Recently, I received an email from someone who had been following my work but I had never met. She had been given an aquamarine ring from her husband, passed down to him by his mother and she wondered if I could re-imagine it to be something more her style. My immediate reaction was how humbled I was that this yet-to-be-client would trust me – someone she had never met – with this precious heirloom. And then, I saw the stone… large, step-cut and a magnificently saturated blue and I was instantly filled with new ideas.

I love connecting with my clients in person; however, I’m grateful in today’s age how easy it is to do so virtually. I worked remotely with this client on the entire design. When starting a bespoke project, I first like to have an interview to figure out what the client wants. In this case, was it a brooch? A ring? “No, let’s do a big pendant,” she said. Okay, so what kinds of stones or colors did she like? “Rainbow moonstones, sapphires, and tanzanites are at the top of my wish list!” As long as I incorporated her requests, I had complete creative freedom to compose something fabulous!

I unset the stones from the original ring and pulled out my trays of gemstones from the safe, looking for the right pairing. After deliberating on a couple of stones, my eyes caught sight of a large triangle-shaped piece of pietersite from Africa. Beautiful azure swirls shimmered and reflected in the light, helping pull through the aquamarine’s intense color. The crowning stone was a stunning, pear-shaped rainbow moonstone with flashing blue adularescence. This lustrous trio was perfect!

I kept the setting around the sexy-looking pietersite modern and clean with a simple brushed gold bezel and a polished top edge. For the aquamarine and moonstone, I set it in a classic, double-prong fashion. I instantly loved the combination together and how chic it came out! While it’s a modern update to the original, I still paid homage to the heirloom’s classic style by complimenting the pendant with a 30" hand-made chain in 18k yellow gold. Each link was the length of the aquamarine, pulling the two pieces together.

This past year aquamarine has sparked much inspiration in me. It’s a beautiful and timeless gem that offers a subtle touch to a bold outfit or spruces up a simple one. Two of my favorite pieces currently available are the Heavens Necklace and the Celestial Earrings, featuring aquamarine in two different styles. In the Heavens, the aquamarines are luscious tumbled pebbles, while in Celestial, they are sparkling, tantalizing faceted stones. What I love is that both styles of the gemstone uniquely bring out the variant hues of the turquoise or larimar that it is paired with in these one of a kind jewels.

I love sitting down and brainstorming new ideas; creating bespoke jewelry alongside a client always produces some of my all-time favorite pieces. Whether designing something from scratch or reworking an old piece, it’s beautiful to see all the details come to life in this joint vision of creativity. I can’t wait to have the opportunity of meeting this lovely client and see her wearing her new heirloom, because a jewel only comes to life while being worn!