Expert Tips on Choosing the Perfect Ring – A Q&A with Sarah from Heulwen Lewis Bespoke Jewellery

Choosing the perfect ring—whether for an engagement, a special occasion, or a meaningful gift—can feel like a daunting task. With so many styles, stones, and settings to consider, how do you make the right choice? To help navigate this journey, we spoke with Sarah from Heulwen Lewis Bespoke Jewellery, an expert in handcrafted, one-of-a-kind designs.

In this Q&A, Sarah shares her insights on what to consider when choosing a ring, the importance of craftsmanship, and how to find a piece that truly reflects your style and story. Whether you’re searching for an engagement ring or simply want to invest in a timeless piece, her expert advice will guide you through the process.

Follow Sarah on Instagram , Facebook  and her website.

1. Introduce yourself!

My name is Sarah, I am a bespoke jewellery designer based in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, however, I also design remotely so I can work with anyone across the UK and beyond.

I have been running Heulwen Lewis Bespoke Jewellery for 8 years, but have been a bespoke jewellery designer for almost 19 years! I truly LOVE my job!

Designing has been a part of who I am for as long as I can remember, I have always been a hands-on creative. As a child, I enjoyed making tiny replicas of items with paper, whether this be tiny tubes of paints, a tiny cake or even paper shoes for my dolls. One of my favourite toys growing up was Meccano, which back in the 90’s (before health and safety got hold of it) was all metal based pieces with tiny nuts and bolts. It took me until university where I studied jewellery design and fashion to realise that jewellery designing/making was my dream job, but looking back it’s always been a huge part of my creative development.

2. What inspired you to start your jewellery business, and how did you find your way into the wedding industry?

I worked as a bespoke jewellery designer for many years in the trade, after working in different positions such as design assistant or cad designer, I just knew I had more to give.

One of my peers once told me ‘you have a fantastic ability to adapt your design style to what people need/desire’. Which truly is what bespoke items are about! 

I pride myself in being an attentive listener, which is integral to making sure each bespoke piece speaks the clients vision and style.

As bespoke jewellery tends to be focussed more on forever pieces, it naturally lends itself to the wedding industry. From the engagement ring and wedding rings, right the way through to the first anniversary gift or child’s christening gift, these are all landmark pieces for landmark moments. I adore creating heirloom pieces that can be cherished and passed onto future generations. This is also one of the main reasons I started Bridal Buttons ™, specially designed wedding buttons that can be worn on the dress, lapel or shirt and then transformed into everyday jewellery thereafter.

3. What do you love most about working with couples to create their wedding rings?

When couples pop into the studio for wedding rings, it’s truly one of the most amazing journeys and one of my favourite types of bespoke! 

Wedding rings are a huge part of the day and one that can be overlooked quite easily, but it’s the symbol of their love that they wear every day, the one thing they carry with them forever.

It’s such a joy designing pieces like these to not only match their style and personality, but the journey also allows me to see their love blossom at such an exciting time of their lives, it truly is magical.

4. What advice would you give to couples starting their search for the perfect wedding rings? 

Start sourcing/designing your wedding rings early – as a bespoke jewellery designer, it’s really important to stress that wedding rings can take longer than you think to get right.

Each ring is unique to you, from your finger size, right down to the metal and design choice. Standard made-to-order rings can of course take less time, usually around 4-6 weeks. However if you want something a bit more fancy, or your wedding ring needs to be designed to fit your engagement ring, the earlier the better!

I tell my clients to start the design process around 6-9 months before the big day. I personally love to have everything all boxed and ready at least 3 months before.

Exchanging your wedding rings and speaking your vows are the main event; thus better to have the all-important rings ready before anything else.

Budget wise - budget well! As gold and platinum costs are ever increasing, the cost may be more than you realised,  you also need to have to think about style and whether you would like them to match. I would suggest talking to your chosen designer/goldsmith a year before, that way you can leave enough in your wedding pot to make sure you have the perfect rings.

Always try to remember, your wedding rings are the only part of your day you carry with you forever, it’s a symbol of your love for each other, they also need to last a lifetime! I truly believe they should be the one thing you NEVER compromise on.

5. What are some common mistakes couples make when planning their wedding rings, and how can they avoid them? 

As per previous question – the biggest mistakes couples make is leaving their rings to the last minute AND not putting enough money in their budget to purchase their dream rings. To avoid this, chat to your chosen designer/goldsmith early on so you can really plan for both timescales and budgets.

