The first step in creating a beautiful custom jewel is creating an exciting design. Thomas Edison said that invention is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.When it comes to custom-designed jewelry, the numbers are reversed – designing a beautiful, personalized jewel is 99% creativity and fun and, maybe, 1% labor.
Most custom-designed jewels celebrate a special person or event: thus, the design of the jewel should carry a special meaning for both the creator and the wearer. There are many ways to add “personal touches” to a custom jewel. Here are several ideas:
Brooches and pendants have long been showcases for miniature portraits of loved ones and special places. Sometimes the portraits are prominently painted, enamelled or etched of the surface of the jewel; other times they are hidden in a secret compartment!
Or, in the last century a style known as “acrostic jewelry” was popular. In acrostic jewelry a phrase or name is “spelled out” using the first letters of the names of gemstones. For example, a ring set with four stones – Jadeite, Uvarovite garnet, Diamond and Iolite – would carry the secret...