Vol. I · May 2026
put a ring on it
An editorial on the small, circular things we keep
Archive · Page 7
No. 62

What kind of warranty or guarantee should I expect with a custom ring?

Honestly, you should expect two different guarantees, and most jewelers only talk about one of them. Let me save you a headache: the first is a workmanship...

No. 63

Can I add birthstones or other personal symbols to a custom ring?

Yes, and honestly, it's one of the best reasons to go custom in the first place. A birthstone or a symbol that actually means something to the person...

No. 64

How do I measure my ring size accurately if I want a custom ring?

About 70% of the rings I resize come back because the client used a paper sizer from a website or guessed based on an old ring that fits a different finger....

No. 65

Can I design a custom engagement ring that my partner will love without them seeing it?

The short answer is yes, but you need to do it differently than the Instagram version of the story suggests. About sixty percent of the engagement rings I...

No. 66

What questions should I ask my jeweler before starting a custom ring?

About sixty percent of the people who walk into my studio have never commissioned a custom ring before. They're nervous. They've read the wrong articles....

No. 67

How do I handle custom ring orders with multiple gemstones?

The short answer is: carefully, one stone at a time, with a lot of up-front communication. The long answer is the rest of this. I do a fair number of...

No. 68

Can I design a custom stackable ring set?

Yes, you can. I've built dozens of them, and the stackable ring has been one of the most reliably satisfying projects I take on. A client named Priya came...

No. 69

What are the risks of designing a custom ring without seeing it in person first?

I've taken in about a dozen "I bought it online and it's not what I expected" rings in the last five years. Some were fixable. Some were not. And the ones...

No. 70

What is the difference between CAD design and handcrafting a custom ring?

A client named Marco emailed me last spring with a photo he'd taken off Pinterest and two questions: "Do you do CAD or hand-fabrication, and which is...

No. 71

Can I incorporate fingerprints or handwriting into a custom ring?

Yes, you can. I've done it maybe forty times over the last decade. It's one of those requests that sounds sentimental and ends up being technically more...

A letter, every other Sunday.

One essay, one object, one quiet recommendation — delivered slowly, the way these things ought to be.