Getting Started

Starting Your Custom Engagement Ring Journey

Dreaming of a bespoke engagement ring that's as unique as your love story? At Sara Handmade Jewellery in Kiama, every engagement ring is created from scratch, for one person, around one story. Sara specialises in custom engagement rings for clients across the NSW South Coast, Sydney, Canberra, and Australia-wide via online consultation.

Before you begin, have a budget in mind. This helps Sara source the very best gemstones within your price range. If you can provide your partner's ring size — borrow a ring they wear, ask a trusted family member, or measure discreetly, great. If not, don't stress: Sara offers complimentary resizing once the big surprise is revealed.

Allow plenty of time. The earlier you start, the more options Sara can offer by tapping into her extensive gemstone supplier network. Most commissions begin with a $500 deposit, which kicks off a personalised hunt for your perfect diamond or coloured gem — and is fully applied to the final cost.

Ready to start? The first consultation is complimentary and carries no obligation. Just bring your ideas, your inspiration, and your partner's approximate ring size if you have it.

Book a Complimentary Consultation
Choosing the Stone

How to Choose the Perfect Gemstone or Diamond

Your engagement ring should shine for a lifetime — and the centre stone is its heart. The most important early decision is whether to choose a diamond or a coloured gemstone. Both are wonderful choices; Sara can walk you through the genuine trade-offs without bias.

Diamonds: Familiarise yourself with the Four Cs: carat (weight), cut (light performance), colour (D–Z scale), and clarity (presence of inclusions). Sara only offers GIA-certified diamonds, ensuring complete transparency. Cut quality has the greatest impact on visual beauty — a well-cut G/SI1 diamond will outperform a poorly cut D/IF in almost any light.

Coloured Gemstones: Sapphires, rubies, emeralds, morganite, tanzanite, and tourmalines are all increasingly popular engagement ring choices. Consider durability: sapphires and rubies (Mohs 9) are ideal for daily-wear rings. Emerald is beautiful but benefits from a protective setting. Sara will present a curated range and explain each stone's characteristics, provenance, and care requirements. Read Sara's complete coloured stone engagement ring FAQ →

A newly arrived GIA-certified diamond being inspected against its certificate at Sara's studio

Every new diamond is inspected against its GIA certificate on arrival at Sara's studio, confirming that the stone matches every stated grade before it enters the collection.

Choosing the Metal

Selecting Your Metal: Style Meets Durability

The right metal completes your design — influencing how the stone's colour reads, how the ring ages over decades of wear, and how it feels on the hand. Sara offers a full range:

18ct Yellow Gold

Classic warmth, enduring appeal. Beautiful with warm-toned coloured stones.

18ct White Gold

Clean, contemporary look. Requires periodic rhodium replating to maintain brightness.

18ct Rose Gold

Warm, romantic tone. Especially flattering with pink and blush-toned stones.

Platinum

Premium choice: naturally white, exceptionally durable, never needs replating.

9ct Gold

More affordable than 18ct, slightly harder. Good choice for everyday budget rings.

Titanium

Strong, lightweight, contemporary. Ideal for active lifestyles or metal sensitivities.

A good rule of thumb: yellow and rose gold suit warm-toned stones; white gold and platinum suit cool-toned or colourless stones. If you work with your hands daily, Sara recommends a lower-profile setting in a harder metal.

The Design Process

Creating Your Custom Handmade Ring

Bring along any inspiration — photos saved to your phone, screenshots of styles you've admired, or a general description. You might be drawn to a particular era (art deco, Victorian, minimalist contemporary), a setting style (claw, bezel, halo, pavé shoulder), or simply a feeling. Sara will interpret whatever you bring and translate it into something genuinely yours.

Sara produces initial design sketches — and 3D renders for more complex pieces — before any metal is shaped. You review and approve the design at this stage; changes are welcomed. Once confirmed, Sara fabricates the setting by hand in her Kiama workshop, sources the final stone if not already selected, and sets it personally. Intricate details such as sculpted galleries, hand engraving, and bead-set accents are all possible and are what distinguish a handmade ring from anything produced at scale.

Every completed ring is independently valued and comes with the gemstone's GIA certificate. Sara provides a written valuation for insurance purposes at no additional charge.

Sara sketching the initial concept for a custom engagement ring commission A white gold engagement ring being assembled at the jeweller's bench in Sara's Kiama studio

Left: Design starts with pencil on paper — translating your brief into a visual concept before any production begins. Right: Assembly at the bench, every element shaped, soldered, and set by hand.

Why Sara

What Makes Sara Handmade Jewellery Different

Located in Kiama on the NSW South Coast, Sara's studio is known for exceptional service, genuine in-house craftsmanship, and the ability to make every piece truly one-of-a-kind. Unlike chain jewellers and many Sydney studios, every piece is crafted by Sara herself — a qualified gemmologist who values your story as much as the finished design.

  • Qualified gemmologist with over 20 years' experience
  • GIA-certified diamonds and ethically sourced coloured gems
  • Every ring handcrafted in Kiama — not outsourced to a trade shop
  • Design sketches and 3D renders provided before production
  • Independent valuation certificate included with every commission
  • Complimentary resizing after the proposal
  • Online consultations available Australia-wide
A proposal with a custom handmade diamond engagement ring — the final moment of a bespoke journey

The moment it's all for. A ring that exists nowhere else in the world, because it was made for no one else in the world.

Common Questions

FAQ: Custom Engagement Rings

Sara recommends allowing 6–8 weeks, though many commissions are completed in 4–6 weeks. Starting early gives you the widest range of gemstone options. If you have a tighter deadline, contact the studio — Sara will do her best to accommodate.
Borrow a ring they wear on the correct finger, ask a trusted family member, or measure discreetly while they sleep. If the size isn't exact, Sara offers complimentary resizing once the surprise is revealed. Most rings can be sized up or down by 1–2 sizes without issue.
Yes. They're one of Sara's specialities. Sapphires (including Australian parti sapphires), rubies, emeralds, morganite, tanzanite, and tourmalines are all available. Sara has a personally curated collection in her Kiama studio and can source specific stones on commission.
Always. Sara provides design sketches for every commission, and 3D renders for more complex pieces. Production never begins until you have reviewed and approved the design in full. Design revisions at the sketch stage are included as part of the process.
Yes. Sara welcomes heirloom stones and existing gold as part of an engagement ring commission. The stone is assessed for condition and suitability for setting; gold is weighed and its credit value applied to the total. Many of Sara's most meaningful commissions incorporate inherited stones.