Elizabeth has been a loyal customer since she first saw my work in the Lesley Craze Gallery back in 2007. Over the years she has selected pieces for herself and her loved ones, but had never commissioned a bespoke piece before.
When Elizabeth heard about my repurposing projects she started wondering whether we could work together to create a one of a kind piece of jewellery to complement the very special 7mm round black diamond that had been given to her by her son.
To my delight she got in touch, and we arranged to meet.
Exploring design options
At the initial stages of a bespoke commission it’s important to explore all the possibilities, so we viewed many pieces and discussed what she wanted from this piece. I offered advice on how we could set it to bring out all its unique qualities.
The chosen design
The final design we settled on would be a one of a kind, circular Chaos hex pendant, featuring a random arrangement of different sized hexagons that would perfectly complement Elizabeth’s black diamond.
The front would be convex to allow for the depth of the stone, while the back of the pendant would sit flat against the skin. This solution would mean the diamond could be viewed from both angles and the facets would be shown off beautifully.
I set about designing the piece in CAD. Once I was happy with the digital images, I presented my drawings and a video to Elizabeth and her husband. They were very happy and so we went ahead with the production.
The finished pendant
The finished pendant, made in 18ct high palladium white gold, approximately 20mm in diameter with a 16 inch chain.
As you can see from this image, we decided to set the diamond slightly off centre, with small white diamonds scattered across the pendant to balance out the composition. The setting for the diamond has six claws to mirror the surrounding hexagonal shapes.
Once I finished and delivered the piece I received this message from Elizabeth:
‘It’s fantastic! I love it, we all love it.
I enjoy wearing it immensely. It’s always noticed with second looks but not in the way that an obvious piece would be looked at. It’s looked at with interest and a certain puzzlement sometimes. I love that I can wear it any time. I particularly love wearing it with a jacket my son and daughter-in-law gave me, this is partly because they look good together and partly because they are both linked to our son. Thank you so much.'
Its a total pleasure Elizabeth! Thank you for entrusting me to make you such a special piece!
You can see more on this story in the video below: