Category: London Jewellery Boutique

1. Bespoke Jewellery - The stages of how we made this bespoke fox pendant

   Posted on 10:30am Tuesday 14th Jul 2015

   A Bespoke Fox Pendant

   We had a couple of weeks to make a bespoke fox pendant for a customer, below is his very impressive sketch that we worked from.

   The front view was fine but the customers technical drawing of the side profile wasn't correct and match the from vie so we had to fine tune it. To make the fox we decided to work in wax, because it's softer and easier to carve than metal and keeps the cost down for the customer. When faced with a block of wax it is much like a blank canvas, you have to map out perspective lines and mark where you need to take away the wax.

   Below you can see the marked lines where we started to sculpt the head, trying to keep it perfectly even and symmetrical on each side is very tricky when creating geometric designs like this one. It is essential to take a little piece away at a time to slowly see how it will look in 3D.

   After the initial form is made it becomes easier to see how the fox is going to look, we now start to even up all the edges and sharpen them up so that they are clear, precise and geometric, even a line that is a tiny bit curved is very noticeable when the fox is made into metal. When creating a piece of jewellery in wax you have to completely finish it how you would in metal because any dust, scratches or holes will be even more difficult to get out in silver. Now the fox head has been carved it is time to get it cast.

   Once the fox had been made into silver we cleaned and polished it up, and took it to the platers where they added a layer of 18ct rose gold vermeil, we then added a diamond cut geometric chain to finish it off. We think he is fab and would love to make some different geometric animal heads.

   For more inspiration take a look at our bespoke jewellery page...

    

2. Thinking About A Bespoke Engagement Ring?

   Posted on 10:35am Wednesday 21st Jan 2015

   Deciding to pop the question is a difficult and exciting prospect, especially if your not used to buying jewellery or not sure what her style of jewellery is. Here at Nude Jewellery we specialise in the unusual, quirky and contemporary engagement rings and love a challenge. Going bespoke is a great option because it means you can choose every aspect of the ring to make it special and unique. This blog post will give you guidance on the initial proposal ring and different style options to consider when deciding on the design. If you want to go bespoke but know your fiancé to be has a very distinctive taste that you usually get right but sometimes get very, very wrong, you might want to consider a stunt ring. Below are some humorous ideas such as 'The cable Tie,' rings by Ambre France or the 'Marry Me,' ring by Chris parry. Simple Elegance Stunt Ring

   This yellow gold frosted diamond ring would be perfect for a inexpensive stunt ring its understated elegance and contrasting polished and matt finish can be worn to any occasion.

   Organic Style Engagement Ring In recent years more people are looking for a ring that you can't find on the high street, something unique that they wont see in the window of another jewellery shop. Organic styles are a great way to show personality whether it be a texture onto the metal, granulations or maybe rough cut gemstone.

   Handmade Unique Platinum with Yellow Gold Engagement Ring

   Unique Aquamarine Rough Cut Gemstone Engagement Ring

   Handmade Silver With Yellow Gold Unique Zircon Engagement Ring

   Dainty Engagement Rings

   This is a selection of beautiful dainty engagement rings that we have in store.

   Dainty Rose Gold And White Sapphire Engagement Ring

   Unusual Flower Diamond Engagement Ring

   Unusual Curved Diamond Engagement Ring

   Lots Of Sparkle

   Don’t want understated? Then having pave set diamonds will create head turning sparkle. These kind of rings look stunning next to the wedding ring.

   Geo Flower Engagement Ring

   Emerald Cut Diamond Engagement Ring

   Why go for a simple solitaire when you could have one of these beautifully shaped unusual gemstones. Its the 21st century and with it comes lots of new interesting gemstone and diamond shapes that can be used in the design.   Click To View Collection Of Unusual And Unique Engagement Rings

    

3. The History of the Engagement Ring

   Posted on 11:00am Sunday 30th Mar 2014

   History of the Engagement Ring   Ancient Rome The Engagement ring can reliably be traced back to ancient Rome, however some historians say early man tied plaited circlets around the bride's wrists and ankles to keep her spirit from running away.
   Ancient Rome had a few traditions such as in the second century BC the bride to be was given two engagement rings, a gold one she wore in public and an iron one she wore at home while doing the housework. Another tradition that symbolised ownership by the groom was to give their prospective wife a ring attached to small keys that belonged to him. We found these pictures of early Roman 'Key Rings' there is no mention that these were engagement rings but they are extraordinary beautiful and at the time very useful as the Romans did not have many pockets for their keys!
   In Rome and many countries the engagement ring was worn on the 3rd finger on the left hand because they believed that it contained a vein that led to the heart therefore the ring would be connected to the heart to symbolise love and a long healthy marriage.   A Roman iron engagement ring
   Diamond Engagement Ring History   The ornate and sentimental Victorians popularized engagement rings with mixed precious metals, enamels gemstones and diamonds. They would often be made into intricate patterns and flowers you can see a great collection of this type of jewellery at the Cheapside Hoard exhibition in London. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/london-wall/whats-on/exhibitions-displays/cheapside-hoard-londons-lost-jewels/ Diamond rings crafted during the Edwardian era continued the tradition of pairing diamonds with other jewels, commonly mounted in filigree settings. Diamonds were too rare and expensive for the less wealthy citizens until the discovery of diamonds in south Africa in 1870, where the De Beers company became the sole owner of these mines. Diamond engagement rings however are quite a recent innovation first becoming popular in 1930's, by 1965, 80 percent of all new brides in the united states owned one.
   The Eureka Diamond We found this great story of how the first diamond was discovered in South Africa which is now the diamond capital of the world. It began with a 15 year old boy named Erasmus Jacobs whose father owned a farm on the orange river near Hopetown. Erasmus had helped his dad unclog a water pipe by finding a long stick, after he had found the perfect stick he sat under a tree to rest and spotted something shining in the heated afternoon sun. He went over and saw it was a stone and picked it up and placed it in his pocket. After helping his father he started to play “5 stones” with the diamond, his mother noticed the shine and mentioned it to their neighbour, Shalk Van Niekerk. He was intrigued by the stone and offered to buy it from Erasmus who instead of selling it gave it to him saying “you can keep the stone if you want it,” little did he know this was now to be known as the whopping 21.25 carat Eureka Diamond.