0 comments / Posted by Amanda Mansell

"I continue to get incredible comments about the rings from friends, patients and strangers on an almost weekly basis!  I’m so grateful for all the time you spent designing and making them".   Sonya, April 2020

The engagement ring

When Andrew came to me to talk about a bespoke engagement ring for Sonya, he knew that it had to have a unique diamond and a green stone. I was also keen to capture her Indian heritage in a subtle way. The evolution of the design centered around the beautiful old cut cushion shape diamond, and then different shapes and tones of green stones where introduced. For me the shape had to balance well against the cushion shape of the diamond.  And for Andrew there was a specific green he was looking for. 

After viewing a selection of different shapes, sizes and colours we settled on a gorgeous trillion cut green sapphire. Then it was a case of bringing the two stones together. After many sketches exploring various compositions and a few consultations, we finalised the design and introduced the cognac coloured diamonds to bring together the yellow gold, white diamond and green sapphire. The final ring was a truly unique and eye-catching design.

 

The marriage proposal, in Andrews words...

(sometimes things just don't quite go to plan)

Sonya had missed celebrating her 30th birthday as she had attended one of her brother’s many wedding events on that day. She was understandably a little disappointed about this but I used it as an opportunity and told her that I would arrange a special day for her for another day.

She had already planned to have a belated birthday celebration on the Isle of Skye.  The plan, as she understood it, was that I would meet her at lunchtime, after work, and we would drive to Scotland. However, when I met here (with our dog Wilfie) I enlightened her to the fact there would be a few surprises in store.

The first was dropping Wilfie off at a dog grooming parlour in Notting Hill, this was to facilitate the second surprise - a fancy lunch nearby during which a considerable amount of wine was consumed.

Now a little tiddly, we picked Wilfie up (Sonya was tiddly enough to give the lady a huge hug!) and then we went for a long walk, through Hyde park and ending up at Euston station.

By now, Sonya knew about the third surprise - we were travelling to Scotland on the sleeper train! Excited and a little tipsy we duly boarded the train. It was here things started to go little wrong…

I had booked a 1st class carriage and planned to get on board, propose and then celebrate with some Champagne in the dining car, watching the countryside go by and the sun go down.

The first problem was that our beds were in separate carriages! I was gutted but there was nothing that could be done so I decided I would have to propose in the cramped cabin and then go quickly to a table.  Unfortunately, when I double checked the table, I was told we didn’t have one! This was despite having phoned ahead. The guy said he would come and get us if a table became available.

I now wasn’t sure what to do. Should I wait until the morning? Somewhere in Scotland?

Eventually I remembered how drunk I was and how I couldn't handle the stress of carrying the ring anymore, so I went back to the cabin and popped the question. I am not sure if any coherent words came out - I was mostly blubbing!

Happily she said yes (I think it was the ring!) and at that point we had a knock on the door to say we had a table! Hooray!  We started sipping champagne and telling family, watching the sun set over the countryside when the train ground to halt.

The conductor came in and told us the train had to go back to Euston station due to a problem on the tracks. So, we drank the rest of champagne looking out onto the platform we left an hour earlier!

The wedding rings:

The design for these rings were in the main, influenced by Sonya’s strong and striking engagement ring. Her wedding ring needed to interlock and enhance here engagement ring rather than be a separate entity. The shape and form was developed and then more cognac diamonds added to finally link the two rings together.

Andrew was very keen to have a ring which was different from a standard wedding band. This gave me the opportunity to design something different. Again, I took the lead from Sonya’s engagement ring and subtly introduced the shapes of the cushion shape diamond and trillion green sapphire. We worked through several design ideas which included cognac diamonds and a green stone to create an extra subtle connection to Sonya’s rings.

The chosen design being assembled with the main body of the ring in 18ct yellow gold with 18ct white gold inlay. 

 Both rings completed

Two cultures and a wonderful couple united!

 

And Wilfie of course! 

Thinking about popping the question?
If you know someone who is thinking of popping the question, or maybe you're even thinking of popping it yourself! Then what are you waiting for? Not only will this be a wonderful distraction, it will also be something incredibly exciting to look forward to after Lockdown Life. If you'd like to explore the options of a truly bespoke engagement ring then just ask me a few questions to gently get the ball rolling.  We can chat over the phone, email or even video call.

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