Spot the fishy secret in this engagement ring

My first ever bespoke engagement ring commission started in the most unexpected of ways.

I was watching a casual cricket game at Centennial Park and a friend asked me to design an engagement ring for his girlfriend. The requirements were pretty flexible: It should be in white gold, the stone should be green… oh and “can you put a fish on it?”

Now, here’s something you may not know about me.

FISH. FREAK. ME. OUT.

I’m the kind of person who will proclaim my love for sushi and then spend the whole meal chomping down on chicken teriyaki.

When I was a child, a little boy, about my age, came over and gifted me one of his prawns at a barbeque. I cried. He got in trouble.

It's been a long running phobia. So I wasn’t prepared for a request to stick a fish on one of my designs. How was I supposed to turn something that made me want to run away screaming into a design worthy of being treasured forever?

I tried Googling fish images, but every other photo I looked at made me nauseous.

It wasn’t enough just to stick a fish reference on the ring. It needed to be a prominent, integrated part of the design, yet at the same time, a subtle feature that could be shown off if desired.

There was a lot of scribbling, pondering and head scratching. But when the design finally hit paper, I knew it was the one.

The making of The Fish Ring

The process started with the search for the perfect green stone. We explored a range of gems: pear shapes in vivid bottle greens, round stones in pale mint tones and princess cuts in blue-green hues.

All were beautiful. But the one that stood out was a 7mm cushion shaped tourmaline. It was a vivid forest green, laser cut on the bottom to create ripples of light throughout the stone. The lower half tapered to a wedge instead of a point, which made it pretty damn well perfect for this design.

Also included was a tiny single diamond. It would be hidden during normal wear, but was strategically placed to become a very important focus of the ring.

And finally, the finished engagement ring

Can you see the fish?

A note from Claudia, the owner of The Fish Ring

"When Tom asked for a ring he couldn’t have imagined how well Fairina would have interpreted his idea. It was much better than he had imagined. It was creative yet a subtle design that matched my personality and taste to a t. I love wearing it and get comments all the time about its amazing design. Thanks so much for the ring that suits us and will be part of our story forever xxxxx."

Claudia Cowell, Sydney, Australia

Thinking about your own special piece?

I am a big fan of what I call rule-breaking, story-making jewellery. This isn’t about following trends or choosing something generic out of a chain store window.

Creating a rule-breaking, story-making piece is about exploring what makes you “you”, and using that to design something so personalised, it couldn’t have been made for anyone else.

Let's bring your vision to life. Book a call or send an email and we’ll help you tell your story through jewellery.