How and why to choose custom designs for your wedding rings!
Whether dog-earring bridal magazines, pinning inspiration shots to a Pinterest board or saving images on Instagram, brides and grooms-to-be give extensive consideration to their future engagement and wedding rings. According to Today’s Wedding Jewelry Consumer, an interactive research platform for jewelry retailers, the U.S. engagement ring market in 2022 was a $7.6 billion industry. An engagement ring symbolizes devotion to a partner and a lifelong commitment to a piece of jewelry. It’s an important decision and one that can be representative of not only your relationship but also your personality. That’s why a custom-designed piece might be the best bet for making your wedding set stand out.
Hays Pickens is a graduate gemologist and the vice president of Pickens Jewelers in Buckhead. His company was founded in 1946 and has since helped three generations of brides and grooms select their wedding rings. Pickens says the bulk of their daily jewelry work is in the custom category.
Design Inspo
When designing a custom ring, Pickens says step one is drawing inspiration. “If somebody comes in with an idea, we can recreate it, or we can work together on designing something.” That idea can be as simple as a few photos to as abstract as wanting to incorporate heirloom stones but not knowing a creative direction. That’s where the experts come in. “For those more complex jobs that require a lot more custom design, we use CAD (computeraided design) and then have that cast [into a mold],” he explains.
One place to seek inspiration, besides typical spots like internet searches and magazines, is through family photos. Let’s say a particular piece of family jewelry is promised to someone else or is not yet ready to leave the finger of the current owner. Custom designs allow for those pieces to be recreated from scratch. “They can have something that they’ve always admired and will be long-lasting,” says Pickens.
Patience is a Virtue
Whether it’s perfecting the design or gathering the materials, custom rings do take a bit more planning and require extra time. Some straightforward creations can be finished in as few as three weeks, but Pickens warns it’s best to allow a few months to complete the process. “If something is being done by hand [such as engraving or other intricate designs], there are only so many jewelers that have that level of skill, so that takes longer, too,” he says.
Budget Wise
A custom ring might make you dream of dollar signs, and while bespoke jewelry can be more valuable, Pickens says there are ways to offset costs such as supplying your stones or trading in unused precious metal to be weighed, melted and recast. As with materials across all industries, fine metals have increased in price, so having an idea of the type of metal you want to use and level- setting budget expectations can make for a smoother process.
So is it worth it? Pickens says yes. “A custom piece has more personal, sentimental value because you are a part of making it,” he says. “It’s no different than somebody who builds their own house. It’s that more unique and special to the individual.”
PICKENS JEWELERS
404.237.7885
pickensinc.com
@pickensjewelrs
PHOTOS: Joann Vitelli
