We headed over to Sarah May Jewellery in Richmond for part two of our engagement ring design session. Since last time, Sarah had removed all of the stones from the rings that we had originally taken with us and this meant we could now set to work playing with different design mock-ups.

It was funny seeing the now skeletal gold rings, rather naked looking, minus their diamonds and pretty gems. But it was pretty cool being able to play with the loose stones. I literally had to hold my breath as I picked up each one and tried to arrange it on the whitetack-covered ring shank, to see how it might end up looking.

To go with the diamonds, gem stones, and gold we’d been given to reuse/melt down/cash-in - we selected a brand new diamond to be the focal point of the ring. Our budget for the new diamond was £180 - so not very much - but just enough to buy something beautiful.

This new centre piece played an important role in the design process. I wanted to be able to juxtapose old and new - the family stones and gold with our new diamond. I knew that I wanted to cluster the stones together - merging our two families into one. It was the sentiment behind the pieces as opposed to the value of them that made me feel rather precious about getting it right.

I’ve been pinning ring ideas for ages now, (since before he popped the question) I like to be prepared. Have a look at some of the styles that had caught my eye on my board ‘Love is all you need’ - there’s also a lot general love and wedding stuff on here too.

You can see from the photos some of the various arrangements we toyed with. I even tried an emerald in and a few rubies to see how I felt about adding a pop of colour.

After an hours session with Sarah we settled on two designs that made me smile. Both using the same amount of stones, but with slightly different settings required.

Sarah measured my ring finger and made a note of the size for working up the final design.

In around a months time my finished ring will be waiting for us to go and collect. I’m really excited to see how it looks.

Want to read more? Check out…

• My neon proposal - how I got asked
• My first ring design session at Sarah May Jewellery

Photography © Lucie Kerley