Planning to make possibly needed changes
15th May 2026 - Customer location: Brisbane
This post is all about the benefits of my proposal ring process. The above ring made back in January 2024 for a Brisbane customer and was a temporary ring used for the surprise proposal alwasy with the plan to remake it later, This proposal ring was worn for about 15 months, some have them remade much faster and other take longer, some leave the ring the same.
During those 15 months we resized the proposal ring to get the size perfect. We also discussed the desired wedding ring and observed how the ring went with this customers “normal wear”.
Article: Why you should avoid resizing a new ring
Just prior to the wedding it was remade to the correct finger size and to suit the recipients desired wedding ring. The diamond stayed the same and is a 1.60ct oval cut of E colour VVs2 clarity grades. The band is 18ct yellow gold.
Normal wear
Another customer’s “normal wear” for one year, she thought she was taking good care of her rings.
During the 15 months wearing of this ring we had some issues with the diamond coming loose twice. The cause was a combination of 3 factors:
- The low height of the ring created an angle for the claws that increased the chance of bending
- the claws needed to be slightly heavier for this size diamond
- the initial design was not strong enough for this person’s “normal” wear
Let’s address the last point first which will be solved by addressing the first two. Everyones “normal wear” is different. Some people could have worn her ring with no issues. Others like the owner of the white gold rings shown above, would have displaced/moved the claws far quicker and by a larger amount.
There is no “normal wear” and the design you choose needs to as much as possible match your lifestyle.
The areas of the design we needed to change.
To make this design suitable for this customer’s “normal wear” we would raise the diamond slightly and make the base of the claws a bit heavier. Neither of which would change the top view of the ring. However they are small changes that would make the ring much stronger.
Planning for the wedding ring
A digital mockup of the desired diamond width on the customers hand.
Before we remade the proposal ring we needed to look at the desired wedding ring to ensure that it sat nicely beside the engagement ring once it was made. Wedding rings with diamonds in them have to sit high enough off the finger to avoid the bottom of the diamonds touching the finger. The larger the diamond the deeper it is.
Article: Don`t forget gem depth
The main point is that you can design anything from the top but you need to allow for gem depth. Another factor here is that to set a gem into a ring you need to remove metal and the more metal you remove the weaker the ring becomes.
Metal needs to be removed to accommodate the diamonds.
Sometimes we need to raise the gems off the finger even further to retain metal under the gem for strength. In the case of this customers desired wedding ring that was the case. As the wedding ring got higher the engagement ring setting also needing to be raised a touch.
The remade ring on the right.
The remade engagement ring band would also need to be made slightly thicker to match the wedding ring profile. The planned remaking of the proposal ring allowed for all these adjustments.
With a fine white diamond set in a yellow gold setting it is important to rhodium plate the metal underneath the diamonds to avoid the yellow of the gold being cast into the diamond. To do this, the areas that are to remain yellow in colour are masked with nail polish prior to plating.
All done
Shared prong diamond wedding ring sitting perfectly next to the engagement ring.
Whilst I was remaking both the wedding ring and the final engagement ring the customer continued to wear the original/proposal ring. It took me a day to swap the diamond out of the old ring and into the new once it was made.
The result was an engagement ring made to the perfect size for the customer to suit her desired wedding ring. We had also strengthened the engagement ring to allow better for her “normal wear”. She loves both rings despite initially being concerned about making changes. A huge success. Have a great week.
The wedding ring clearing the base of the engagement ring setting.