Over the years, the ring has evolved far beyond mere romantic traditions or a nobleman’s flex. Now they can be powerful instruments of self-expression and a physical talisman of one’s own journey.
Helene Ravlich speaks to six creatives about the outer beauty and inner meaning of their favourite pieces.
Claudia Li
When designer Claudia Li returned to New Zealand Fashion Week Kahuria this year, her intimate salon presentation was titled A Love Letter to New York.
The collection was rooted in the memory of meeting her now-husband in the legendary city, so when asked to select a ring most precious to her, Li naturally chose her wedding band.
Claudia Li and her ring. Photo / Supplied
“It’s the piece of jewellery I feel most connected to. We bought our rings together in New York before we got married, so it reminds me of that time in our lives. I never take it off. And after all these years, it truly feels like a part of me.”
A simple gold band from Van Cleef & Arpels, with a flat surface and softly rounded edges, the ring has been on the designer’s finger for seven years now, the couple’s wedding date engraved inside.
As well as being a beautifully understated statement of their commitment to each other, “it’s incredibly comfortable to wear, which is one of the reasons I love it so much”.
Finn Mora-Hill is the creative director of Fringes, a slow fashion label rooted in texture, autonomy and social commentary that was most recently seen on the runway at NZFW as part of The Studio showcase.
One of his key collaborators, close friend and jeweller, Chloe Giles of Anthurium. created this ring.
Finn Mora-Hill and his ring. Photo / Supplied
“We have worked together for a while now on shows for Te Wiki Āhua o Aotearoa and most recently, NZFW,” he explains. “Chloe gave me this after we did one together in March as a gift, so it means a lot and represents a milestone in our collaboration.”
Wearing it most days since then, he says that the piece’s rawness is what he’s most drawn to, “as you can see evidence of her process and handwork within the ring”.
“Made from silver, it’s amazing to see the material show the relationship between creator and creation.”
Yuka O’Shannessy
Yuka O’Shannessy is a multidisciplinary creative and the owner of Public Record, a gallery and shop on Ponsonby Rd. There, she curates an impeccable edit of beautiful handcrafted objects, including a ring she gifted herself by Pōneke-based jeweller, Max Walker.
“I’m surrounded by exquisite, bespoke, hand-crafted jewellery pieces from Aotearoa, and this piece really stood out,” she says. “It’s quite bold and has a sculptural element, but at the same time, it has such an elegant balance of lines that I love.”
Yuka O’Shannessy and her ring. Photo / Supplied
With the feeling of a traditional signet ring but very contemporary in character, she says that it was the combination of something familiar and classic, but reinterpreted in a completely unexpected way that truly captured her heart.
The piece is hand-cast, crafted from sterling silver and set with cubic zirconia stones by Walker in the home studio space he shares with his jewellery artist parents, Karl Fritsch and Lisa Walker.
“I love the combination of the strong sculptural form with the refined detail of the stone, and I absolutely love wearing it,” O’Shannessy says.
“It’s playful, and uplifting. It just called to me, and it fit my finger perfectly. The ring chose me.”
Layla Kaisi
Layla Kaisi is a fine jewellery designer and founder of the sculptural fine jewellery house, Layla Kaisi Collection. Surrounded by bespoke designs, the pieces she wears constantly change, “reflecting the facets of life I am currently exploring through my designs”.
Layla Kaisi and her ring. Photo / Supplied
However, a ring that has not left her rotation, is one called Perspective.
“It was originally created to represent the feeling of being carefree, and finding freedom in liminal, undefined spaces. In a world where rules dictate, I wanted a piece that felt like a sublime contrast to the structured expectations we impose on ourselves,” she says.
Rendered in platinum, the design’s undulating form features a 2ct elongated marquise-cut diamond centre stone, set diagonally and off-centre. This is cradled by 18 round-cut diamonds set across the asymmetric, double-finger band.
The piece ended up inspiring the creation of five more styles she has dubbed the OUTRÉ Edit, all set in 18ct white gold.
Since then, pieces from OUTRÉ have been worn by the likes of Cardi B, Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera, leading the designer to describe the original ring as something that “started as a private feeling, but became the synthesis of what took Layla Kaisi Collection global”.
Biddie Cooksley
Growing up in New Zealand’s fashion industry, Tuesday Label founder Biddie Cooksley is the first to admit she’s helpless in the face of an accessory.
“I was wearing layers of sterling silver bangles to primary school, and stacked rings on every finger had become a signature for me by high school.”
It was a style she committed to, and is always seen with a beautifully arranged collection of pieces across both hands.
All of her rings have meaning, but she describes one piece in particular as an heirloom in the making.
Biddie Cooksley and her ring. Photo / Supplied
“It was originally my mum’s, and I was enchanted by it when I was growing up. The incredible Ceylon blue of the teardrop sapphire, the diamonds … I always loved it. Then completely unexpectedly, Mum gifted it to me for my 25th birthday.”
At the time she wasn’t wearing yellow gold, so her mother secretly had the ring remodelled into a modern white gold setting.
“But it was the version mum wore when I was a child that I had adored and held all the sentiment for me,” says the designer, who later worked with Zoe & Morgan to help return it to what it had always been, in a beautiful gold setting.
“The pear-shaped sapphire is surrounded by 13 brilliant-cut diamonds and is easily a statement piece when I wear it on its own,” Cooksley says.
“But I also love it stacked with my other rings for every day. I feel the same about jewellery as I do clothes; that our favourite pieces should be worn and loved, not hidden away for a special occasion.”
Kevin Hailiang Yu
The designer behind Kevin Thorne Jewellery, Kevin Hailiang Yu holds a master’s degree in architecture and spent four years working in the industry before stepping away to develop his own design voice.
“Architectural design has been a major influence on my creative life,” he says.
“But the thing that drew me to jewellery is how free it is to construct and that the law of gravity isn’t always working against you.”
Kevin Hailiang Yu and his ring. Photo / Supplied
He believes the world doesn’t need “another jeweller making a cathedral setting diamond ring”, so he started having some fun discovering other ways to hold stones. The ‘Studio Work, Glacial Ring V1, KT2831’ he is wearing here was the result.
The ring features brilliant-cut, round cubic zirconia and one radiant-cut rectangular one, totalling over 70ct. Held in place by a clamping system that doesn’t require the more traditional device of claws, they are set to look like a cluster just sitting there, effortlessly.
“It literally looks like a building,” laughs the creative, who says architecture is something he will always carry with him, no matter if he’s working on a piece of jewellery or furniture.