Earlier this year I was honored to make yet another custom wedding band for a friend and fellow Austin business owner, Mariska Nicholson of Olive + M.  It is absolutely one of my FAVORITE rings to date and I thought I would share a bit about the process with you today.

It was no secret that Mariska wanted a custom band designed by me, so when her soon to be fiancé came to me, he decided to start with a ring from EPIC for the proposal.  He chose the Coral Ring, knowing it would be a lovely addition to the stunner that Mariska and I would design together.  

Mariska originally wanted a cushion cut yellow diamond, but was also really interested in using a rose cut diamond and love previous designs that were a bit more organic.  She was also taken by the fluid nature of the Atol and Drift rings, and we began to dream of how to incorporate that look into the custom design.

Well, the hunt for a rose cut, yellow, cushion cut diamond turned out to be pretty futile. There were yellows in round, and cushions in white rose cuts, but it because clear that finding a beautiful stone with all of those qualities was not going to happen in the near future.  

I then began pulling from rose cut diamonds that were unique in shape and size, and I found a super elongated teardrop that was just under 1 ct.  I was hooked!  Mariska wasn't able to envision this new stone in the band, but I immediately knew that this one was special. Thankfully she put her faith in me to deliver a wholly one of a kind ring. 

The results, pretty damned amazing!  I have rarely brought people to tears with my jewelry, but it was a pretty validating when she saw it and cried (who knows, maybe it was all the stress too!).

Oh yeah, I got to make Steve's ring as well!  For his ring, we kept it simple with my Wide Classic Band.  Guys generally want something simple and not too flashy or shiny so the hammered texture on this band was just right.

Mariska and Steve are just starting their journey together and I am honored to be a part of their daily reminders of their love for each other!