Natural Oregon sunstone is one of my favorite stones. This particular stone is special as well. It began as a piece of rough purchased at a gem show in Oregon direct from the mine. I knew the rough would have a good schiller pattern in it and I waited over a year before finally cutting the stone into a cabochon. Then the cab sat for several more years before I decided that a cab was not good enough for a stone like this. It was then sent to a professional stone cutter and was faceted into this beautiful custom marquise shape with concave faceting on the crown and pavilion for extra brilliance. After the stone arrived back here it sat in our vault for another year before I finally worked up the courage to design something worthy of this unique gem. This ring is the result.
I spent several months imagining this ring in my head perfecting it before I even began to draw it out. Once I started it would be several more months before the final product was realized and sitting in my hand.
Made from a brilliant 14k white gold alloy that does not use rhodium plating for its white shine this ring will stand the test of time. The main prongs and the side accent marquise diamonds were set in rose gold. I wanted to further elevate the beautiful rich tone of the sunstone and the rose gold does the job beautifully. For the main setting I wanted to maximize the presence of the stone while still making sure the tips were protected. So I developed a non-standard 6 part prong system that hugged the side of the stone and then created the upper arch of diamonds and white gold to protect the tips of the stone from snagging.
I added a lot of other little touches to the ring that made it more difficult to make but added to the overall wow factor. One example is that the upper and lower diamond arches are connected by a rose gold pillar rather than a white gold one. There are two small marquise cut diamonds on each side of the main sunstone mimicking its shape like two children. The diamonds on each of the four lower arches swoop under the upper arches making these stones difficult to set but creating layers of visual eye candy. These diamonds are also graduated in size from large to small.
There are a total of 90 diamonds with a total weight of 1/2 carat. Each one is SI GH grade.
This ring is one of a kind. Comfortable to wear and stunning to behold.
