A Redesigned Engagement Ring: To Be Able To Wear It Again

by Pierre Plante September 29, 2016

“It was seven years since my husband passed. I’d stopped wearing my wedding ring. Basically,I wanted to do something with the diamond so that I could wear it again.” Eileen’s original engagement ring was essentially a simple and classic style--a single large diamond set in a gold ring. “I had it for at least 34 years,” Eileen recalls. With the jewelry redesign, it took on a new sentimental life, and essentially became wearable again--as an updated and more fashionable piece.

The redesigned engagement ring is dazzling. “I wanted it put in a setting with other diamonds,” Eileen remarks mildly. This is exactly what Plante Jewelers did--the finished ring has two circular rows of small diamonds around Eileen’s engagement diamond, and three rows in the setting. The finished piece is like a mandala of sparkling gems. It has a hypnotic look to it.

“It’s a beautiful ring,” says Eileen. “I get lots of compliments on it, and it’s different. It’s very different. People take notice of it.”

When Eileen first started thinking about having her engagement ring redesigned, two of her friends encouraged her to consider Plante. “I have to say, they were very instrumental in the process,” she explains. “They had been customers of Plante and were both very excited about the whole thing. One of them said to me, ‘you can’t go to another jeweler!’ So they took me to Plante to have this done knowing that it would be something special.”

Describing the process, Eileen says, “It was a few visits. Pierre showed me possibilities of what could be done with it. Someone else had done something similar which I loved. They showed me the designs and made sure I completely approved of it. I think it took about eight weeks.”

For Eileen the process of making the ring itself was memorable and fun. In part this was because of her friends. but she felt right at home with the jewelers as well. As she explains, “The way you’re treated there is special. I could tell Pierre knew something about diamonds when he appraised the ring I brought him. I felt that he wasn’t the average sort of jeweler. Also he was very professional and courteous in his dealings with all of us who came into his store.”

When she first saw the new ring, Eileen was surprised by how it looked in real life, even though it was basically what she saw in the computer rendering. “It was a delight to see,” she says.

The beauty of the new ring is naturally a large part of Eileen’s satisfaction with the jewelry redesign process, but the greater part is the sentimental value of being able to wear the diamond again. “It’s so much more a part of me,” she says. “Going on five or six years I hadn’t worn it, so to be able to wear it again in a beautiful setting was a pleasure. And I had wonderful memories of the diamond in it.”

Eileen has had the updated ring for two years. “I still go in to have it cleaned,” she says.

Plante Jewelers is a family-owned Jewelry store located in Swansea, Massachusetts. It is owned by Pierre and Nancy Plante.