Published on by Olivier Maupas-Sehikyan · Wedding Bands
Some projects arrive at the workshop with a small pouch placed on the counter. That day, a client opened one in front of me: inside was the gold that would become his wedding band. I knew, even before touching it, that this piece would be unlike any other. In my workshop in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, near Nantes, I created a unique yellow gold and sapphire wedding band, and I would like to tell you about it here.
A bespoke wedding band, born from a client's own gold
The request was clear and yet full of nuance. My client wanted a wedding band in 18-carat yellow gold, pierced with cross-shaped motifs and adorned with blue sapphires in closed settings. He also told me that the gold would come from him. I asked no intrusive questions: that gesture already said a great deal. When the metal is brought by the person who will wear the piece, it is no longer simply a matter of making something, but of transforming something that matters.
I confess I felt a certain solemnity as I took the metal in my hands. Gold supplied by a client is not worked like an ingot chosen from a supplier. Every gesture must be measured, every loss avoided. Far from holding me back, this responsibility made me want to do even better.
The sketch: seeing the wedding band before it exists
It all began with a pencil. For me, drawing is a decisive stage: it turns a wish into a precise form. I drew the wedding band several times, looking for the right place for each sapphire and the right rhythm for the pierced crosses. The motifs had to run around the band without ever looking applied, as if they had always been part of its structure.
Above all, the sketch was a moment of exchange. My client was able to see his future wedding band before the first cut of the saw. We discussed proportions, width and the placing of the stones. Some details were adjusted together, others confirmed with a simple glance. When a client recognises on paper the piece he had imagined, I know we are on the right path.
Blue sapphires in closed settings
Choosing stones that echo one another
For this wedding band, I selected the blue sapphires with particular care. I was looking for stones of the same size and the same shade of blue, because the slightest difference would have broken the harmony of the whole. I compared the sapphires one by one, under different lights, bringing them close to one another until I found those that truly answered each other. It is patient, almost silent work, but everything else depends on it.
Why a closed setting?
A closed setting surrounds each stone with a fine rim of gold all the way round. For a wedding band meant to be worn every day, this choice is as sensible as it is elegant. The sapphires are protected from knocks, there are no claws to catch on anything, and the blue seems to sit within the metal as if embedded in it. The contrast between the warmth of the yellow gold and the depth of the sapphires gives the band a character that is both understated and assured.
The pierced crosses and the working of 18-carat yellow gold
Next came the most demanding part: the making itself. The pierced crosses, spaced all around the band, called for absolute precision. Each cut had to be clean and regular, in perfect balance with its neighbour. On a piece this slender, a line that is slightly off is seen at once. So I proceeded slowly, constantly checking the symmetry, refining the edges with a file, and resting my eyes in order to judge better.
The 18-carat yellow gold supplied by my client added a further difficulty. It had to be handled with care, the material used sparingly, and nothing lost of what had been entrusted to me. But I liked this constraint: it demanded rigour from me at every moment.
Once the structure was complete, I moved on to the setting. Each sapphire was placed in its seat, then the gold was delicately turned over around it until it was entirely enclosed. Then comes the polishing, a stage I love deeply. Gradually the tool marks disappear, the edges soften, and the gold takes on that warm, deep glow that makes the beauty of a bespoke wedding band. The openwork began to play with the light, and the sapphires took their place in the whole, quite naturally.
Handing over the wedding band
The day my client came back to the workshop, I placed the wedding band in front of him, saying nothing at first. I prefer to let the piece speak first. He picked it up, turned it slowly between his fingers, and followed the crosses with his eyes, then the sapphires. His smile answered me before his words did. That satisfaction, visible on his face, remains the finest reward a jeweller can receive.
Beyond the craft, this wedding band is for me a testament to love and commitment, carried by gold chosen with the heart. It also pushed me further than usual: through the precision of the openwork, the demands of the setting, and the trust that such a metal commands. I came out of this project a little more of a jeweller than before.
If you, too, have gold to transform
Perhaps you are dreaming of a yellow gold wedding band, with or without stones, or you are keeping a metal that has a story. Come and talk to me about it at the workshop in Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, near Nantes. We will take the time to look, to draw, and to imagine together what it might become. No obligation, over a sketch and a conversation.
