I noticed that in terms of engagement rings with diamonds, there was not that much on the market [that offered] originality and [was] still very wearable,’ says Natalie Schayes of Belgian fine jewellery brand Nayestones.
‘Not doing something that everybody else has already done is the biggest challenge for me when it comes to designing jewellery.’
Nayestones and unusual engagement rings
Her new bridal jewellery encompasses this philosophy by removing the diamond as the focus, shifting it off-centre or cradling it in undulating loops of gold. ‘I find original shapes or different ways to wear the stones in unexpected places, for example between the fingers instead of on the finger,’ the jewellery designer adds. ‘I also love to redefine classic gem-setting by using invisible settings and creating with this the illusion of stones appearing to levitate over the body. Strangely enough, this asymmetry and illusion of imbalance give the right proportion to the jewel.’
New additions join the ‘Path of Life’ collection, where curved lines lead to diamonds. In the ‘Moon Ellipse’ pieces, the phases of the moon bring a twist to the classic solitaire, while a pear diamond is placed asymmetrically in the ‘Double C’ ring.
‘I always start with an idea or a shape that I have in mind, but in the end, the jewellery needs to be comfortable to wear and beautiful at the same time,’ Schayes says. ‘The “Heart” ring was quite challenging to design in order to have these two elements in the same ring.
‘I also wanted to design a heart that had not been done before, where the heart is shaped in a not so obvious way. I wanted to create my vision of magical bridal beauty and luxury.’
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