From a 25th Anniversary Ring to a Star Trek–Inspired Jewelry Set
Michael opened the jewelry store door and told Valerie to pick whatever she liked. She came away with a red garnet ring surrounded by diamonds, which they called the “25-year prize.” Around the same time, a friend got an iPad. When Michael asked if she would’ve preferred one of those, Valerie had a pretty good answer: “The ring lasted a lot longer than their iPad.”
And the diamonds? They were about to get a second assignment.
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The 25-Year Prize Gets a New Chapter
By the time Michael and Valerie came to Charming Quail™, the garnet in the original ring hadn’t held up as well as the diamonds around it. Those diamonds still had a place in whatever came next. The question was what Valerie wanted to see alongside them.
The answer was teal.
Valerie chose a teal moissanite for the center of her new ring, and the diamonds from the 25-year prize went into the design with it. The ring also held a reference to something she loved: the combadge from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
When Valerie talks about the finished ring, she admits she used to be a little dismissive of diamonds. “They don’t have any color,” she says. Fair point from someone who went from red garnet to teal moissanite. Then she catches sight of the diamonds again: “Look at the sparkles.”
Apparently, the diamonds had made their case.
“What About the Earrings?”
That was Valerie’s next question. And if the ring could take a cue from The Next Generation, why couldn’t the earrings take one from Deep Space Nine?
For the matching earrings and cuff, we looked to the Bajoran earrings. As we talked about the pieces, Valerie brought up Kira Nerys and Ro Laren. “Both tough women,” she said. If you know those characters, you can probably hear the affection in that description.
The Bajoran earrings gave us a starting point for a design of Valerie’s own. The ring and earrings could feel like a set while giving her two different corners of Star Trek to wear.
The Part They Got to Play
When we asked Valerie what she loved most about the pieces, she talked about what happened before she got to wear them.
“That Michael and I got to help make them happen,” she said.
They got to look at colors together, weigh choices, and see the design take shape. Valerie remembers thinking they’d settled on the ring at one point. We suggested taking one more look. Sure enough, there was one small change to make.
She also said she doesn’t spend much time thinking about jewelry or imagining things in three dimensions. She liked being able to tell us what she was drawn to and count on us to help her see how it could all come together.
If you’ve ever tried to explain an idea by saying, “I’ll know it when I see it,” there’s room for that in a design appointment. You might bring a stone you’ve had for years, a character you’ve loved since childhood, or just a color you keep coming back to. We can start there and look at the possibilities together.
When we asked what she’d tell a friend about the experience, Valerie kept it simple. “It was fun. It was really fun.”
Start a Conversation
Do you have a piece you’d love to wear again, or an idea for something you’ve never seen in a jewelry case? Tell us what you’re starting with. We’d love to hear the story and see where it takes us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use diamonds or gemstones from jewelry I already own?
Yes, when the stones are suitable for the new piece. We can take a look at what you have and talk through how it might fit into the design. Michael and Valerie’s ring, for example, combines diamonds from their original anniversary ring with a new teal moissanite.
Can I commission jewelry inspired by a favorite show, game, or character?
Yes. We can talk about which detail you’re drawn to and how you’d like it to show up in a piece you’ll wear. For Valerie, that meant taking cues from a combadge for the ring and from Bajoran earrings for the matching earrings and cuff.
How much do I get to help design my custom jewelry?
You can help shape the design as we go, from talking about what you like to looking at sketches and choosing details such as stone colors. We’ll guide you through those decisions and help you picture how they’ll work together. You can come in with a fully formed idea or something as simple as “I’d love to wear this stone again.”
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