This ring is an engagement piece for someone I met somewhat randomly; we hired a landscaping company to do some work, and the owner was recently engaged. He had an emerald that belonged to his grandfather and some idea of what he wanted the final piece to look like.

His fianceé works with her hands and they plan to live in a part of the world where it is not wise to wear something that looks too glitzy i.e. what convention expects something valuable to look like, so we wanted a design that would not be too dainty and in yellow gold. They love the color of high-karat gold (as do I) and provided an emerald, so I proposed 22k. It's still soft and has a rich color, but would provide much better durability over pure gold. Emeralds can be problematic to set, as most are heavily included (think of cracks in the stone; these weak spots can split the stone if pressure is applied), so working with a softer alloy can reduce the risk of tragedy in the setting process. The design was sketched out and carved in wax, and then cast.