Gordon Aatlo |
Platinum and Tanzanite RingCouture CollectionDesigner: Gordon Aatlo Photography: Lee-Carraher, San Francisco Couture Collection: An extraordinary Tanzanite weighing over 17 carats, cut with uneven sides proved to be one of my most challenging projects of my career. Besides developing the overall look of the design I wanted to achieve, there was also the added challenge of dealing with three different measurements. There were many ideas that I had, but I wasn't happy with the result. The Tanzanite was put back in the safe. Months later, an idea came to me and within a few hours, I had completed my process and had my design. For me, a Tanzanite of this caliber could only be set in Platinum. The setting was hand fabricated and we channel set small, full cut diamonds around the gem and continue down one side. As this is a large gem, it was important to me that the design was dimensional. Two sides of the mounting were matte finished, with more small diamonds burnished into the Platinum. The remainder of the setting is high-polished Platinum. There is a second mounting made in Platinum in this design, waiting for an extraoridinary gem to take center stage. Price is available upon request. |