- 01Consultation
- 02Design
- 03Wax model
- 04Casting
- 05Stones
- 06Setting
- 07Engraving
- 08Finishing
Finished on 4 November, seven weeks after the first meeting at the atelier.
First meeting at the atelier
A long talk about where you met, the colours of the sea off Howth and what you wear. You wear yellow gold every day, so it's 18ct yellow. Your size came from a ring borrowed from your jewellery box: N.
2
The design
Three sketches came out of the consultation. Conor picked the second: the sapphire with a small tourmaline either side, and the band engraved with the movement of the water, like the sea below the Cliff Path.
4
Carved in wax
Before any gold, the ring is carved in jeweller's wax so the size and shape can be checked. The seat for the sapphire is cut low so it won't catch on jumpers.
6
Cast in 18ct gold
The wax went into the kiln and came out as gold. It looks rough at this stage, with the sprue still attached at the top, and the band is a touch thick on purpose so there's metal left for the engraving.
8
The stones are in
They arrived that week: a deep blue sapphire for the centre and two tourmaline crystals from an Irish supplier. Only one is needed, cut down into the two small stones either side. A, on the left, is a deeper green, like the water under the Baily on a grey day. B, on the right, is brighter.
10
The stones are set
Conor chose A, the deeper green. The tourmaline was cut into two small stones, and they were set either side of the sapphire, which is held by four claws, each folded over by hand under the microscope.
12
Your name, inside
Nell engraved the water by hand all the way round the outside, the same movement as the sea below the Cliff Path. Then your name went inside, in Ogham, the old Irish alphabet once cut into standing stones. It reads from the bottom up.
14
Finished
The last stage is the slowest: hours of polishing by hand, each pass finer than the one before, until the gold is bright again and the water round the band catches the light. It went to the Assay Office in Dublin Castle to be hallmarked, came back, and went into its box.
16
The last page
The ring's passport
The ring's record, kept for good. A card with a QR code goes in the box too, so whoever has the ring later can see where it came from.
HALLORAN
- Made by
- Nell Halloran, at the Halloran atelier, Dublin
- Metal
- 18ct yellow gold
- Stones
- Sapphire, with two tourmalines from an Irish supplier
- Engraving
- The movement of the sea, by hand, all round the band
- Inside
- Julia, in Ogham
- Size
- N
- Hallmark
- 750 and Hibernia, the Dublin Assay Office, 2026
- Care
- Take it off for the gym and the garden. Bring it back once a year to have the stones checked.
The book
Printed and bound at the atelier and given with the ring: every stage on its own page, with the photos and the ring's passport at the end.