Unique, Handmade Engagement Rings

I’ve been considering putting together a specific engagement ring offering for a long time, but as I make rings to order, surprise purchases don’t really work. I prefer to work with the couple and know there is input from the person who is going to wear the ring. I do work with a lot of brides who don’t have engagement rings and I think that’s a perfectly valid choice.

Recently I’ve come across some fantastic options for small scale artisanal ethically mined gemstones and decided now is the time.

I will be offering made to order rings in 9ct or 18ct recycled gold with ethically mined stones.

As with all my other work these pieces will be very simple pared back designs. I tend to make single stone rings which can be combined with others to create different looks, rather than more fashionable clusters of stones.

The stones I will be focussing on are sapphires and spinels from Nineteen 48, who work primarily in Sri Lanka and Tanzania. I can also source stones from Australia.

      

Diamonds are slightly difficult from an ethical point of view, the supply is very tied up by large companies globally. Generally the best option is considered to be Canada or Australia, as you can guarantee a certain standard of safety and fairer wages, but there aren’t the low impact options that you can find with other stones.

The trend for diamond engagement rings is pretty recent, and I don’t think there is any issue with choosing a different option. Some softer stones need a slightly more protective setting for everyday wear, but there are lots of beautiful, affordable, ethical options out there.

The rings featured here have a rose cut white sapphire with a very subtle pink hint, and a really gorgeous lilac spinel set in rose gold.

      

As each stone is slightly different pieces will need to be quoted individually. As a general reference the rose cut sapphire set in recycled 9ct yellow gold would be £500, and the spinel ring would be around £550. In 18ct gold these pieces would be around £800-£1,000.

Please send me an email if you would like to discuss a piece. nikki@nikkistarkjewellery.co.uk