Published on by Olivier Maupas-Sehikyan · Rings
Some commissions arrive at the workshop with a particular weight. This one was to celebrate a wedding anniversary, and the brief fitted into a single sentence, far simpler to say than to achieve: to bring together a ruby, a sapphire, an emerald and a diamond in one bespoke yellow gold ring. These stones were far from new. They came from several pieces of jewellery that the couple had kept with great care, pieces that each had their own history and were no longer worn.
When these gemstones were entrusted to me, I took the time to look at them one by one, first under the loupe, then in daylight, by the large window of my workshop in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, near Nantes. I never treat a stone as a mere material. Each of these had already lived in the hollow of another piece of jewellery. My role, then, was to give it a second life without erasing the first.
This is why I regard this commission as far more than an exercise in style. When you decide to transform old jewellery, you bring memories together. Here, the ring had to speak of the time already shared as a couple, and of the time still to come.
Ruby, sapphire, emerald, diamond: giving meaning to each stone
A ruby, sapphire, emerald and diamond ring raises a question of balance from the outset. Four colours, four personalities, and a single band to welcome them. If the stones are placed at random, they compete for the eye. If they are given an order, they answer one another.
So I began with meaning, before I even picked up a pencil. The ruby speaks of passion. The diamond evokes strength. The emerald is associated with eternity, the sapphire with fidelity. Set side by side, these four values form a fairly accurate portrait of a long marriage: impulse, solidity, endurance and loyalty. All that remained was to let them converse in gold.
Why a yellow gold band
The choice of metal came quite quickly. A yellow gold band has a warmth that neither white nor rose gold quite reproduces. It envelops the colours rather than competing with them: the red of the ruby gains depth, the green of the emerald softness, the blue of the sapphire intensity. And yellow gold is a noble metal, malleable in the hand yet able to endure for decades. For a piece of jewellery celebrating the长 life of a union, that dual nature seemed right.
From drawing to casting: creating a unique piece in the workshop
It all began on paper. I drew several sketches, looking for the place of each gemstone according to its size, its colour and its cut. A stone is not arranged for its beauty alone: it must also be protected, held firmly, and remain comfortable in daily life. A band offers a reassuring frame for this, sober and enveloping, on which the stones can breathe.
Once the design was settled, I moved on to wax. It is the stage I like best, because it allows me to sculpt the piece before it truly exists. Wax is worked with a scalpel and a file, following the movement of the hand. I carved out the seats for the stones, adjusted the volumes, and checked that the whole sat well in the hand and on the finger. The wax was then transformed into gold by casting, and the ring took on its first metallic body, still raw, a little matt, but already recognisable.
Then comes a long period of refinishing. The yellow gold was filed, refined and sculpted again, so that the lines were crisp and the band took its final form. It is patient work that does not tolerate haste, and whose detail no one will see, but whose result everyone will feel.
The setting: the most delicate moment
Bringing old stones together in a new home calls for great care. Setting means securing each gemstone in the metal with a precision measured in a breath: too tight, and the stone suffers; too loose, and it may move. I worked on each stone separately, constantly checking its seating, the evenness of the claws and the height of the whole. The ruby, the sapphire, the emerald and the diamond thus found their place, one after the other, without crowding one another.
Then came the polishing, the final gesture, which turns the ring from a piece of work into a finished object. The surfaces of the gold were softened, smoothed and brightened until the band returned the light with candour. Each stone, cleaned, regained its full brilliance. It is often at this moment that I know a piece is complete: it ceases to look like a project and begins to look like a jewel.
A wedding anniversary ring: what it tells
What moves me most in this work lies in the very nature of a wedding anniversary ring. It does not mark a beginning, it salutes a journey. Each stone in this one already carried its own memories, and in bringing them together, I felt I was writing with them a new chapter in this couple's life together. I did no more than give it a form.
During the weeks of making, I often thought of the person who would receive it. At the moment the box is closed, when the ring is slipped on the finger, something happens that cannot be made at the bench: the recognition of all that has been built together. It is for such moments that I continue to create jewellery, one piece at a time, with the same care.
To hand over such a piece is an honour for me. It goes beyond jewellery-making. It is a way of celebrating love, the time spent side by side and the promises still to be kept. This yellow gold ring, worn on a day of celebration and no doubt on many ordinary days too, will now be its quiet witness.
What if your old jewellery had a second life?
Many people keep inherited, gifted or simply forgotten jewellery in a drawer, with stones that deserve better than oblivion. If you have in mind a project for a bespoke yellow gold ring in Nantes or the surrounding area, whether for an anniversary, a birth, or simply the pleasure of bringing memories together, I would be glad to welcome you to the workshop in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire. We will talk simply, over the stones and a coffee, with no obligation. Come with your jewellery, your ideas, or just the wish to talk it through: together we will find what your story wants to become.
