We asked ourselves how much could a diamond ring be reduced to a pure form? How many steps in designing and making a ring were adding degrees of complication that could be removed?
So working from a plate of metal, why would/(should) we need to build any additional structure when it is possible to set the diamond directly into the plate?
This sets the diamond sitting at a 90degree angle, facing out (or in if you want to look at it yourself). Interestingly, it actually works quite well, the diamond is really no less visible than in a classic position.
We considered bending the plate so that the stone would appear upright or in its "correct" position, but this was nicer and cleaner I think. The other direction is a ring that is still there to be made.
Another thought was to shape the outline of the plate to be an egg shape and to flow from the base of the finger to the top of a centered diamond, like an orbital outline. Again that is another ring for the future, here we decided in the end to play with the purity of the plate and the assymetric offset of the stone to sit neatly in the corner.
In the end the only concession that we made to the structure was to place a round bar at the rear of the aperture for the diamond, this guards the culet (point of the diamond at the base) from getting damaged, and also happens to nicely frame the culet and draws attention to the negative space around it. Where it is possible and appropriate to do this, it makes a beautiful detail.
I think it is always a sign that someone cared about the making of a piece of jewellery when they frame another aspect of the gem.
On the reverse of the plate we decided to matte finish to highlight the polished edges and bright front.
This gives it a subtle orientation and helps guide the viewer as to how to read the piece, and which is the intended back and front. The back at the base also was the natural place to hallmark as a visible detail.
