Natural Crystal to Vibrant Amethyst Ring: A Representation of Romance

First meeting in the mountains of Panchangi, Pune, Daniel and Muzhgan quickly fell in love. After spending a month in India together, they continued their romance from a distance. After almost a year, Daniel travelled to Kabul to ask Muzhgan’s parents for permission to marry their daughter, as local tradition required. With their love spanning across countries, there was no opportunity for Daniel to propose to Muzhgan, or present her with an engagement ring. Although, this remained on his to-do list. 

Daniel travelled to Afghanistan and the couple celebrated their engagement. After spending a fond two weeks together, Daniel returned to New Zealand and again the long-distance relationship resumed. Reunited once again months later in Kabul, Daniel and Muzhgan got married, but without any celebration, before travelling to Cairo. Upon leaving for Cairo to begin their married life together, Muzhgan’s brother gifted the couple a rough crystal stone. 

“Our journey has been characterised by our travels and international encounters, but in particular the beauty of the culture and country of Afghanistan. So as soon as we were given this stone I thought it would be perfect for a ring for Muzhgan. Our journey has also been one of biding our time, and when the ring was ready I took Muzhgan out for dinner and proposed to her. Better late than never I said! We also belatedly celebrated our marriage at Ohariu Farm on the 30th of January 2021 - good things take time!”
- Daniel 

“Muzhgan is a natural beauty, elegant and radiant, and when it comes to jewellery she likes silver and prefers to keep it simple. I had seen a ring I liked, and thought Muzhgan would like, (at The Village Goldsmith) before I left for Afghanistan, which I took a photo of at the time. When I returned with the Afghanistani stone, I contacted you with a photo of that ring, and a photo of the stone.” 
- Daniel 

When Daniel came to us with the raw crystal stone and a photo of his preferred ring design, he briefly told us the story behind it and we knew this would become such a special and treasured piece. 

Once we had confirmed the design and details we were able to have an octagonal shaped gemstone cut from the large crystal and begin the crafting process. 

“You explained the risk of heavy inclusion and the need to cut large, and away we went. I picked white gold (in keeping with Muzhgan's preference for silver) and you otherwise took care of the details.” 
- Daniel 

We needed to cut the stone larger than the one in the original design to avoid it breaking from inclusions, which are the unique lines which formed within the crystal during the mineral's growth. We suspected the crystal to be amethyst due to its rich lavender-lilac purple tone, and as such - especially due to the sentiment, needed to be extra careful. 

Our master jeweller, Darren, handcrafted the white gold setting for the ring, which perfectly matched the design Daniel was after. 

The specially cut gemstone was then carefully secured into its setting by our in-house expert setter, Adrian. With the claws shaped over the gemstone, keeping it safely in place, the finished ring was polished, cleaned up and then presented to Daniel. 

“It was as easy as that! And I am so happy with the final product - as is Muzhgan of course!!” 
- Daniel

This beautiful ring will always be such a special piece for Daniel and Muzhgan as it so perfectly represents their love story. It is such a privilege to be able to bring beautiful jewellery to life which represents unique stories for our customers. We are honoured to design and craft such pieces, and then experience the final piece of jewellery holding such special memories and telling a story. 

Thank you, Daniel and Muzhgan, we loved learning about your beautiful love story and being a part of your journey, from crystal to ring.