Who to Call When Your Diamonds Need a Facelift

"Brent Neale has a talent for infusing warmth, whimsy and wearability into serious stones. When a client brought in her late mother's four-carat yellow-diamond ring, Neale reimagined it as a wildflower pendant, surrounded by white bezel-set diamonds. She takes the formality out of prong-set designs by cradling stones in gold bezels. "Bezels make stones less fragile and less fussy," says Neale, who, as a mother of three, understands the need for sturdy jewelry you can live in."

"Sarah Ysabel Narici thrives on a creative challenge. Rather than sticking to one aesthetic, the British-Italian jeweler, now based in NYC with her brand DYNE, lets each piece evolve around her clients' heirloom diamonds. "I want to understand their world, tap into the stone's sentiment and use their inspiration to get me excited," she says. She's known for unconventional settings, intricate details, and concealed engravings, like the tiny butterflies etched inside a newly transformed ring."

New cuts, settings, and design visions can repurpose inherited stones into wearable, durable jewelry. Brent Neale favors gold bezels and playful pairings of diamonds with colored gemstones to produce sturdy, everyday pieces. Sarah Ysabel Narici customizes designs by centering each project on clients' stones and inspirations, incorporating unconventional settings and hidden engravings. Ming Lampson uses bold treatments like deep-green enamel and allows the character of each stone to guide the casing and overall aesthetic. Remodels emphasize practicality, personal sentiment, and the option to alter designs again as styles and lives evolve.

Read at Elite Traveler