. Each band was shaped so that the ring would be comfortable to wear, not merely beautiful in a photograph. Then came the casting, which transforms this fragile model into gold, at first raw and still dull, which must then be patiently reworked with file and at the bench.
Here again, white gold and yellow gold do not behave in quite the same way. The hand movements, the pressure and the finishing must therefore be adjusted so that the two bands appear to belong to the same family while each keeps its own character.
Choosing the diamond and setting it
The diamond called for genuine research. I did not want a stone that was merely pretty: I wanted a diamond that was alive and brilliant, of a quality worthy of the symbol. I worked closely with the experts at the boutique to compare, examine, set aside, and finally choose the one that would best suit this duality of yellow and white gold. A stone that was too cold would have overwhelmed the yellow. A stone that was too warm would have dulled the white. The one we chose held both in perfect balance.
The setting came almost last, and it is always a moment of total concentration. The diamond sits at the centre of the ring, where the two bands meet, as though they were holding it together. Each claw is adjusted under the loupe, with a precision that forgives nothing: too tight, and it risks weakening the stone; too loose, and it no longer protects it. I stopped only when the diamond was perfectly secure and the light entered it from every angle.
Polishing, the final gesture
Polishing completes the work. It takes time and a steady hand: smoothing, brightening, bringing out the contrast between the two golds without ever erasing the transition between them. When I held the ring under the bench lamp, I knew it was ready. All of the work was carried out within my workshop, in a space where every tool has its place and where the piece travels from first idea to final sparkle without ever leaving my hands.
A unique ring, handed over at the Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire workshop
What I take from this creation is the way every curve and every setting was conceived to reflect the love and companionship of the two people who will wear it. It is not a figure of speech: it is a way of working. When I design, I think of the hand that will receive the ring, the gaze that will discover it, the years it will be worn.
The moment of handing over remains, for me, the finest reward. Opening the case, watching the eyes widen, catching that small silence before the first words: that is when I know whether the piece has found its place. Once again, the wonder was there, and it reminded me why I do this work. A white and yellow gold ring with a diamond at its centre is, above all, a story for two, and I was fortunate to give it form.
If you, too, are carrying an idea for a ring, whether precise or still hazy, I would be delighted to talk it through with you in my workshop in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, near Nantes. Come with your wishes, your questions, and perhaps a simple memory. Together we will see what it can become.
