Do you dream of jewelry you've always wanted to create?
What about inherited jewelry that's just not you? Or jewelry you outgrew or gifted jewelry from a person you outgrew?
Do you have an odd treasure you want memorialized?
Did you lose something that meant a lot to you and haven't found a way to replace it?
Over the years of making jewelry, working with people to create one-of-a-kind pieces is the best part of the work. It means so much to learn the stories behind cherished items and family heirlooms and to breathe new life into them.
Shipwreck Montauk can create jewelry unique to and for you. Please email us here to get your project started.
HOLOCAUST BROOCH
During World War II, the client’s grandmother wore a broach — the ribbon you see pictured above — pinned to her undergarments. She kept it there in case she needed to bribe someone to survive during the Holocaust. The broach featured a diamond cluster in the center that was removed before we took a photo of the original piece. A new ring was carved in wax and set with a cluster of diamonds.
FAMILY CREST SIGNET
Our client purchased a vintage signet ring with a blank face, where she wanted her Japanese family crest displayed. But because the ring top was oval and the crest circular, we had to come up with a solution that would balance the two shapes and make the crest stand out.
We ended up designing a smooth wall that traced the ring’s oval top, where the crest was centered and raised. Once the new detail was welded there, we filled the center with black enamel to add contrast and make the design pop.
DAD'S DOG TAGS
Two sisters wished to memorialize their father by incorporating his ashes into a meaningful item: his original dog tags. We used a 3D scanner for them and then created a new model that was shorter in length and width. We also thickened it significantly to create depth, and we added a channel that ran the perimeter of the back of the tag. The cremains were then mixed with cold enamel and poured into the negative space of the channel.
The external face of the dog tag is an elegant silver pendant; the internal face is a private, cherished secret: a bit of their dad held against each sister’s heart.
ART DECO WEDDING RING REWORK
A groom’s favorite aunt left him a gorgeous Art Deco engagement ring and band. Neither suited him nor his fiancée, but they wanted to transform them into two new rings: a white-gold men’s band and a yellow-gold diamond engagement ring. Both needed to match in some way.
We started by removing the diamond from the original engagement ring. We then recycled the empty setting and applied the value of the gold to the new rings. Afterwards, we molded the remainder of the wedding band that featured a geometric Art Deco top. Once that detail was reproducible, we made waxes of the thin ladies band to incorporate into a new engagement ring for the bride.
The groom wanted white gold and a wider band, so we carved two walls in wax to broaden the shape and welded the original wedding band between them, allowing him to commemorate his aunt by wearing the same ring she’d worn her whole life.
The bride’s diamond and yellow-gold wedding ring, however, was very much its own design. With a milgrain texture on the bezel, we centered the repurposed hand-cut diamond and flanked it with a kite diamond on both sides.
When designing a pair of wedding rings, it’s important to incorporate a common detail between them so that the rings, like their owners, share a connection. To tie the two very different rings together, we incorporated the thin geometric Art Deco design of the original wedding band to the underside of the bride’s diamond ring.