Heirloom engagement rings can be tricky. Maybe your heart is set on using your grandmother’s ring (or her heart is set on it), but once you see it, it’s just not the style you want. Or maybe you’re dreaming of a beautiful antique ring, but it’s a needle in a haystack hunt through countless estate jewelry stores and reverse image searches from someone’s decade-old Pinterest post. Or maybe you have several family items you’d love to incorporate into your engagement ring, but not really one “center stone.” Finding a jeweler who specializes in designing custom heirloom rings might be the best solution for you.
What Are Custom Heirloom Rings?
Custom heirloom rings can take many forms. You might be redesigning with heirloom stones, crafting a new ring to look like a vintage piece, or building something completely new that honors a family legacy.
Some clients bring in one meaningful diamond. Others have several small stones or sentimental settings to work with. You don’t need a perfect or traditional piece to start. You just need a story you want to carry forward.
Other people want the look of an antique ring and the heirloom quality that goes with it, without necessarily having a family stone to set. A custom heirloom engagement ring can be a new ring made to replicate certain elements of a vintage or antique design.
Secrete Fine Jewelry made this beautiful engagement ring using a sapphire that had been in the groom’s grandmother’s necklace. This unique sapphire had an unusual asymmetry to the cut and a beautiful but uncommon light cornflower blue color. It’s truely one of a kind.
Redesigns Using Your Stones, Big or Small
If you already have a family stone, great. But even if it’s from a necklace, pendant, class ring, or earring, a skilled custom ring maker can turn it into something beautiful and lasting.
Some options include:
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Designing a completely new ring around your heirloom stones
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Replacing the original stones in an old setting with moissanites or diamond alternatives, so the original can still be worn in its traditional form
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Melting the original setting to reuse the gold or platinum in your new ring
Secrete Fine Jewelry redesigned this diamond engagement ring to honor its original setting: Victorian, delicate, and with side sapphries. While the old ring had charm, its boxy top and wire-thin shank weren’t for everyone. We saved the setting for future generations and made an antique-inspired setting with lots of delicate details to house the center stone.
Fixing Common Issues with Old Jewelry
Not every engagement ring passed down through generations is in great shape. Some were never well-made to begin with. Others may have been inexpertly repaired or “upgraded” along the way. Common issues include:
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Loose, damaged, or missing prongs
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Bands that are too thin or structurally weak
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Stones with chips, visible inclusions, or low color grades
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Settings that are not engagement rings at all
Many repairs can be made, however, by a skilled jeweler. According to GIA, “With time, prongs on antique and vintage engagement rings can weaken from years of wear. When prongs are thin or worn, they can’t hold the stone as securely, making it vulnerable to loss. Retipping a prong usually requires removal and resetting of the stone, which always comes with some level of risk. Similarly, the back of the shank may be too thin on some rings, so it may need to be replaced with a new quarter shank or half shank.” (source: https://4cs.gia.edu/en-us/blog/shop-antique-vintage-engagement-rings/)
A skilled custom ring maker can address these challenges and give you the ring of your dreams.
This ring was more of a make-under than a make-over. Once a classic platinum Art Deco ring, this family heirloom had been “enhanced” in the 1970s by our customer’s aging grandmother. The famiy lore was that she was losing her vision so she asked a jeweler to make it bigger so she could see it… so the ring encrusted with golden brains (?) in the bottom picture was technically designed by a blind woman. We removed the brainy “enhancer” and rebuilt the platinum setting to be as it once was- sleeky, geometric, and without the ruffles- so it could be enjoyed in its original splendor.
Designing a New Ring to Look Vintage
Even if you don’t have family stones or metal, you can still create a ring that looks like it came from another era. Some people fall in love with antique diamond ring styles but can’t find one that fits their taste, timeline, or quality expectations. Some custom heirloom rings are newly made rings with vintage or antiqe styles.
The Challenges of Finding Antique Jewelry Engagement Rings
True antique jewelry engagement rings are harder to find than many people expect. The reasons include:
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Many vintage rings have already been melted down or redesigned over time
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Antique rings often feature center stones that are smaller or lower in quality than what people expect today
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The vintage market is live and unpredictable. The ring you love might exist, but who knows if it’s going to be for sale during the months before you get engaged.
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Some vintage designs are bulkier or less delicate than your personal style
That’s why many people choose custom rings with vintage-inspired elements instead.
When a bride found this flower-inspired engagement ring online, it was perfect… almost. She loved everything about the beautiful design, except she had always dreamed of a rose gold ring, and it was yellow gold. Her fiance also had reservations about buying a diamond online sight unseen. Secrete Fine Jewelry solved both problems: we remade the design using antique rose cut and old European cut diamonds in rose gold for her, and we gave him the reassurace of buying his ring at a trusted local store that’s been in business for generations.
Vintage-Inspired Elements to Include in Your Ring
There are many ways to design a new ring that honors vintage design while suiting your preferences. Popular antique style engagement rings often include:
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Victorian-inspired filigree work or milgrain engravings
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Geometric Art Deco-style symmetry and lines
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Mid-century retro touches like ballerina halos or starburst accents
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Romantic touches like scalloped edges, rose gold, and personal engravings
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Antique diamond cuts such as old mine cut diamonds, rose cut diamonds, old European cut diamonds, and unusual gemstone shapes
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A split shank engagement ring design for visual interest and elegance
Whether you’re using heirloom materials or starting fresh, custom heirloom rings can have the timeless beauty of an engagement ring vintage diamond collectors would appreciate.
Secrete Fine Jewelry designed this Art Deco inspired engagement ring in 2022 for a great couple who wanted something that looked antique and totally unique. We love the geometric shapes that give it is Deco Era feel, but we also love the dainty proportions and unusual center stone that keep it modern.
When the client brought in her heirloom ring (below), unfortunately, it was vintage in all the worst ways. It looked like a miniature trumpet and a brass faucet had a baby.
Thankfully, she had a really cool sense of style and a vintage vision for the diamond. We paired the gorgeous (but low color) diamond with a custom cut Australian green sapphire and set it in this unqiue tu et moi two stone setting. Now it looks antique in all the best ways. Iconic.
Design Custom Heirloom Rings at Secrete Fine Jewely
Custom heirloom rings allow you to honor your past while creating something completely your own. Whether you’re using inherited stones or just love the charm of antique style engagement rings, working with a custom ring maker lets you preserve meaning, history, and beauty in a way that fits your life today.
Learn more about custom engagement ring and wedding ring design at Secrete: https://www.secrete.com/bridal/
Schedule an appointment in DC, Maryland, or via Zoom: https://www.secrete.com/contact-us/
Let’s design something with a story worth wearing.
