Your Cart is Empty
TEXT RINGS TO +1 (833) 993-0491 TO GET 15% OFF YOUR NEXT ORDER
Some of the most meaningful pieces we make at CMD begin with a stone that already has a story.
In this case, that stone was a beautiful yellow diamond created in memory of Bert, our client's beloved yellow Lab. After years of companionship, Bert passed away, and his person chose to have some of his ashes transformed into a diamond. By the time that tiny yellow stone arrived at CMD, it was already so much more than a gemstone. Our job was to create a ring worthy of everything it represented.
Our client worked with Eterneva, a company that creates memorial diamonds using carbon from a loved one's ashes or hair. The result for Bert was a warm yellow diamond, small enough to sit on a finger every day but carrying an enormous amount of meaning.
CMD doesn't create memorial diamonds, but we can work with diamonds and gemstones you bring to us when they're suitable for the project. That might be an heirloom stone, a diamond from an older piece of jewelry, something passed down through your family or, in Bert's case, a gemstone created specifically to preserve a connection with someone you love.
I think that's one of the things I love most about custom jewelry. The materials don't have to begin with us for us to help give them their next form.
Once Bert's diamond was ready, it was our turn to think about how to set it. Our client chose a classic 14k white gold band with a bezel-set stone, similar in spirit to the Leo Solitaire Ring.
The simplicity was intentional. Bert's yellow diamond deserved to be the focal point, and the clean white gold surrounding it lets that warm color come forward without competing with it. A bezel was also a natural choice for a ring meant to be worn regularly because it securely surrounds the stone while keeping the overall design modern and understated.
The finished ring doesn't immediately announce its story to everyone who sees it, and I love that. To someone else, it's a beautiful yellow diamond set in white gold. To the person wearing it, it's Bert.
I've spent more than twenty years making jewelry, and projects like this continue to remind me how much meaning we can attach to these little objects we wear.
A ring can mark a marriage or anniversary, but it can also commemorate a pet, a parent, a friendship, an accomplishment, a place or an entire chapter of your life. Sometimes we're creating something completely new. Other times, we're working with a diamond, gemstone or piece of jewelry that already carries years of history.
That's one of the reasons work like this has become such an important part of what we do at CMD. Our Special Occasion Jewelry and one-of-a-kind projects have always been about more than precious materials. The design matters, of course, but we're also thinking about what we're being trusted with and why someone wants to keep it close.
Bert's ring is such a beautiful example. His diamond began as a way for one person to preserve a physical connection to a beloved companion. We simply had the honor of giving that diamond a form she could wear.
If you have a diamond or gemstone with a story behind it, you don't necessarily have to leave it sitting unworn in a jewelry box. Depending on the stone and its condition, we may be able to incorporate it into a Custom, Special Occasion or Reconstruction design that feels much more like you.
If you're considering a meaningful piece of jewelry to commemorate a memory, milestone or person you love, you can learn more about our Special Occasion consultations. Bring us the stone, the old jewelry, the story or even just the beginning of an idea, and we'll help you figure out what might be possible.
Projects like Bert's are a beautiful reminder that jewelry can carry so much more than material value. Sometimes a very small object can hold an enormous amount of love.
With love for the stories we get to carry forward,
Colleen
© Colleen Mauer Designs. All rights reserved.
Published: September 4, 2024
Updated: August 24, 2026
Comments will be approved before showing up.
Robin's mom, Ronnie, was a performer, a singer and the kind of woman whose presence filled a room. Her glamorous diamond necklace was perfectly Ronnie, but it wasn't Robin. Together, we transformed all 25 diamonds into three completely new rings, carrying a piece of her mom forward in a form [...]
After twenty-one years of creating, growing and evolving, I’m finding myself at another crossroads. A long-overdue afternoon pruning my backyard reminded me that growth isn’t always about adding more. Sometimes it’s about cutting back, trusting your intuition and making room for whatever is growing [...]
If you have inherited jewelry sitting untouched because it simply doesn’t feel like you, selling it isn’t your only option. Before you let it go, bring me the stash. That old gold, outdated setting or collection of mismatched stones might be the beginning of something you’d actually wear. It's worth finding out what you're [...]
