Go your own way: all you need to know about bespoke and personalised wedding and engagement rings from Scotland-based jewellers

You are going to be sporting your rings for ever, so why not make it personal? Bespoke makers inform Natasha Radmehr about customising the gems, metallic, style and extra to generate one thing special

We all have these pieces of jewellery, really don’t we? The kinds we never just take off and sense bare without the need of. And if you’re organizing a marriage ceremony, you’ll shortly have a handful of much more. Your engagement and marriage rings will grow to be some of your most treasured and admired belongings, imbued with deep psychological significance. So how about owning them customized designed to make them even much more particular to you?

Specifically for you

“A bespoke ring suggests that everything is tailored in direction of your needs, suitable down to the final layout and spending budget,” suggests Karen Pirie of McCalls Jewellers in Aberdeen. “It’s your prospect to build some thing special that demonstrates your individuality and design and style, ensuing in a piece you will adore endlessly.”

The tailor made route is for you if you have a vision of how you’d like your ring to look, but just can’t uncover something in the outlets that really matches up to the notion in your head. It is also a good choice for any person who would like to repurpose family members heirlooms – potentially you’d like to include valuable stones from your granny’s wedding ring into your individual. As well as, contrary to preferred belief, heading bespoke can in fact be far more price-efficient than acquiring an off-the-shelf style and design.

“I feel which is what is so vital about the bespoke system: you get to combine and match distinct features in a way that can match with your funds and your needs,” states Sarah Raffel of Brazen Studios in Glasgow.

“So possibly if you want a distinct stone that is rather high priced, you can have a 9ct gold band as an alternative of 18ct to equilibrium out the expense. And the simple fact that a piece of you has absent into the method of earning your ring provides it added price.”

Sold on the thought? Seem for a jewelry designer whose fashion demonstrates your individual. Whilst most gifted jewellers are functional and in a position to do the job to any brief, you are going to detect that they tend to have a signature look. Choose another person with the aesthetic you are frequently drawn to and it’ll make the procedure all the smoother.

By structure

When you have picked your designer, you will have a very first appointment with them to chat about what it is you are searching for. Even though rings usually just take all around six weeks to make on average, you should allow for at least a 3-month window to account for the choice-producing and structure system.

Do some investigate before your first consultation by seeking via publications and jewellers’ social media accounts to get inspiration and an idea of prices, but really do not get worried about obtaining it all sussed out. “I essentially feel it’s good not to have it absolutely nailed down ahead of you go,” claims Sarah of Brazen Studios. “It’s exciting to keep that component of ponder so that you feel you are likely to truly discover your choices.”

Through your very first conference, you’ll examine your personalized type, the stones and metals you like, your life style and budget (although Sarah says that if your companion is paying out and does not want to talk about revenue, which is great much too). Your designer will be equipped to clearly show you illustrations of distinct gemstones and metals as very well as other rings they’ve made so that you can get a sense for what’s readily available. This will ordinarily be a no-obligation conference – you won’t be less than force to make a determination there and then.

“I do like to give couples a feeling at this phase of what the design could seem like, while, so I’ll function with a Computer system-Aided Design bundle in entrance of them so they can see some tips,” suggests Gareth Mundie of Glasgow jeweller Ian Mundie & Son.

“We can then focus on what they believe of each individual 1 and even take a glance at some of the jewellery in the showroom to discover out the aspects they like and what they’re a lot less eager on.”

Don’t be surprised if your jewelry designer chats to you for the duration of these early stages about your wedding ceremony ring, as you may perhaps want to element this into the layout of your engagement ring. A wed-fit band, for example, incorporates elevated options so that your wedding day ring can sit snugly beside it. This could be a simple choice for you if you’re heading for a ring that has an unconventional form.

Time to refine

When you have an concept of the way you’d like to go in, you will get into the finer particulars of the design and style. You’ll presently have talked about approximately what you intend to spend with your designer, and now you will business this up by choosing your gemstones and metals and emailing back again and forth about the specifics of the layout.

Karen at McCalls Jewellers says that the size of your diamonds (if which is what you’re likely for) and the complexity of the design are the two things that contribute most to the whole charge, and that it is feasible to preserve dollars by streamlining the ring so that considerably less steel is used, or by compromising on the colour or clarity of the stones. “It doesn’t generally have to be diamonds there are so a lot of lovely valuable stones that are a fraction of the value, so be open-minded,” she adds.

One particular of the perks of going bespoke is that you uncover the sheer selection of stone and metal combos readily available. “I experienced a buyer recently who experienced an emerald and diamond ring produced in 18ct pink gold – that’s a pairing you wouldn’t frequently be in a position to get off the shelf,” suggests Gareth at Ian Mundie & Son. “You can also get unique colours of gold, this sort of as inexperienced gold, which is far more of a citrusy yellow than an orange-yellow.”

You won’t often see salt-and-pepper diamonds on display at a jeweller’s, possibly, but Sarah at Brazen Studios suggests they are a single of her favourite stones to work with. “They have so a lot of distinctive shades of gray with various organic inclusions, so they search nearly like you’ve captured a storm inside of them,” she smiles.

Including which means

There are many approaches in which you can strengthen the sentimental price of your ring. “If there has been any relatives jewelry passed down, we can reuse the stones, so the consumer even now has a connection with their past though producing something for the upcoming,” claims Karen Pirie, who also points out that, at McCalls Jewellers, the price of the important metals can lead towards the cost of your new fee.

Engravings inside of the band are a sweet way to nod to a pet title, the co-ordinates of in which you to start with achieved or, certainly, the date of your wedding day. “In broader wedding bands, we can even use the customer’s handwriting for the inscription,” claims Gareth at Ian Mundie & Son.

You could also want a ring that demonstrates your values, and your jeweller can assist with making sure it’s as ethical as probable. “We use recycled steel in the bulk of our bespoke parts, which just signifies that we have not mined much more to get it,” points out Gareth.

“I’m also noticing a rise in customers asking for diamonds from Botswana. There is a mine there exactly where each one employee, including all the miners, is female. This is a country the place girls typically do not have the chance to get the job done, so buying from it is a opportunity to guidance a organization that is undertaking items as ethically as it potentially can.”

Signed and sealed

Once you have made the decision on each component of your ring, you will indication off on the final style and design before it goes into output. “Normally, people will shell out in a few instalments,” claims Sarah of Brazen Studios. “There’s an first structure deposit, a output deposit and then a ultimate harmony.”

If the proposal has not taken spot nevertheless, it may be a though prior to you see the completed final result, even if it has only taken a several weeks to make, and you may well discover by yourself desperate to have a wee peek. But resist if you can. Excellent issues appear to those who wait around – and it’s a tiny value to spend for some thing that will carry you a life time of ease and comfort and pleasure.