Tapered mixed metal ring custom designed using family diamonds, made with a polished platinum V cutout and 18K yellow gold in a combination of hammer texture and organic grainy texture.
Custom engagement ring design made in 18K yellow gold with a (D/VVS2) center diamond set in 6 prongs with baguette side diamonds.
Asymmetrical platinum ring commission made with an emerald-cut sapphire center stone taken from older family jewelry combined with pear-shaped diamonds and sapphire side stones.
Custom engagement ring design made in platinum with a 1.63 ct. oval-shaped sapphire center stone with a halo and scalloped edges. Ring made with ¾ ct. of brilliant-cut side diamonds and 2.38 ct. total weight of gemstones.
Commission ring designed using a client provided princess-cut center diamond from her original engagement ring, made in 18K yellow gold with textured barnacles and gray & rose-cut side diamonds.
Custom designed engagement ring made in polished 18K yellow gold using an oval shaped sapphire center stone with trapezoid diamond side stones and square sapphires on the band.
Engagement ring made in 18K yellow gold with a 1.03 ct. gray center diamond. Shown with matching wedding band in 18K yellow gold with brilliant-cut side diamonds.
Commission engagement ring designed to show a wolf in the forest, made in platinum with different colors of diamond “stars” in the sky.
Custom designed elephant ring, made using a client provided diamond set in a tapered platinum band with sculpted elephants, polished edges, and satin finishing. Approximately 11.5mm wide at widest point.
Custom made wedding set in 18K yellow gold with small hammer texture, made by using gold from our client's original rings. We added a beautiful bezel set ruby center stone over 1/3 ct. for the engagement ring and incorporated the diamond side stones from her original wedding set and created a wider matching wedding band.
Ring made in polished 18K yellow gold with a 0.35 ct. center diamond, 0.49 ct. brilliant-cut white & colored side diamonds, 28 pt. of pink sapphires and 0.18 ct. of marquise diamonds 1.30 ct. total weight of diamonds and gemstones.
Commission ring made in platinum, based on our client’s family ring and designed using her diamond and sapphire side stones with a matching oval shaped center sapphire.
Commission wedding ring design based off the Jerusalem cross, made with trillion-cut sapphire center stones, diamonds, and Hebrew engraving and texture on the band.
Custom asymmetrical engagement ring designed using a client provided center diamond, made in 18K yellow gold with pink sapphire and tourmaline side stones.
Custom engagement ring made in 18K yellow gold with an American mined Sunstone center gemstone and Montana Sapphire side stones.
Commission engagement ring made in platinum with an oval shaped ruby center stone and baby pearl side stones.
Commission engagement ring designed with an asymmetrical feeling using a client provided Erebus crystal hand cut into a rose-cut center stone with diamond side stones.
Custom engagement ring made in 18K yellow gold with platinum and rose gold elements representing infinity, the sun, and the moon, and different colors of side stones representing the American & Ukrainian flags.
Custom engagement ring design made using around a ½ ct. client provided diamond with an Alexandrite in 14K yellow gold.
Custom designed wedding set with polished hammer texture. This combination has a platinum engagement ring with a 2.00 ct. (I/VVS2) center diamond and a matching 18K yellow gold curved wedding band.
Custom engagement ring designed using a 1.03 ct. oval-shaped green sapphire center stone set in platinum.
Custom designed ring made in platinum with a 2.02 center diamond and around 1 ct. of side diamonds.
Custom designed engagement ring made using a client provided emerald center stone and diamond side stones, made in palladium, platinum, and 14K gold based on Art Deco style as a starting point for the design.
Custom designed Art Deco-based engagement ring made in 18K yellow gold with around a 1 ¾ ct. AAA emerald center stone and 1/3 ct. of baguette and brilliant-cut side diamonds.
Custom platinum engagement ring made by adding two tapered radiant-cut side diamonds to our client’s existing ring and redesigning the settings around the center diamonds and band to have a cohesive look.
Resizing a generic setting to fit a finger is different from building a mounting from nothing. A jeweler working from scratch starts with a blank sheet of wax or metal, not a size run of pre-cast rings in a drawer. Recently, we pulled a scratched diamond from a grandmother's ring and reset it into a hand-fabricated halo, keeping the stone's history intact while giving it an entirely new setting. This is one of the many examples of what separates custom made engagement rings from a resized catalog piece.
The three paths look similar from a store window, but they are not close cousins. Here's the reality:
Platinum wears differently than 18K yellow gold, and neither behaves like palladium under years of dishwater and gym equipment. It shaves down instead of thinning out, which matters for a ring worn daily for forty years. Gold, by contrast, patinas and needs the occasional buff. A salt-and-pepper or rose-cut diamond will not throw the same fire as a clean round brilliant, and a Montana sapphire brings a color story a mined diamond cannot touch.
Choosing the metal and stone first is what a custom design engagement ring requires, because the mounting has to answer to the material. Double claw prongs hold a stone differently than a bezel, and a cabochon jade needs a different setting depth than a faceted gem entirely.
Anyone typing custom engagement rings in Alexandria, VA, into a search bar usually wants one thing: a person to sit across from, not a chat window. A goldsmith working a few miles away can hold the actual stone up to real window light, not a stock photo of it.
Imagine a couple walking in with a loose diamond pulled from a father's ring, the mounting long cracked and unwearable. Over a few visits, that stone gets sketched into settings, carved in wax, cast in platinum, and set by hand. Worse still, mail-order configurators cannot do any of that. They only swap a diamond icon on a screen and call it personalization.
A ring, like those displayed above, starts with a single meeting, not a scroll through a catalog of finished settings. Bring the loose stone, the cracked family ring, or just a rough idea of a shape that feels right, and the rest gets built around it piece by piece.
Dejan Studio Jewelry works out of a small studio inside Alexandria's Torpedo Factory Art Center, sketching, carving, and casting each ring from that first conversation onward. We are also available to customize your engagement ring in Arlington, VA, and Washington DC.
Most bespoke builds run six to twelve weeks, start to finish, including wax carving, casting, stone setting, and final polish.
Yes. Loose stones from broken or dated rings get cleaned, graded, and reset into an entirely new mounting.
Not always. Setting-only pricing plus a separately chosen stone often lands close to comparable mall pricing.
No. Stones can be sourced fresh, GIA-certified, or brought in from an existing piece of jewelry.
Platinum resists wear the longest, 18K gold needs occasional buffing, and palladium sits lighter and hypoallergenic on the finger.
We're here to help you begin your custom jewelry journey. Please share your questions in the form, or if you'd like to meet, simply schedule an appointment.
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