CUSTOM DESIGN STORY: DANIELLE ANTALFFY'S HEIRLOOM RING

Danielle is a study in contrasts. At once searingly quick witted and bold, she is also kind and empathetic. She’ll show up in a flowy floral pastel dress and rattle off her latest complaints about the state of the NFL, especially her beloved LA Raiders. She’ll stay up drinking wine with you one night and get up the next morning to run—and finish—a half marathon.

She works in finance and when we started discussing ideas for her first custom piece, she told me she lost a ring she wore on her index finger that male colleagues complained about when she shook their hands. I loved the image of that in my head and the idea of replacing it with a design that held a wink of intimidation was enticing.

Danielle is one of those clients who says, “design me something!” and gives me a couple of notes on what she does and doesn’t like. As a designer, this is both freeing and terrifying (and sometimes leads to a temporary creative paralysis!). In this case, I had some basic parameters—she wanted an heirloom ring for the index finger, she was interested in using color, maybe a sapphire, and the design needed to have meaning.

The idea came to me one morning before I got to the studio, as they so often do. I did a quick sketch before heading out the door. There were a few initial iterations but the concept was consistent. Across the top of the page I scribbled: “forward, making waves, life’s ebb and flow, standout, powerful.”

I wanted the ring to reflect what I knew of Danielle’s resilience and her tendency to beat the odds whenever faced with them. Danielle has overcome a lot throughout her life, and while her story is hers to tell, I would like to say I admire her independence and determination.

The final design she chose holds a pear shaped blue sapphire gliding through two rows of diamonds intended to have a wave effect, like a boat creating a wake, the tip of the gemstone pointing in a forward direction.