Parisian Lights: An Arc of Rich Earthy Colors.

How many times have you seen something in a store that you would really like to have? It had special meaning or a uniqueness that you admired, but you walked away. I remember when we first moved to North Carolina we went to a craft show and I fell in love with an artist's original stained glass depicting a cardinal on a branch of blooming dogwood (both state symbols.) I remember it to this day and regret not buying it.

For so many years (since we were young sweethearts) Traylor has given me jewelry. I wanted to give him something of value, but what? A ring, I decided. He had inherited rings from his Dad, but I wanted to give him something that was more of a personal selection. When he retired and we got to travel, a missed opportunity led to a really fun and widespread search for the ideal. Here's his story of how it came to be.

Parisian Lights: An Arc of Rich, Earthy Colors

By Traylor Renfro 

GRASSY CREEK, NC — May 18, 2014

Saffron, Olive and Golden Ochre … These are the colors I typically associate with Andalusian Spain, however, this particular arc, measuring only 23 millimeters in length, is aligned in juxtaposition with an arc of time and place originating on the Rue de Seine in Paris, France, and extending thousands of miles westward to a jewelry designer’s studio at Ben Lomond, California, in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

On a Saturday morning in late September 2013, Diana and I were spending our second day in Paris, the gathering place for our barge cruise on the Canal de Bourgogne. The barge cruise had been on my travel “bucket list” for several years. We had two days to explore Paris before rendezvousing with our tour group at the Hotel Raphael on Sunday.

Paris, known as the “City of Lights,” can be intimidating to navigate for a tourist. Ironically, it is also considered by many to be the world’s greatest walking city.

Before leaving Charlotte on the flight to Paris, Diana purchased a box of cards entitled “Paris: 50 Adventures on Foot” from the City Walks series. The box contained 50 cards, each outlining a self-guided walking tour, with a detailed map on one side of the card and on the other side a summary of attractions, landmarks, shops and cafés along the route. These compact 3¾” by 5½” cards which easily tucked into a pocket were pretty nifty compared to fumbling around with those ubiquitous folding maps freely offered by hotels.

By mid-morning we were strolling along the “St. Germain 2” route (Card #16) in the 6^th Arrondissement which runs along the left bank of the River Seine. This quaint and densely woven web of narrow streets—barely wide enough for vehicles—is among Paris’ richest districts in terms of average income, yet has a long-standing bohemian and intellectual reputation.

photo thanks to culturefish TOURS

Along the bustling Rue de Seine we came upon a quaint shop filled with what appeared to be antique home furnishings. Inside the shop was an eclectic collection of items including furniture, lamps, art and home decor.

The shop was closed, which seemed odd for a Saturday in such a vibrant neighborhood.

Peering through the window we noticed a men’s gemstone ring. I honestly can’t even remember the details of the ring design except that it had three multi-colored stones set in yellow gold. The ring made an impression and I wish I could describe it more precisely now. It was both alluring and intriguing, and cast an aura of untold stories.

It was obvious that the ring also made an impression on Diana. In that moment, and out of the clear blue, she uttered, “I've been wanting to buy you a ring. Is this the one?”

We continued on our walk and stopped for lunch at L’Atlas Brasserie on the Rue de Buci before venturing across the River Seine on foot in a quest for Montmartre.

River Seine in Paris

Paris through the trees of Monmartre

The next day our tour group of six couples departed Paris in a small Mercedes bus, making the 4-hour journey to Venarey-les-Laumes. There we boarded the Nenuphar for the six-day cruise along the Canal de Bourgogne.

After our cruise, we returned to Paris on a Saturday for a two-night stay at the Hotel de Varenne in the 7^th Arrondissement. We were looking for a little recovery time before continuing along our journey to “green” Spain for 10 days.

In the back of my mind, I had every intention of returning to the shop on the Rue de Seine, but we were both inconvenienced by traveler’s diarrhea at this point, and on our final day it began to rain.

On Monday, we boarded an Air France flight for Biarritz, France—our gateway to Spain. Along the route, I confronted tinges of regret that we did not make it back to that shop. “Time to put that behind me,” I surrendered.

On a few occasions after our trip to France and Spain, Diana reiterated that she wanted to buy me a ring, and the quest for a ring was rekindled on a cruise in the Caribbean in early December. Our first port of call was Nassau, Bahamas, and we strolled along East Bay Street, stopping in one jewelry shop after another looking at men’s rings. We also shopped the boutiques on the cruise ship and other places.

Nassau, Bahamas

Key West, Florida

The shopping experiences convinced me that it was unlikely that I was going to find a ring to suit me, and by mid-December I was on a “recovery mission” to locate and make contact with the Paris shop.

Not knowing a soul in Paris, I sensed that I was looking for a needle in a haystack. Well, not really, because I knew the shop was located along a 3-block section of the Rue de Seine between Rue de Baci and Rue des Beaux Arts.

I sent e-mail inquiries to hotels along the Rue de Seine hoping that some kind and considerate reservationist would offer their assistance. It wasn’t to be. I received not a single response. Snooty Parisians!

As my final attempt to find a ring, I did what every renaissance geek would do: I turned to Google. I used simple search strings like “men’s gemstone ring” and then viewed the pages that came up under the Images tab on the Google ribbon. This tactic eventually led me to a few rings that were “in the zone.”

In particular, there was one website (which shall remain nameless), boasting custom made jewelry. One ring pictured on the site was remarkably akin to the one we saw in the Paris shop window—as best I can remember it. I was almost hooked when I realized that the company was based offshore, and after a deeper investigation, unearthed some unflattering posts from disgruntled customers. 

Back to the Google search, but this time using the search string “men’s custom made ring.” One of the websites this Google search led me to was CustomMade.com, a Boston-based ecommerce site that connects consumers to artisans. Most artisans featured on the site are one or two-person shops who don’t have a large distribution.

OK. So now I was getting down to business. It didn’t take me long to zero in on two jewelry designers, one based in Windsor, California, and the other based in Ben Lomond, California. That’s pretty remarkable considering that San Francisco is virtually dead center between the two locations. And where do you suppose we were already headed in just four weeks? Yes, to the City by the Bay.

San Francisco Bay

Diana and I make regular trips to San Francisco during January to attend the annual Callan Investments Institute’s National Conference. Callan Associates is the investment consultant to the Charlotte Firefighters’ Retirement System (CFRS). I serve as chairperson of the Board of Trustees of CFRS, and for many years I chaired the Board’s Investment Committee. So naturally, a jaunt to meet with either designer was an irresistible opportunity.

I soon worked my way to each designer’s own website, and after considerable deliberation, decided that, Elaine Bailey-Means,   whose company is EVB Design – Fine Jewelry Art, was probably the best choice. So on December 21, 2013, I sent an e-mail to Elaine, explaining my quest and inquiring if she would be willing to collaborate with me on a ring design. Within 24 hours, Elaine responded with a “yes.”

 Elaine V. Bailey-Means

Over the next week or so, I provided Elaine with my thoughts about a ring design—a collage of attributes based on the ring we saw in the shop window in Paris, Elaine’s portfolio, and my personal design preferences. We also tentatively decided that we would use sapphires for the stones due to their hardness.

Ben Lomond is located in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, about 11 miles north of the city of Santa Cruz which is perched at the northern entrance to Monterrey Bay. The drive from San Francisco via the coast highway is a little more than an hour and a half.

We arranged to meet with Elaine at her studio on Monday, January 27, 2014. We left our hotel around 7 AM to pick up our Alamo rental car, and drove out of the city on I-280 south towards Pacifica. The drive was a little eerie because the traffic on I-280 was inexplicably light—quite in contrast to the rush of traffic on US 101 which we passed over along the route.

We exited I-280 on to California’s scenic highway 1, and drove down the coast road (aka Cabrillo Highway, named for Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the European explorer who discovered Monterrey Bay in 1542) to Davenport before turning inland to Ben Lomond. The remainder of the drive took us along rural roads winding through majestic stands of redwoods.

Elaine was waiting for us at her simple studio (actually an outbuilding adjacent to her home) which is situated on a bank above the San Lorenzo River. We went upstairs and sat with Elaine at a small table. We had a lengthy conversation to solidify the design concept, and examined several sapphires Elaine had sourced from her gemstone supplier.

We decided on a round, yellow sapphire for the center stone, but Elaine did not have the “right” stone in her portfolio, as the yellow ones she had on hand were lemony. I preferred a richer, earthier golden color. That choice would have to be worked out later. The center stone was to be flanked by two trilliant cut stones, and Elaine offered 3 options, which she described as blue, copper, and green. These stones were each a little more than ½ carat in weight.

Sapphires, which are members of the corundum group, are composed of aluminum oxide. The presence of small amounts of other elements, especially titanium, iron and chromium, are responsible for the coloring, turning a crystal that was basically white into a blue, yellow, pink, etc. sapphire.

The quintessential sapphire is a blue crystal, but other color sapphires, which are referred to generally as “fancy,” are also common, including yellow and pink. In the family of gemstones, only diamonds have a greater hardness (10 on the Mohs scale) than that of sapphires (9 Mohs).

Almost as if guided by spirits, I pushed the blue trillion to the side and chose the copper and green stones. I could not explain why I made that choice, except to say that there was a subtle kinship between these two stones, which I would describe as “earthiness.” The inability to articulate my choice, however, elicited a lingering hesitancy as we departed Elaine’s studio to return to San Francisco.

Sapphire gemstones (from back)

The uncertainty of whether I had made the correct stone choice gnawed at me on into the evening. I was playing a virtual tennis match on the court of my brain. Finally, during my sleep that night I awoke to the reconciliation: the true colors of the two trillions were saffron and olive. Who would ever think of these colors unless their life’s journey had taken them thru the sights and senses of Andalusian Spain?

While still in San Francisco, I received an e-mail from Elaine with photos of three golden sapphires she had selected for our consideration. 

Diana and I debated the options over dinner at Capannina on Union Street in the Cow Hollow district. Initially we were leaning to a 1.39 carat oval stone, but with a little time we found ourselves gravitating to a 1.09 carat 6 mm round stone.We asked Elaine to offer her artistic judgment on the options, and she responded, “I think the 6 mm round center sapphire provides a perfect synergy of design flow in combination with wearibility.” Case closed; the table was finally set to make my ring.

The production of a ring is an art form in itself. Elaine uses the lost-wax process to render a rough casting of the ring. This technique involves creating an original model of the ring in wax. The wax model is covered in plaster which is then subjected to high heat in a kiln. The heat causes the wax to dissipate, leaving a hollow mold into which the molten gold alloy is injected to form the casting.

Ring mold in wax (1st generation)

Not quite 4 weeks after our meeting at Elaine’s studio, on February 21, 2014, Elaine wrote an e-mail announcing the birth of my ring at 2:02 PM that same day. Elaine had named the ring “Parisian Lights,” because, as she put it, the ring was conceived in Paris.

“Parisian Lights” ring

Following is Elaine’s description of the finished ring in her own words:

Comprised of 14k yellow gold; approximately 7 mm in width in a ring size 8 3/4.

The ring was originally formed in Sierra Red jewelers wax, placed in a flask, covered in plaster and then set into a kiln for the burn out cycle.

During the burnout the wax dissipated creating a hollow impression in the plaster of which molten 14k gold was thrust into and then cooled leaving a rough 14k gold casting.

The ring was tumbled in plastic medium and then high polished using various burs, grinders and buffing tools.

The ring contains a 1.09 carat round 6 mm yellow sapphire, Sri Lanka is its most likely origin, mounted in a 14k gold soldered bezel as its center focus.

The yellow sapphire is flanked with an olive colored trillian sapphire on its left, 0.58 carat in weight with Sri Lanka being its most likely origin and a saffron colored trillian sapphire, 0.54 carat in weight and most likely originating from Madagascar, on its right; they are both mounted in wax designed bezels, approximately 5.4 mm each in size.

The ring was textured on the upper surface with a beading tool and enclosed by an engraved border as the final finishing touches.

“Parisian Lights” ring

About Elaine V. Bailey-Means, Owner, EVB Design – Fine Jewelry Art:

Elaine describes herself as a fine jewelry designer artist. She primarily draws inspiration for her work from nature. Many of Elaine's jewelry pieces reflect her appreciation and love of nature through her contemporary flowing designs which often capture the essence of flora and the sea as well as other forms of nature.

Elaine has a B.A. degree in Art from the State University of New York. While she was attending SUNY as an art major, she took a jewelry class and fell in love with this particular three dimensional form of art and relished the fluid movement that she was able to create in a wax jewelry sculpture. She continued to focus her creative energies through the medium of fine jewelry creations by partaking additional jewelry art courses.

After she graduated college she moved to Santa Cruz County, CA and worked as a manager in an established lost wax jewelry design shop. She continued to develop her own unique signature designer style of blending fine art and fine jewelry at the wholesale level during her eight years at the jewelry casting studio and was ready to go out and exhibit on her own.

EVB Design fine jewelry art was born at the retail level in 1989. In the meantime, Elaine continued her formal fine jewelry art education by participating in various workshops in San Francisco as well as attending classes at the Revere Academy of Jewelry Art in San Francisco. She also completed the diamond course work at the G.I.A. gemological institute in Santa Monica,CA. Elaine nutured her designs, allowing them to blossom. 
In Elaine’s words, “The focus of my work is to create asymmetrical harmony and balance, and to create motion through the use of light in concert with the movement of the wearer."

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