✨PART TWO ~ Bringing The Ring To Life✨
From The Sketchbook: A Peek Into The Design Process
Take a closer look at the images and renderings that helped guide Jen through her design journey!
After I sent Jen our Custom Design Form to get a better idea of what she was looking for, we hopped on a design call. Jen knew exactly what she wanted! She envisioned a deep green emerald of a specific size, set on a tapered band that would be comfortable for daily wear and would match her other everyday ring, an heirloom opal from her grandmother.
I sourced several emeralds as she requested, but when I found a gorgeous Tsavorite Garnet, I knew even before I showed her that THIS was the one. Tsavorite Garnets are the rarest garnet, only found in Kenya and Tanzania. With their intense green and luminous clarity, these special gems were quickly recognized by Tiffany and Co. in the 1970s as a rival to the best emeralds, and have become highly sought after.
She loved it! It was the perfect size and color, and beautifully rare. After we selected the perfect stone, we finalized the design for her 14k tapered band, featuring a special engraving on the inside. With the design direction finalized, I followed up with a project brief and 3D renderings for her approval. Finally, the ring came to life and it was as magical as Jen envisioned!
Jen Receives Her Ring!
Design Q & A with Jen
1. Jen, what was your favorite part of the design process? Was there anything that surprised you?- I loved that Cielomar just KNEW that the Tsavorite Garnet was THE right stone for my ring. I knew it too, the second I saw it. It was more than I had in mind to spend, but I knew it was right, so I said “yes!”
- I also loved so much that Cielomar sourced a stone that could be traced in origin. I had no idea what a “notable gem” was before we began the design process, but I knew I wanted a stone that was of high quality, and was sourced without harm to humans and with minimal impact to Mother Earth.
- The engraving is also so deeply precious to me. As part of my self-healing journey, I spent two years in a shamanic apprenticeship in order to develop a deeper connection with my Mexican ancestral roots and find practices that would help ground and sustain me during a time of unearthing a lot of personal pain in order to heal it. At the very last ceremonial gathering of my apprenticeship, I was really struggling with one big question: “What the hell am I supposed to be doing with my life?” I sat in ceremony all weekend in deep, intense, questioning. At the end, my teacher came around to perform a limpia on me (a traditional energy clearing ritual) and when she touched my forehead, I clearly heard the moon say (and I had never spoken to the moon before so I was shocked and stunned and overwhelmed with the grandmotherly love the moon represents in the shamanic tradition I studied) “It’s just a lovespell. Your whole life. That’s all it is. It’s just a lovespell.” I fell on the floor kind of cry-laughing at the profound yet beautiful simplicity of those words. I felt so seen and interconnected with the universe and simultaneously light and full of ease. Like, “Oh yeah, of course my life is just a lovespell.” I created a yearlong program after that, called Lovespell, and will carry those words with me both in my heart and engraved on my magical ring for the rest of my life.
- Finding your path isn’t always easy or pretty and that doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. The beautiful thing about living life as a lovespell, I’ve found, is staying open to embracing the totality of your life—all the grief, all the pain, all the fear, rejection, and messiness as well as the incredibly beautiful, heartwarming, ecstatic, joyful, exuberance of it all. The human experience can be excruciating and beautiful—and living in that polarity; being willing to engage in that dance between total perfection and total destruction that live side-by-side with one another at all times is what I think the human experience is all about. And, don’t get me wrong, it can feel like a lot to hold. It’s so much easier to numb out—I like a good Netflix binge as much as anyone else (Schitt’s Creek, what’s up!) but I think it’s important to allow ourselves to embrace it all, because the less we reject, the more compassion we can access—for ourselves, others, and the world around us. There’s a time and season for everything—life, death, pain, joy, fighting, peace, and none of us are exempt. Rather than having an “ideal” life, I now want a life that I can be present for, one that I can embrace fully. Honesty has become the driving force. I don’t care what my life looks like to anyone else as long as I’m living in a way that feels honest to me.
- I do plan on having a ceremony to honor my self-commitment in the spring (maybe April 2022?). I picture a despacho ceremony with some dear friends at Muir Beach in CA, then a day at Napa Cellars winery where I’m a wine club member, a delicious dinner at Mustards (or maybe Bistro Jeanty) and a slow weekend in an AirBnB with some of my closest friends. I’m working on bringing that vision to life.
- Thank you, thank you, thank you, Cielomar, from the bottom of my heart for bringing this truly magical ring to life. It’s a constant and gorgeous reminder to me that I’m seen, held, and loved by the universe, and that everything we dream up is possible—and we don’t have to have a “perfect” life to dream big. SO much love to you!
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Thank YOU so much, Jen, for sharing your journey with us, and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to play a part in this magically affirming moment in your life. 💖
I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the next chapter of Jen’s LOVE story!
Jen's Custom Tsavorite Garnet Ring - Profile | Photography by Ella Sophie
Jen's Custom Tsavorite Garnet Ring - 3/4 View | Photography by Ella Sophie
THE REVIEW
"Cielomar is an absolute joy to work with. She has such an amazing eye and sense of style, and while she is detail-oriented and exact in her design and measurements, she also approaches her work with heart and intuition which makes for creating a perfect, beautiful, and heartfelt piece that you'll adore forever and always. I couldn't have chosen a better person to work with to create my ideal wedding ring!"
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Feeling inspired to design your own piece of Custom Jewelry? I am here to help! Fill out a Custom Design Form to get the conversation started.
XO, Cielomar