Another layer of personalisation

July 11, 2018 / Nicholas Pike

So, we’re past the winter solstice and although we need lots more rain, I really love this time of the year. It’s conducive for my design work because I’m invigorated by cool weather. One of my favourite things to do is to sit sketching at home in a warm space looking out into our garden. Even if the weather outside is a bit bleak, I’m energised.

Following on from last month’s blog about hand engraving, I wanted to talk about another form of design which personalises our jewellery at PIKE.

Because our clientele celebrate the hand making process and the fact that their pieces of jewellery are one-off design, it is always fun to reinforce this in a way that makes the jewellery piece more special. In some of my designs, I include the initials of the wearer and sometimes their partner within the design.

During the design process, I sketch options that give a choice as to how the piece can be made very personal. In most cases the design is not blatantly obvious, so it’s like a hidden feature, and I like the fact that only the wearer knows what it means. Here are some of the designs:

This beautiful solitaire diamond ring set in white and yellow gold incorporates the husband and wife’s initials in the side of the bezel setting:

Solitaire diamond ring with double ‘K’ design.

This diamond cluster ring in two tone gold, incorporates the husband and wife’s initials – S and T. This ring was designed to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary:

Diamond cluster featuring ‘S’ and ‘T’.

We were commissioned to make this pair of cuff links for a dad that incorporate the initials of the members of his family – these can only be recognised when the cufflinks are put together: