The “Cuddle Cuddles” Ring

A custom ring in 18K yellow gold with three hidden diamonds

This gift for mama Ada was a fantastic project to work on. I like adventures of many kinds, and going into a project not knowing exactly what it will become, certainly counts as one. I collaborated with papa Chris, and from the get go, we knew that the message of the jewel will be based on the handwriting of their daughter, Ella. I have created necklace before that was based on a child’s handwriting , and I enjoyed designing with the young freestyle letter forms.

Casting gold into a moment in time holds a future vision for a family heirloom. It is a piece of jewelry that is designed to gain meaning as we grow up and older. But what type of jewelry should we make? We thought about a bracelet, then a necklace, yet still something wasn’t right. It was Chris who suggested that we make Ada, a ring.

One weekend, when mom was away on business, Ella and Chris figured out the message: Cuddle Cuddles, because that’s what Ella and mom loved to do in the mornings—to cuddle. Precious moments to remember. It took a few months to finalize the design of the ring. Throughout the process I kept the secret from an awesome woman, I saw often for coffee in the mornings. But, could Ella, who was six at the time, keep the secret?

Ada, who grew up by the Australian beach, has a great love the sea. To represent this love, I designed a texture of small waves on the surface of the ring and sandblasted for a matte finished. Water and sand. Three little diamond inside the shank celebrate mama, papa, and daughter. And yes! Ella indeed kept the secret!

This is what Chris texted over. Ella wrote this on the ipad.