Valentine’s Day is right round the corner! And here’s a special ring design Paul created to honor the day. Notice the entwined hearts — 20 of them! Paul really is a romantic! And this ring, like all of Paul’s jewelry is superbly hand crafted. He carved the design in blue wax first, then cast the ring in 18 karat yellow gold, polished it carefully, and set the diamonds — yes,  all 20 of them!

What a perfect gift for the love of your heart!

1) LISTEN TO 93.5FM IN THE MORNING: Designer Gold is participating in Tracy and Paul’s Grief Relief Trivia Game. Tune in to 95.3 and register for the game by December 10th. Win the trivia game that morning, and $250 toward any purchase at Designer Gold is yours!

2) ENTER OUR $250 GIFT CERTIFICATE DRAWING: Come into Designer Gold any day from November 25 through December 19 and fill out an entry form. No purchase necessary. We’ll draw the winner on Monday, December 19 at 6 p.m. — just in time for you to show your love with a gift from Designer Gold for the holidays or give the gift certificate itself. No matter what, come in and sign up.

WHY YOU SHOULD ENTER TO WIN

You can use the gift certificates toward any purchases in the gallery: elegant engagement rings  . . . wonderful wedding rings . . . pretty pendants . . . exquisite earrings . . . nifty necklaces.

or

You can use the gift certificates toward any custom jewelry order — want to help design your own engagement ring? want a say in how you wedding rings look? want to have a pendant made with a diamond you have inherited from your mother or grandmother? Come on in and put the gift certificate to work.

or

You can give the gift certificates to your loved ones, so they can purchase beautiful hand-made pieces of jewelry from Designer Gold.

He had called her and said he wanted to see her.

He walked up the steps and met her at the top.

He looked at her lovingly and smiled, “I left work early today just to see you,” he said and then paused. Suddenly, holding out a small box toward her, he asked, “Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” she said. “Yes!”

He handed her the box. She unwrapped it and gasped,
thrilled at the stunning sight that gleamed out at her.

“This is just beautiful!” she said and said again. “Yes!”

“This ring is so wonderfully done,” she said later. “Like all of Paul’s work, it is artfully designed and skillfully handcrafted. It is simply beautiful!”

THE STORY OF THE RING

At the end of the summer, they both had talked to Paul about designing a ring, similar to a band she had seen in Paul’s portfolio – except hers would be made in 18k yellow gold and hers would have a yellow sapphire.

Paul searched out four suitable sapphires and drove them to Boston where these folks lived. It was a workday for everyone, so they met at a mutually convenient spot, at the Museum of Fine Arts. Over a cup of coffee sitting in the fantastic atmosphere of the art museum, they looked at the sapphires and selected one, nearly 1 1/2 carats. Paul had brought a wax model of the ring that he had carved to fit her finger. He slipped the sapphire into the model, so they could visualize what the finished ring would look like. They were simply thrilled.

The next step, of course, was for Paul to cast the ring and set the sapphire, which he did in the next week. He mailed the ring to the man, and everyone at Designer Gold waited and waited. When would he ask her to marry him? When would he give her the ring? We were all anxious to know, and we didn’t have to wait very long.

One day shortly after Halloween, she called. She was thrilled with her elegant ring, saying over and over how beautiful it was, how well made it was, how wonderfully it suited her hand.

Soon they will be married, and the ring will serve as a symbol of their love and commitment as both engagement and wedding ring.

End of story . . . Beginning of a life-long romance.

Carris, our manager, chatted with him to learn exactly what he had in mind. Then she told him about our custom design process.

She explained how he could choose his own diamond and sapphires from gemstones we would order in for him, how Paul would carve a wax model for him with those very gemstones. She explained that he could then approve or revise the wax model. And by seeing his diamond and sapphires in his final wax model, he would know that the engagement ring would be perfect.

“Thank you so much.  You have been tremendously helpful!” he said in one e-mail to Carris.

And in another to Paul:
“Already, I am more than impressed with the help and customer service that Carris has provided me. I want to thank your team and you in advance for helping me to make this decision easy, unique, and insightful.”

It’s such a pleasure for us at Designer Gold to work with people who appreciate the effort and skill that goes into making a fine piece of jewelry.

Working very hard this fall, we’ve revised our website to make it more user friendly and easier to see the beauty and detail of Paul’s work.

Check out our new catalog in particular. Click on the “Catalog” link to see what we offer for sale. Then click on the thumbnail, or link, to see the engagement rings, wedding rings, special rings and other pieces of jewelry that Paul has designed and made.

All of the jewelry in our catalog is for sale. Some of Paul’s limited and open edition designs and one-of-a-kind pieces are made up and are available in our gallery at 3 Lebanon Street.

But any of Paul’s limited and open edition designs can be made to order. That way, you can choose the metal and gemstones that you like. If you see it in gold and want it in platinum. No problem. Just let us know.

For example, compare the Jessica Rings in Engagement Rings. Both are made up in platinum, but one is set with an exceptional blue sapphire and the other has a very fine Canadian diamond.

In Special Rings, you will see two Ribbon Rings made up in different metals, gold and platinum, with a different number of diamonds in each.

Here they are compared to a third Ribbon Ring made up in 18k yellow gold with green Demantoid Garnets:

Paul works primarily in white and yellow gold, palladium and platinum.

We order gemstones for you to look at and to choose the one(s) you like best.

Usually it takes Paul only two or three weeks to make up one of his limited or open editions for you.

To inquire, contact us by phone or e-mail through the website.

Ayesha’s jewelry has a most wonderful sculptural quality. Here are her Autumn Leaf earrings which she textures slightly to look like leaves that have turned in the Fall.

The diamonds are reminiscent of dew. She creates an accompanying necklace fabricated with 18 links identical to these earrings and cleverly hides the catch under the links.

