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When Becky came to me, she already had the most important part of the project: the diamonds. Her engagement ring had a broken setting, several diamonds from her original wedding stack were loose, and after wearing the same set for more than twenty years, she was ready for something that felt more like who she is now.
She initially imagined a mixed-shape stack, so that’s where we began. During her virtual custom jewelry appointment, I mocked up several combinations and texted her different ideas as we worked through the possibilities. Nothing was quite clicking for either of us, and rather than forcing the original concept, I started thinking about what would happen if we changed direction completely.
I kept coming back to an all-round stack. It would feel timeless, incredibly comfortable to wear and would give her original diamonds plenty of room to become the focus rather than competing with too many shapes. Once I mocked up that version, Becky immediately knew we had it.
Her response was basically, “YES!! That’s it!” and I got a pretty good dopamine hit myself. That’s one of my favorite parts of the Reconstruction process. You can begin with one idea and end up somewhere completely different because the jewelry itself starts telling us what it wants to become.
Once we had the overall direction, we began refining proportions, metals and placement. Becky’s finished stack became a three-ring composition in 14k yellow and white gold, designed around the stones she already owned.
The outer bands are both 3mm wide, one in 14k white gold and one in 14k yellow gold. Each is set with twelve diamonds. Becky had twenty smaller diamonds from her original set, so we sourced four additional lab-grown diamonds to complete the design and carefully matched them so they would blend naturally with her existing stones.
At the center is a bold 6mm band created specifically for her original 1.14-carat engagement diamond. Rather than placing that stone back into another traditional engagement-ring setting, we gave it a substantial bezel and made it the center of the entire stack. It still carries the history of her original ring, but the way she gets to wear it now feels completely different.
That’s what I love so much about projects like Becky’s. We didn’t need to erase what came before in order to make something new. Her original diamonds were already full of history, and our job was to give them a new architecture that made sense for the next chapter.
When Becky received the finished stack, she wrote:
“Thank you so much for all you’ve put into this. You really went way beyond my expectations. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever owned.”
I don’t think responses like that will ever stop getting me. This project was such an honor to work on, and it remains one of my favorite stacks we’ve created. There’s something particularly satisfying about taking jewelry that has already lived a long life and finding a way for someone to fall in love with it all over again.
If you have diamonds sitting in a setting you no longer love, an heirloom ring that doesn’t feel like your style or several pieces you’ve been wondering how to combine, that’s exactly the kind of problem I love solving. Through Reconstruction, we can look at what you already own, talk through what matters to you and design something that feels right for the way you actually want to wear jewelry now.
You can begin with a complimentary consultation or book a full Reconstruction appointment when you’re ready to dig into the design possibilities.
Some jewelry is ready for a second life. Sometimes it just needs a completely new shape.
Colleen
© Colleen Mauer Designs. All rights reserved.
Published: February 5, 2025
Updated: August 24, 2026
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