SIJS cluster orb ring set with a 8.52ct pink spinel and accented with moonstones, diamonds and sapphires in 22k and platinum.

The Burmese pink spinel has a nice pinkish peach hue, but pink gems are hard to get right.

The challenge increases when the gem is bigger, and this spinel is a cushion cut (ie. gem with corners). Pink gems easily look girly, even in ordinary settings.

The cushion cut spinel is ‘tricked’ into an elongated orb. What this does is twofold: it softens the corners and greatly manifests the stone.

The compact orb is more of a mosaic arrangement than a cluster. At front view, you see only the spinel and moonstones. Only by a movement of the finger/hand will your eyes look towards the smaller stones.

A compact orb is an illusion. It is an exercise in the ingenious layout of stones, ie. controlling viewpoints of the ring, mixing small and big stones, setting breathing gaps through varying the moonstones with a lone sapphire here and there.

The choice of our accent gems is very deliberate. Diamonds would reduce this spinel to a very nonchalant ring. We decided on a palette of blues to ‘reverse’ with the pink, and importantly, not compete (as diamonds would).

Two types of blue sapphires are used, a deeper blue and a pastel blue. The pale blues in turn converse with the moonstones.

Stones are chosen based on a color scheme that actually revolves around the main stone, but they are arranged in a way they are not ‘fixated’ on the main stone. Our desire was both to show the spinel’s color and to ‘forget’ it.

All this effort is for a good reason. Transform what is a very vivid pink gem into a unique, sophisticated piece of jewellery. The original setting was a halo diamond setting, which we felt to do nothing for the personality of a vivid, fiery, desirable peachy-pink Burmese spinel.

The face of the ring spans 21mm by 19mm. This is quite big, cocktail dimensions. A ring like this will require a band that can measure up.

We did not resort to an ordinary halo band. Old mine cut and Old European diamonds are set in graduated sizes on each side. The plain side of the ring band follows a ribbed pattern in the gold.

The heirloom vibe of such a design is always a risk (as opposed to a classic design), but crafting a memorable piece of jewellery is not as navigable as making memories.

2.47ctw blue sapphires. 5.88ctw moonstones. 1.29ctw diamonds.