6. How do you help couples personalise their wedding rings to make them truly unique?

Personalisation of your wedding rings can be as simple as choosing a texture, but there are 100s of ways to make your wedding rings unique! I will bullet point some ideas below, but bespoke means whatever you desire, I am sure I can help or problem solve any idea so we can make your rings perfect.

·  Engravings such as initials, dates, names, co-ordinates.

·  Hand engraved patterns or images inside or outside band

·  Textured finishes

·  Gemstones or Diamonds

·  Metals, such as gold, platinum, titanium, wood, enamel – please chat to your designer about alternatives, as some may not be able to be sized and/or last a lifetime!

·  Unique designs; such as being made to fit your engagement ring or matching styles

7. What factors should couples consider when choosing the right metal or design for their rings?

When choosing your wedding ring, there are a lot of things to consider, I’ve highlighted just a few of the main ones below:

·  What metal/style your engagement ring is?

Every person that gets in touch for bespoke wants their wedding ring to match their engagement ring in style/fit. BUT one thing most clients don’t realise is metal chosen should also be that of the same integrity as their engagement ring. Therefore, if you have a platinum engagement, I’d advise a platinum wedding ring. The reason for this…metals wear slightly differently, if you decided to purchase a 9ct white gold wedding ring instead of platinum, over time you would find the platinum will have naturally worn away the 9ct gold, weakening the metal/structure. This can also be said for the design, your rings should fit together well, this way they won’t wear against each other negatively – so having that curved band to fit, is as much to ensure your settings stays intact as it is to make the set look beautiful together. 

·  Whether you think you will want to resize your wedding ring in years to come?

 The answer to this is always YES! When you decide to go for alternative metals, materials or full eternities, this may impact your pocket later down the line. For instance, titanium and wood may seem like the perfect choice, but these are materials that cannot be sized! Therefore, many years later when your finger size may have changed, you would need to purchase a new wedding ring.  This can also be said for full eternities, if you want that sparkle all the way round (which I totally get btw!), just be aware that you may have to remake it later on down the line should you need it resized.

·  Would you like natural white metal? 

18ct, 14ct and 9ct white gold are great metals, but they usually come with a rhodium coating to make them white. Personally, I love the look of un-plated white gold, but it does come with an off white/gold undertone (being that gold is naturally yellow!).

If you are looking for true white metals, my suggestion would be to go for platinum or titanium. 

Titanium has a slightly grey tone, is budget friendly BUT as mentioned above can’t be sized. 

Platinum is a perfect choice for a natural white metal, that can be sized and is hard wearing, the only downside is the cost, so you would need to weigh up your budget and see what works for you. 

Years ago Palladium was used within the industry as an alternative natural white metal, but due to the change in the way cars are now manufactured, the cost of palladium is now SUPER high. Due to this and that it’s a pretty horrible metal to work with due to its hardness, most jewellery workshops have stopped using it. If however, you have palladium lying around unworn, it may be a good investment to sell!

8. What trends in wedding jewellery are you currently seeing, and what timeless styles do you recommend?

I do see trends, but working in Bespoke we kind of break the mould as each piece is truly down to what you desire, your style and your budget.

Over the last year, I have personally seen an upward trend in chunky styles, baroque pearls with yellow gold, cluster style engagement rings,’ et toi moi’ engagement rings and the use of lab grown diamonds. All of these styles in themselves are pretty timeless! BUT when I design a bespoke piece for you, they are always future heirlooms, that in itself makes them timeless.

9. Do you have tips for couples working within a budget but still wanting high-quality, meaningful wedding rings?

Oooooo, I love the question!! 100% yes, ask your nearest and dearest, look through your jewellery and see what pieces you can upcycle!!

In doing this you can create high-end wedding rings/jewellery from pieces you already own. This not only makes your pieces sustainable and affordable, but can make the whole process AND your pieces very sentimental. A lot of my clients use this approach and it’s one of my favourite ways to design bespoke pieces. I advocate this whole-heartedly!

10. Is there a memorable story of a couple you worked with and how their rings came to life?

Designing bespoke items for each client really is a dream come true, one of my favourite types of bespoke is when the client truly challenges me and the workshop. When this happens, the outcome is quite often better than imagined!

A very recent client asked me to design a wedding ring inspired by nature to match his engagement and his partner's ring, but in two-tones, one being platinum and the other rose gold. At first glance this seemed simple enough, but when it comes to assembling an intricate pattern; getting the dimensions and assembly process right is massively important to make it manufacturable.  This particular ring took 5 months to make - hence my ‘book in and design your rings early’ recommendation! But, I think it’s probably one of my most favourite male wedding bands to date.

Follow Sarah on Instagram , Facebook  and her website.