Deborah's Story: A DEAREST ring reimagined

It's very special to be entrusted to remodel sentimental jewellery. It is especially so, when you tell us all about the meaning behind the pieces. Deborah has kindly told the story of her reimagined DEAREST ring, made from a collection of her precious rings that she could no longer wear.
We carefully removed each stone from Deborah's DEAREST ring and reset them in the same symbolic order, maintaining the meaning and sentiment of the original but with a completely new look and feel. Read on to find out more about this colourful commission.

"Time changes us all and as I have grown older and developed arthritic hands, rings that mean so much to me now no longer fit. Rather than just accept this fact I took the opportunity to talk to the very talented team at Justin Duance.

Justin remodelled my wedding ring a few years ago into a lovely sandcast ring which I had cast in the sand from my local beach, Marazion. It’s studded with small diamonds that just glint and catch the light as sand does on a beach when the tide goes out, so I knew that he and his team would be brilliant at realising my ideas for a new piece.

I took my too small rings, an earring, and a diamond along to the workshop for an initial discussion about my ideas. During my appointment Taiman immediately grasped the concept of what I wanted to achieve and drew an outline diagram of what my ring could look like.

Before: Deborah's original rings

I knew I wanted a colourful ring based on Justin’s sandcast scatter rings, but made from the gold of my rings and containing the precious stones I already had. So, what is in my new DEAREST ring?

The ring was made from the gold of my 25th anniversary ring - my husband is a proud Guernseyman and I have spent much time over the last 50 years in the Channel Islands. My anniversary ring was engraved with ‘Touyour et Alafin’, a Guernsey-French saying meaning ‘for always and forever’. I asked for this phrase to be engraved inside the new ring so it wasn’t lost.

The rest of the gold came from my DEAREST ring that I was given on my 40th wedding anniversary. The stones of a DEAREST ring are (in order) a diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, emerald, sapphire and tourmaline - spelling dearest. These stones were relocated in this same order to my new ring, but set in an organic scatter led by the diamond from my original engagement ring.

A ruby from an earring given to me by my father which had lost its partner over the years was also included in the mix, and after discussion with Taiman we also added two light blue Montana sapphires from Justin’s gemstone selection to ensure sparkle. My extra diamond from the DEAREST ring and the two sapphires added from Justin represent my daughter and two sons.

I requested that the ring was cast in sand from Periglas beach on St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly. This year will be the 40th time that we will be in the Scillies in September with friends and family watching a cricket match between the doctors team, to which my husband belongs, and the team from St Agnes. The match takes place on the pitch below the lighthouse in St Agnes, above Periglas beach, and the end of the match on that Sunday evening and a final look out to the Western Isles and Bishop Rock lighthouse as the sun is setting marks the end of each summer for me.

If you are even half considering using your heirloom jewellery to make something right for you now, then my advice would be to do it. Justin and his team are wizards and totally respectful of what you are trying to achieve, and the whole process has been smooth and joyful.

The result of the commission process was a very special ring full of precious memories for me, which I can now wear every day. Truly, my DEAREST ring."

If Deborah's story has inspired you to have a piece of jewellery made, please get in touch. You can also find information on remodelling heirloom jewellery here.