A magical combination - romance, diamonds and 21st century technology
What’s a lady to do when a romantic marriage proposal is accompanied by three loose diamonds steeped in family history (apart from say ‘yes’ of course!)? Ce’ The Jeweller knew exactly what to do and the result, says the lady in question, moved her to tears of joy.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUCY IN THE SKY PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUCY IN THE SKY PHOTOGRAPHY
Having lost her first husband to cancer, no one was more surprised than Bishop’s Stortford lady, Judith Keogh to find love and happiness second time around – let alone a marriage proposal! But this was no ordinary proposal, as fiancé Bryan presented her with three diamonds which had been especially selected many years ago by his uncle - a diamond sorter for De Beers - for his late mother’s engagement ring. Says Zimbabwean Bryan, ‘The diamonds have a very special meaning to me and I wanted Judith to show them off with pride. Because we have five children between us I felt it symbolic to buy two more diamonds and make it five – we could then have the most special engagement ring made.’
Judith had a very specific idea about how the stones could be shown to their utmost beauty. ‘Bryan said that I am so expressive with my hands, he wanted the diamonds to twinkle even when my palms were doing the talking – now that’s some brief to give to any jeweller,’ laughs Judith. Enter stage left Ce’ The Jeweller in Bishop’s Stortford.
For Rob Drewett, who along with his wife Jan, has owned Ce’ in the heart of Stortford for 10 years, the idea of making something completely unique is what fuels his creative juices, having first started as a diamond mounting apprentice in Soho in 1974! ’Our first job was to source two stones to match the quality of Judith’s, then it was a case of working with her own sketches to come up with my interpretation of her ultimate design,’ explains Rob.
Rob not only works with hand drawn sketches but now boasts a unique design system called CounterSketch. The only jeweller in a 40 mile radius to utilise this amazing software, he uses CounterSketch with his customers to render the ring of their dreams in front of their eyes – selecting the shape, thickness, choice and positioning of stones, metal colour and settings. In true Disney style, the 3D ring comes to life, appearing on screen adorning a hand that accurately replicates the customer’s own!
‘I changed my mind many, many times,’ admits Judith, ‘I had my own vision to bring to life and with so much investment at stake both myself and Bryan wanted it to be just perfect. Rob’s expertise with CounterSketch allowed me to see a lifelike version of my experiments; my stone placement and design ideas were all trialled before deciding the best move forward.’
Rob presented ‘a very nervous’ Judith with her finished ring in January 2011. ‘I needn’t have been concerned,’ says a delighted Judith. ‘When I opened the box everybody in the shop audibly gasped, the contents lived up to my vision and more. It was so, so beautiful.’
