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Every once in a while, a Reconstruction project comes along that I know I'll carry with me for a long time, and Robin's was one of those projects.
Robin found CMD through a friend's referral back when I was still in San Francisco, and she's been part of this community ever since. She lives in Brooklyn now and spends time in Bradley Beach, just a short bike ride from my studio in Asbury Park. Somewhere along the way, through jewelry, years and opposite coasts, we developed what I can only describe as a special soul connection.
So when Robin trusted me with a necklace that had belonged to her mom, Ronnie, I knew we weren't simply taking apart an old piece of jewelry. We were being trusted with a piece of someone Robin loved immensely.
Ronnie lived a wonderful, full life. She had four children, four grandchildren and, from everything Robin has told me, the kind of presence you noticed when she walked into a room. She was a performer, a singer and a salesperson with a voice that filled a room, and she was still singing and dancing the day before she died at 94. Robin recalled that all the kids in the neighborhood used to knock on their door asking if Ronnie would sing at their bar mitzvahs.
Her necklace suited her perfectly. It was a glamorous gold V-shaped piece set with diamonds and finished with a beautiful diamond halo pendant at its center. It was elegant, sparkly and unapologetically fabulous. Very Ronnie, but not particularly Robin.
That's one of the things I love most about Reconstruction. Loving the person who wore a piece before you doesn't mean you have to share their taste, and changing the jewelry doesn't change what it means or who it came from. Robin didn't need to become someone who would wear her mother's necklace exactly as it was. We needed to figure out how that necklace could evolve into something that felt completely like her.
There were 25 diamonds in Ronnie's necklace, and as we began planning Robin's Reconstruction, we knew we wanted to find a way to give every one of them a new life. Then came one of those little bits of kismet that still makes me stop in my tracks: Aryana sat down at the bench to carefully remove the diamonds from the necklace on what would have been Ronnie's 100th birthday.
We hadn't planned the timing that way. It simply happened to be the day Ronnie's necklace began its transformation, exactly a century after the day she was born. I can't think of a more fitting birthday tribute than taking something that represented her so beautifully and beginning the process of turning it into something her daughter could carry forward.
You can watch part of Ronnie's necklace transformation here and see the careful dismantling process that began this next chapter.
Robin wanted her mom's center diamond somewhere she would see it constantly, so we built it into a chunky white gold ring designed to be worn on her middle finger. Every time she looks down at her hand, there it is.
We used the remaining stones from Ronnie's necklace to create two additional rings, ultimately transforming all 25 diamonds into a three-ring stack that looks completely different from the glamorous necklace we started with. Ronnie's diamonds are all there, but now they're arranged in a way that feels unmistakably like Robin.
To me, that's the sweet spot of Reconstruction. We're not trying to recreate the past or preserve something exactly as it was simply because that's how we inherited it. We're deciding what deserves to come forward with us and finding a way for it to belong in our lives now. The history stays intact even when the jewelry itself takes on a completely new form.
It's something I see again and again in our custom and Reconstruction projects. The pieces that mean the most are often the ones that manage to hold onto their history while becoming completely wearable for the person who owns them now.
When Robin came to pick up her finished rings, I was tired. It had been one of those stretches where I was feeling overworked and drained, but seeing her reaction to the finished pieces brought me right back to why this work means so much to me.
There were plenty of tears and hugs as Robin took in the rings for the first time, and somewhere in the middle of all that emotion, the jewelry itself almost became secondary. I could see through Robin's sparkling blue eyes how much love was wrapped up in the diamonds she had entrusted to us, and knowing that she trusted me with something so deeply connected to her mom is something I will never take for granted.
Through her tears, Robin looked at her finished stack and said, "My mom would LOVE it." That was really all I needed to hear and, quite possibly, all Robin needed to know.
You can watch more of Robin's story and the finished ring reveal here.
Metal may be my medium, but connection is truly my craft. Robin later described the project as "the most wonderful, incredible experience from start to finish" and told us how much she loves her new ring stack. For me, being able to give her something she will actually wear while keeping this tangible connection to her mom close is exactly why Reconstruction feels like some of the most important and impactful work I do.
Ronnie's necklace could have remained exactly as it was, tucked away because it belonged to someone special. Instead, its 25 diamonds are out in the world again, this time on her daughter's hand. It's a perfect piece of Ronnie, reimagined for Robin. And that center diamond, the one Ronnie wore close to her heart, is now shining brightly on Robin's hand every single day.
If you have inherited jewelry that means something to you but doesn't feel like you, Reconstruction at CMD can begin simply by showing me what you have. You don't need to know what it should become yet. Sometimes that's the part we figure out together.
If you're curious about what's possible, you can book a complimentary 15-minute consultation or reserve a dedicated Reconstruction appointment when you're ready to start designing.
With a very full heart,
Colleen
© Colleen Mauer Designs. All rights reserved.
Published: August 26, 2026
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