From the bench: a ruby commission in three acts

Some commissions are engineering; this one was archaeology first. The ruby arrived in a Victorian claw setting that had been repaired at least twice, badly, decades apart.

Act one: getting the stone out

Old claws are brittle. We cut the setting away rather than bending metal fatigued by a century of wear — slower, but the only route that guarantees the girdle.

Act two: what the stone told us

Out of its mount, the ruby measured 7.1 by 5.8 millimetres and showed a small girdle chip the old setting had been hiding — almost certainly the reason for one of those historical repairs.

The design conversation

A half-bezel in platinum covers the chip, protects the girdle, and lets more light under the pavilion than the Victorian claws ever did. The client kept the old setting — it went into the same box, flattened, as part of the story.

Act three: the finish

The best compliment a remount can get: 'it looks like it was always meant to be this.'