To Remember
Ohh this ring - I’ve been turning it over and over in my mind for months now. And this past week? Everything finally came together to bring it out of my head and into my hands. But there are two stories to tell when it comes to this piece - two lines of thought that converged to bring it into being. And, of course, I’m going to jump right in and tell you both.
The first begins with the way that Eric and I hold memories. When we travel, near or far, we don’t tend to gravitate towards physical objects to commemorate the things we’ve seen/done/felt. Instead, we spend our money on transport and experiences and (lots and lots of) food. And when the dust settles and we’re home again, photos are more than adequate in terms of mementos.
Which is why, when we were visiting Prague in December, Eric surprised me by setting aside a Czech koruna coin as something to remember our stay. He liked the lion design. He liked that the coin was from 2019. And he liked how much we were both really, REALLY loving Czechia.
Now I can blame it on the jet-lag, but I spent several hours that night thinking about (and, when I finally did fall asleep, dreaming about) turning that little coin into a ring for Eric. And I’ve been sketching and shuffling bits of silver around on my bench ever since.
Which brings me to story two - the reason I didn’t just jump right into this project the very minute we got home to Colorado. See, Eric isn’t a big jewelry-wearer. I’ve never seen him wear a necklace, earrings have never crossed his mind. We’ve talked about bracelets before but…only in an off-hand sort of way.
But rings - Eric is crazy about rings.
Simple bands, chunky settings, any metal, any stone - you name it, he loves them all. There’s just one problem. He has the absolute WORST knuckle to finger ratio I’ve ever seen - he loves rings, but his hands just don’t. For reference, he measures an 8.5-9 where a ring should sit but needs AT LEAST a 10.75 to make it over the knuckle. This means that rings just spin and spin and spin in the worst way.
But as I was lying sleepless in Prague, the little koruna floating through my mind in darkness, I had a thought - that I could make a ring with a separating band that would allow him to finally, FINALLY have a ring that actually fit.
My first solutions to the problem were…complicated. And fragile. And fussy. So I sat with them, trimmed them back, made edits and then edited those edits too. It took four months, but the answer was just a tension-fit band that could snap in and out. Easy-peasy.
I’ve spent the past few months learning a little bit of French (which may seem like a random bit of information to share, but just give me a minute and I promise I’ll tie it back in!). One of my very favorite words so far is “souvenir,” which is the verb that means “to remember.” And this ring - it is a souvenir in so many ways.
It holds the memories of our travels. It holds hours upon hours of problem solving and careful planning and fabrication. And it holds the potential to be a part of so many future adventures.
Past, present, future in one beautiful little ring - made for my love, with love.
Doesn’t get much better than that.