Great Gemstones from his Great Grandmother: Josh and Marcie’s Family Heirloom Engagement Ring

Engaged couple, family heirloom remodelled engagement diamond and sapphire ring

Having a ring passed down through generations is such a special and treasured legacy, particularly when you can use the sentimental gemstones to design your perfect engagement ring. Josh and Marcie came to us for this exact reason, they wanted to find out more about how they could achieve this, and we were more than happy to share our expertise and help them with their project. 

Original family heirloom diamond and sapphire yellow gold engagement ring

Their family heirloom ring was originally Josh’s great grandmother’s ring. It was then passed down to her daughter, Josh’s grandmother, and bequeathed to Josh so he could present it to Marcie. The ring was given to Josh at a time in his life where he wanted to get down on one knee and ask Marcie to marry him. Josh and Marcie came to The Village Goldsmith to remodel the family ring into Marcie’s dream engagement ring.

Marcie must share a similar taste in engagement ring designs as Josh’s great grandmother, as she didn’t want the design to change dramatically. The new ring design, now crafted in white gold, featured the same six family heirloom deep blue marquise shaped sapphires and seven family heirloom round brilliant cut diamonds.

The flower shaped setting of the original ring was recreated, and some art nouveau style leaves were added to the shoulders of the ring. Each side of the ring has a small swirling spiral which then becomes vine-like leaves that appear to grow up the shoulders of the ring, leading to the flower-like cluster of sapphires and diamonds.

Crafting process of remodelling family heirloom ring in our Wellington workshop

In order to craft Josh and Marcie’s remodelled engagement ring, our expert setter had to extract the original gemstones from the ring one by one. This enabled our CAD designers to measure each sapphire and diamond to create a white gold setting that would perfectly replicate the original ring, but with the newly added art nouveau design aspect. 

Sapphire and diamond art nouveau engagement ring crafted/remodelled

Once the jewellers had performed their magic, the sapphires and diamonds were re-set into their new ring. Keeping the design of gemstone setting, but adding their own flair made it personal to Josh and Marcie, while still paying tribute to the original family heirloom ring. Josh and Marcie’s remodelled engagement ring will tell a story. for generations to come and will remain a treasured family heirloom which now holds their own personal narrative. 

Finished sapphire and diamond engagement ring on hand

“Got engaged on Saturday and could not be happier! The ring is absolutely beautiful and I have gotten so many compliments on how unique and detailed it is, I’ve let them know it’s your work and I never want to take it off! Thank you so much this is more perfect than we ever imagined - exactly what we were hoping for." - Josh & Marcie