A wonderful customer (and friend) came to me recently as her beautiful 18ct yellow gold wedding ring no longer fit. She’d resigned herself to never wearing it again, and having to have it melted down and re-forged.

When I saw her ring, the beautiful inscription on the inside of it really struck me. It was the same as is on the inside of her husband’s ring. What a shame to lose that beautiful reminder of their special day, 18 years ago.

“Hold on”, I said, “why don’t you bring it in to my studio as I have an idea…”

So one afternoon, she popped into my studio with her husband, and we talked through my plan. I sized her ring finger, and took a closer look at the ring.

While they popped to the cafe near my studio, I set about my work. I annealed the ring, so that I could work with it, then left it to clean in my pickle pot for 20 minutes. When it emerged, I popped it on my mandrel and bashed it a bit with my steel hammer - usually I’d use a nylon mallet, but this was a bit different. I wanted not only to resize the ring, but also create a beautiful texture that my friend had been drawn to.

They came back about an hour later, and she tried on her ring. That moment when I saw it slide on her finger was euphoric! As a jeweller, there really is no better feeling!

A few adjustments later, and after a quick polish, my lovely pal was able to walk out of my studio, an hour and a half after first arriving, wearing her wedding ring for the first time in years. And the beautiful inscription on the inside remained intact, a reminder of that special day in 2004.

Sure I could have smelted and forged her a new ring. But (and I say this with love), the customer is not always right. That could have taken weeks, would have cost a lot of money. What you get when you come to an independent jeweller is creative problem-solving. Years of expertise. And a personal touch that considers the things that are important to our customers. I love my job!

If you’re thinking about commissioning me for a special piece, I’d love to hear from you! Head over to my Contact page, or drop me an email at hello@lilactreemakes.co.uk. And you can check out the Testimonials from some of my lovely customers too, to hear a little bit more about some of the work I’ve done in the past and what it means to them 💜