Carved Coral Rose Ring with Textured Leaf Design and Diamond Accent in 14k Yellow Gold

A carved coral rose sits at the centre of this ring, pale peach-pink and tightly furled, with the spiral of its petals cut into the stone. It is held by bead-tipped prongs shaped like the ends of small branches. Four textured yellow gold leaves fan out around it, three above and one below, each one stippled across its whole surface, and a single round diamond, .02 carat, is set in a white four-prong head where the upper leaves meet. The shank is bark textured and splits into two at the shoulders. 7.70 grams of 14k yellow gold.

Almost nothing on this ring is polished. The coral is carved and matte, the leaves are worked over with hundreds of tiny punch marks, and the shank is finished to look like bark. That is three surfaces that each take light differently — the coral holds it softly, the stippling breaks it into a dull shimmer, the bark throws it in streaks — and the small diamond is the one true point of flash on the whole piece. Which is why two hundredths of a carat is enough: it is the only thing here that is meant to be bright. Rings like this were made to be looked at up close and turned in the hand, not glanced at across a room. Have you noticed the leaves yet, or just the rose?