Updating a Family Heirloom

I was approached by a bride-to-be to make something special for her husband-to-be. He had a family ring that they wanted to turn into a pair of cufflinks but let it slide. So, she 'borrowed' it from him (and would change the subject whenever he would mention it or start to look for it) and handed it over to me.





It was his grandfather's ring. A hand carved Tiger's Eye set in a low carat Yellow Gold 1/2 bezel/wide prong ring. Basically, the groom-to-be doesn't wear Yellow Gold and also wouldn't wear a ring of that size.

We decided on cufflinks set in Sterling in a similar manner (to be reminiscent of the original.) Also, because the Tiger's Eye was hand cut, we went with a plain cabachon stone of the same material and exterior shape.




Not knowing how difficult it would be to find a nice Tiger's Eye in the same size/shape, I bought a slightly larger stone from Thailand and had it re-cut in Boston to match. I have photos of the final cut stone somewhere, but I cannot find them at the moment... if I come across them, I will update!

The final touch was completing the pieces with an antique finish, just to add a little age to the cufflinks.






And our final piece, which was presented on their wedding day, was a hit.