002 - The First Wave Band
A promise to those we’ll love
It wasn't so much that we really wanted a custom piece, but more that we wanted to buy it from Sicaso. We wanted the undeniable added significance of having our wedding rings made not only using gold from Ghana but also made by family. Meaning the most important jewelry we'd ever own would be: First, designed by us. Next, forged with precious metal from one of our birthplaces. Then finally sold to us by our own family. And all of this would be before the ultimate significance of the ring's role in our ceremony as a symbol of unending love and commitment.
The Struggle
The first step in our process: talking through what kind of rings we could create. Since we hadn't chosen Sicaso because we wanted a custom piece, we had never discussed this before. We would have loved to say that from this discussion we settled on a design for the rings, but trying to put into words what we wanted our rings to represent was extremely difficult! In the end, the final design was entirely the result of serendipity and very much unplanned.
The Discussion
In the conversation, Nina passionately talked about designing something related to nature. She has always had such a special connection to the Earth, and she loves the beach and feels right at home in water! Jason, on the other hand, confoundingly began by describing the shape of a Möbius strip. He was fascinated by the idea of the inner surface becoming the outer and then the inner again without any break in the structure. One complete loop, holding opposites in a continuous form that results in: Balance. Clearly, these two starting points with no obvious connection.
The Happy Accident
So, we settled for having different rings and sent our separate ideas to the Sicaso workshop. The Sicaso team began to work on the Möbius idea first. Funny enough, in their first attempt to make the Möbius strip design into something wearable and feasible, it ended up looking less like a strip and more like a wave. The wave, it turned out, was perfect for both of us. For Nina, it represented the ocean and it reminded her of the nature that she loves and adores. For Jason, it still carried the idea of balance: the troughs and crests, the ups and downs, the constant becoming of one thing into another without separation. A fitting symbol for the cycles in a marriage. So even though it was only our first iteration, we had stumbled on a perfect design that neither of us had initially planned. Inside each ring, we also inscribed our wedding date, and our initials with each other's first. So, Jason's has N+J, Nina's has J+N. We want to put each other first in our marriage, and we engraved that reminder inside our rings.
The Mystery
The fortuitous nature of our somehow now ideal final selection added a slightly mystical feel to our process of creating the rings. Initially, the hardest part had been trying to communicate a feeling and then capture it in a shape. But now a new shape had unintentionally been forged by Sicaso, and our unforced mutual acceptance of the new accidental design made it all feel even more destined. The entire experience was the exactly the kind of the acceptance we strive to have in our relationship. But none of that would have been remotely possible without the patience, flexibility, and care that Sicaso brought into every interaction. Jonelle was open and transparent in her consultations and always receptive to feedback. This fit perfectly with how we as a couple wanted to treat each other and how we wanted to approach designing and selecting our rings. So, aside from a few logistical roadblocks related to delivery and remote ring fittings, we loved the process of creating our rings because it also reflected how we each approach our union. Ultimately, with openness, acceptance, and a little bit of Sicaso luck, we figured out what shape would represent our partnership.
It was weeks to their anniversary, and admittedly, she needed this one to feel special. They’d just lost their first love, and as they grieved, she wanted to surprise him with something meaningful and memorable.
After deciding that jewellery was the most fitting gift, she got to work on the design.
