Moose & Hanabishi Engagement Ring

April 2017
18 karat white gold, sapphire, diamond

Two friends of mine were planning to get engaged, and asked me to make the bride's ring. I wanted to make something that represented both of them and their personalities, using elements of each that combine in their relationship. Her nickname, which she's borne since childhood, is "Moose" so we wanted to incorporate a cervine motif. He's part Japanese, so we also wanted to incorporate his mon (family crest), a hanabishi—which is also inked on him in a chest tattoo.

After several iterations of design, we decided that the sides of the ring would have a moose-antler appliqué that stretched outward from the ring shank to become the prongs, holding the center blue sapphire and the two white sapphire side stones. We placed a tiny diamond below the central sapphire between each pair of antlers to represent the shed spreader in a traditional antler mounting.

Although we originally considered four side stones total (two on each side), we decided that if we made a bas-relief of his mon on the shoulders of the ring, it would disrupt light in a similar fashion to the facets of a stone when viewed from the top.

Unfortunately photos don't truly show the sparkle of the side stones or the vibrant color of the central sapphire nearly well enough, so here's some shaky-cam video: