ZPJ Love Stories - Jack & Elle

A friend asked me yesterday what my favourite part of the process was when making jewellery, and I was surprised to hear myself explaining how fun it is finding the right stone for the right person. I'm a problem solver, and finding the stones that fit what a client is looking for (and their budget) while also aligning with the ethical criteria I've chosen to commit to, is the first and sometimes hardest problem to solve throughout the process.

The contacts and suppliers I work alongside obviously play a huge part in helping to find the best stones, but it was lovely to go back and forth with Jack as he explained exactly what he wanted for Elle, and then being able to find a beautiful pink sapphire that we both knew would work perfectly.

"The one thing I knew going into it was that she wanted a pink centre stone, but other than that didn’t know where to start. Being that we met and fell in love in Wellington (and were about to move to London), I wanted to find a local jeweller so that we would always have a piece of home with us. After a few emails back and forth with Zoë, we settled on a design that I thought my fiancé would love. Zoë then somehow managed to find the perfect stone for the ring. I think the ring matches Elle's beauty, which I did not think would be possible." - Jack

"I was blown away by the ring. The draft designs looked great, but actually seeing the finished product in hand exceeded all expectations I had. I was so excited to show it to her so it took a lot of restraint to wait for the right moment" - Jack

"Truth be told it, the proposal wasn’t the greatest. The window of opportunity was closing with the winter weather coming in and our moving date inching closer, I opted for popping the question at the botanical gardens. We then found a charming wine bar in Kelburn, whose lovely staff really helped us celebrate the special occasion and made it a wonderful evening. My brother in law is also a photographer (@tay.prichard) and came to the rescue to take some stunning photos of us to remember and share with the family." - Jack

"The biggest highlight of the design process for me was how easy Zoë was to work with. I knew next to nothing about rings and stones, but Zoë was able to use the few reference photos I had to make the perfect ring. Another highlight was finding the right colour for the centre stone. After a few weeks of no luck it looked like we were maybe going to have to settle for a darker stone but thankfully Zoë was able to find the one right when it was needed!" - Jack

Has a ZPJ piece been a part of your love story? We'd love to hear about it! Please get in touch at hello@zoeporter.co.nz