We connected with a great new client who wanted a personalized custom Ankh XL ring similar to those we make for Legendary Songstress Erykah Badu. She had been looking for the company which made Erykah's rings for years and we were glad we finally met. We suggested she go even bigger and bolder than what we had done before and she was more than happy to let us. We were given basic guidelines but this client was so confident in our design taste that she allowed us to really do something special for her.
This was the largest Ankh XL ring we have ever done. It is about 75% larger than the size of the Ankh XL ring styles made famous by Erykah and is the largest solid metal Ankh ring on the market today. Our challenge was two-fold. The first was designing a ring that represented a client whom we just met and hadn't really known but we also had to concern ourselves with the other set of challenges- creating a ring of this size to our standards (Logistically, no easy feat).
First came the concept. The client we were working for is a beautiful, young Entrepreneur growing an amazing media brand. So we thought wings would be perfect as a design aesthetic which also represented where she is and where she's going, ascending, growing and prospering. This client was a natural beauty, so we decided to add another African Symbol known as Het Heru to this design. The Het Heru Symbol represents divine beauty. Her ring was carved by hand in wax by Heru Semahj (as seen in the image below) without any computer assistance.
When doing a custom design we must get permission from our client before we go to further steps which is using the wax model to create the metal design (in this case Sterling Silver). We showed her this wax model. She loved everything but...the "S" at the end of her name "Laws". She wanted it more rounded. Since that was her only objection to a design she gave us complete autonomy over, we were actually happy that was all we had to change. Making her not just a satisfied but a happy client was the mission.
See what silver looks like in it's pre polished state? not so wearable huh? And this is after a couple of pre-polish treatments. I'm always amazed at how metals look in their raw unpolished form and getting it to this point was a great relief. Many times when trying to create solid silver ring of this size many metal issues occur. In this case the issues were minimal and we were able to proceed with the stone setting and finishing stages. Please forgive the working man hands. lol...
We decided to use her birthstone in the finished product which was a Citrine and we also added texture to the background of her name to create more contrast, allowing her name to really pop from the design. We were really happy with the final results. Now all that was left was to show it to her and hope she doesn't ask us to start from scratch...lol...
She didn't ask us to start from scratch...LOL
She sent this amazing picture of her proudly wearing it. Mission accomplished. This ring was no simple job and it came out beautifully. It was a pleasure making this ring a reality.