Ayesha was born in Calcutta, India, and moved to Rochester, NY at age 15. After college she began a career as a textile engineer. All of this time she dabbled in metal work. After 13 years in textiles, she finally gave in to her passion for metals. Initially, she followed her interest in traditional silversmithing, hammering and forming sculptural vessels. Tired of wielding a large hammer, she turned her attention to smaller pieces, wearable pieces, fine handcrafted  jewelry. She works primarily in 18 karat yellow and white gold enhanced by precious gemstones.

Here you can see her excellent stone setting craftsmanship in these enchanting stacking rings . . .

. . . and in these elegant post earrings.

She  has her own studio and retail store in Englewood, NJ. In addition, she sells her work through retailers throughout the U.S. and has participated in many national juried and invitational shows.

Come in and see this collection of Ayesha Mayadas’s jewelry at Designer Gold — as well as many other pieces of fine handcrafted jewelry, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Hope to see you soon.

The original drawing of our customer’s idea.

Then you will want to have a conversation with one of our assistants and then with our master jewelry designer, Paul Gross. As you talk, he will add more details to the sketch.

For her 25th wedding anniversary, our customer decided to have her diamond reset in a ring individually designed for her by Paul. The spiral idea was hers, and she sketched out what she wanted. Originally the ring would have four colored stones set into the spiral, to represent her family members’ birthdays. Paul added notes to her sketch to be sure he would remember her details when he was carving her model.

Click on photographs for enlargement.

As he carved the first model, he made spaces for the four small colored stones. At the same time, our customer was thinking that she wanted small diamonds instead of colored stones. Nothing needed to be changed at this point. Once she saw the model with her diamond in it and with small diamonds in the spiral, she thought it would be better without any side stones at all.

Paul carved a second model with just her center diamond. She liked it that way. When Paul cast the ring, the wax model was burned out of the mold, and molten 18 karat yellow gold was forced into the mold in the casting process.

The finished ring in two views

If she changes her mind, after she has worn her ring for a while, Paul can add the small side gemstones anytime.

That’s the wonder and magic of custom design by a master stone setter – Paul Gross at Designer Gold; in business in Hanover for more than 33 years.

We offer a wide variety of jewelry in a broad range of prices, created of gold and in silver by experienced and talented goldsmiths whose work we have admired over the years. Although their names are not necessarily as well known as some jewelry lines sold at commercial jewelry stores, the high quality of their workmanship and the uniqueness of their designs give the wearer true distinction. These designers exhibit their work all over the country at national juried craft shows, and we see them in the American Craft Council Shows in Baltimore and at the Rosen Shows in Philadelphia each year.

As an incentive for you to get to know them and their work, we will reduce the price of one piece of jewelry each week – and announce that “Special of the Week” on FaceBook each Monday. Please go to FaceBook, and “like” us, so you can get a taste of these wonderful designers and their fine handcrafted jewelry.

Our First “Special of the Week” August 1 through August 6.

Sterling Silver Lantern Earrings by Mary Jane Doubleday of Hope, Maine, just $60 this week.

When you’re in town, come into Designer Gold and see our whole collection of reasonably priced Mary Jane Doubleday jewelry in the gallery: necklaces, earrings, bracelets. All her pieces are based on flower designs and are handmade by Mary Jane herself. Matched or coordinated, you’ll love her work.

A year ago, Paul custom designed and made platinum engagement ring from a simple sketch which his customer had brought in. See “Engagement Ring from Drawing” in our Custom Pieces.

This year, the couple asked Paul to design a wedding ring to match her engagement ring and a very different style of wedding ring for the husband-to-be.

After brainstorming with the couple, Paul carved two wax models to fit her ring.

Her First Model

Her Second Model

They liked the second model best. Paul cast the ring and polished it.

Her finished wedding set

At the same time, Paul carved a wax model of a textured, slightly wavy band with a center ridge for the groom. Once it was approved, Paul cast and polished it.

His Model (texturing is done after the ring is cast and finished)

His finished ring

Everyone was thrilled with the result. Today the couple is happily married and the rings are right at home on their fingers!

The complete Wedding Set

Left to right: Sara Kobylenski, Upper Valley Haven Director, and from Designer Gold: Linda Perry, Peggy Sadler, Paul Gross, and Carris Esquivel.

Our customers’ donations of unused jewelry and scrap gold have added up to another big check for the Upper Valley Haven, our local homeless shelter and food bank: $3245.91.

Last fall, Carris suggested that we raise a donation for the Haven by asking people to bring in their unused, broken jewelry, or scrap gold and silver. We advertised that we would do this for a Thanksgiving gift. Customers and community members responded wonderfully. After a month and a half, we were able to present the Haven with a check for $8,200. This collection was so successful that we decided to keep our donation glasses on the counter to see if we could bring in more money for the Haven. Sure enough, in December we were able to hand over a check for $1,259.69.

Over the winter and into this spring, we continued to collect precious metals. Paul always removes the gemstones and returns them to our customers to use in other pieces of jewelry, and people bring in a wide variety of things. One person brought in a dental plate made entirely of dental gold (we ask that teeth be removed, please). Another brought in a broken hinged bangle bracelet all dented and scratched. Several singleton earrings were put in the glass and bits of broken neck chains.

At the end of April, we decided to send the collection off. Our refiner wrote a check directly to the Upper Valley Haven for 100% of the refined value of the precious metals, gold, silver and platinum. We insisted that Carris present the check to Sara Kobylenski because it was her idea originally.

So, valued customers and concerned community members,

by bringing your scrap gold to Designer Gold,

we have raised $12,705.60 for the Haven in less than a year!

And, we’ll keep our donation glass on the counter ready for more.