Carol was looking to replace a treasured ring that was stolen from her, but finding a new ring had become difficult, so she came to us wanting a custom but without knowing what kind of design or what kind of stone. 

Her previous ring had a rutilated quartz cabochon that had dark smokey tones with bits of flash from the rutilations, cognac diamonds and garnets. My hope was to find a stone that had a mysterious depth, hidden flash and the kind of color change that made you want to get lost in the stone. 

We spent time in Tucson in late January looking for the perfect stone for Carol, and she chose a beautiful starcut sunstone cut by the well known lapidary artist John Dwyer, who is known for his unique cuts on the underside of the stones that give each stone extra sparkle and interest. 

For the design I offered two different directions both with inspiration from ancient Greece and Egypt. Helios is the God of the sun, and the sun is ultimate healer. It felt like the right direction, as Carol, a physician of 30 years, has dedicated her life to helping heal her patients. 

Yellow sapphires line the rays coming down from the stone and champagne diamonds glitter on the sides in a sun setting. Carol went with the rich saturated color of 18k yellow gold which played perfectly with the warm hues of the sunstone. Since the stone is on the larger side, it was important to make the band as comfortable as possible with good weight distribution. We also gave it a european shank which means we squared it at the bottom which helps with rings spinning. We gave it a satin finish, my favorite with yellow gold, which gives the metal a lovely sheen but doesn't overpower the radiance of the stones. 

What do you think? Have we made you a fan of sunstone yet?