Summer hits, and my phone starts ringing. Every year, without fail, the calls come in from West Vancouver, North Vancouver, and right across the Lower Mainland. Someone has a ring to design and a July proposal planned. Often they have been sitting on the idea since spring and suddenly the date is six weeks away.
I am going to walk you through exactly what you need to know before you start designing a custom proposal ring. No sales pitch. Just the information I wish every client had before they walked through my door.
I have spent more than 25 years designing custom engagement rings from my private studio in Ladner Village. I am a Fellow of the Canadian Gemmological Association and a Graduate Gemologist with the GIA. In 2024, I was honoured with the Platinum Award for Community Votes Delta. I serve clients throughout the Lower Mainland, and many of them come to me from West Vancouver specifically because they want something that was not picked from a display case.
Ruby has been tied to July for centuries. The connection runs deeper than a modern jewellery industry calendar. Ancient cultures across India, Burma, and China believed rubies held fire inside them, a living heat that could protect the wearer from harm and bring good fortune.
Ruby is corundum, like sapphire. The only difference is the trace element: chromium turns corundum red instead of blue, pink, or yellow. On the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, rubies sit at a 9, right below diamonds at 10. That makes them one of the most durable stones you can wear every day. A ruby ring holds up to daily life the way a sapphire ring does. It does not need to be babied.
The deep red of a fine ruby has always been associated with the heart, with blood, with life itself. In Sanskrit, ruby is called ratnaraj, meaning “king of precious stones.” Chinese warriors embedded rubies in their armour. Burmese soldiers believed rubies made them invincible in battle. Across cultures and across centuries, ruby has meant one thing consistently: intensity.
Ruby carries more symbolic weight than most gems. That is what makes it such a powerful gift.
When you give a ruby, you are not giving a colour. You are giving a message. That message lands harder when the piece is custom-made for the person wearing it.
Ruby is one of the gemstones where colour matters most. More than clarity, more than carat weight. The colour is the thing.
The ideal ruby colour is often described as “pigeon blood red.” That is a vivid, slightly bluish red with strong saturation. It is the most prized colour and the most expensive. But there are beautiful rubies across the red spectrum, from pinkish red to deep garnet red. What matters is that the colour is evenly distributed and the stone is not too dark. A ruby that is too dark loses its fire. A ruby that is too light edges into pink sapphire territory.
Clarity in rubies works differently than in diamonds. Nearly all natural rubies have inclusions. That is normal. Some of the finest Burmese rubies in the world have visible silk inclusions that actually improve the way light moves through the stone. You do not want a ruby that is heavily included to the point of appearing cloudy, but you should not expect a flawless ruby either. Those barely exist in nature and command auction-house prices when they do.
Cut quality matters for light return. A well-cut ruby will hold its glow even in dim light. A poorly cut ruby will look flat or dark. This is where working with a gemologist makes a difference. I can show you side by side what good cut quality looks like versus average. You can see the difference immediately. You do not need a certificate to tell.
Origin affects value more than any other coloured stone. Burmese rubies command the highest prices, followed by Mozambique, Madagascar, and Thailand. A Burmese ruby of equal colour and clarity can sell for three to five times the price of a comparable Mozambique ruby. For a custom piece, I source based on what looks best, not what the origin says on paper, unless origin matters to you personally.
Most rubies are heat treated. The vast majority of commercial rubies are heated to improve colour and clarity. This is an accepted, permanent treatment that has been done for centuries. Unheated rubies of fine quality are rare and expensive. I always disclose treatment status so you know exactly what you are buying.
Most ruby jewellery in stores follows a formula. A commercial-grade ruby set into a generic mounting. The stone was chosen by a buyer in a head office, and the setting was designed to appeal to the widest possible audience. Nothing about it is personal.
Custom ruby jewellery starts with the person who will wear it. When you come to my Ladner Village studio, we talk about the recipient. What jewellery do they already wear? Do they prefer yellow gold or white? Are they active, or do they wear pieces mostly for occasions? Do they favour clean lines or fine detail? These answers shape every decision.
Then we choose the ruby together. You see the stone in person. You hold it under different lighting. You compare two or three stones side by side. You do not pick from a photo. You pick from what is actually in front of you.
The design follows the stone and the person. If the ruby is a brilliant oval, we might design a pendant that lets it hang freely and catch light from every angle. If it is a round stone with exceptional glow, we might build a ring around it with a low-profile setting so it sits close to the finger and does not snag. The stone leads the design. Not the other way around.
Every recipient is different, but certain ruby jewellery styles tend to resonate most as July gifts.
Custom ruby bracelet. A less common choice but one that clients have loved when the recipient already has rings and earrings. A tennis-style ruby bracelet with alternating diamond stations is a serious statement piece. A charm bracelet with a single custom ruby charm is a gentler approach that can be built on over time.
Custom ruby rings. The most popular by far. A ruby ring is a statement piece that gets seen every day. For a July birthday, a ruby set in yellow gold is a classic combination that has been working for centuries. The warmth of the gold against the red of the ruby is hard to beat. White gold and platinum create a sharper contrast that some people prefer. A three-stone ruby ring with diamond side stones is a meaningful anniversary piece, especially for a 15th or 40th.
Custom ruby pendants. A ruby pendant sits close to the heart. For a July birthday gift for a partner or mother, a custom pendant is intimate in a way that a bracelet or pair of earrings is not. I have designed ruby pendants as solitaire drops on a delicate chain, as floral-inspired clusters with diamond accents, and as modern geometric pieces in mixed metals. The design follows the relationship.
Custom ruby earrings. Ruby studs are an everyday luxury. A pair of well-matched round rubies in a simple four-prong setting can be worn with anything. For something dressier, halo ruby earrings with a border of small diamonds bring the total presence up without adding bulk. Custom earrings also let you match the metal to the recipient’s existing jewellery collection so everything works together.
The process for a custom ruby piece follows the same path as any custom jewellery I design. One client at a time. One stone at a time.
Delivery. You pick up the piece from my Ladner Village studio. I walk you through care: how to clean it, how to store it, what to avoid. Ruby is durable but it still deserves respect. A quick check every few months to make sure the prongs are tight is all the maintenance most ruby pieces need.
Consultation. You come to my private Ladner Village Design Studio. We talk about the gift: who it is for, what the occasion is, what kind of jewellery they already love. If you bring reference photos, excellent. If you have no idea where to start, I ask the questions that get us there.
Ruby selection. I source rubies based on colour, cut quality, and budget. I do not push the most expensive stone. I push the one that looks best for your specific project. You see the stones yourself, side by side, in natural light and under my studio lights. The difference between stones becomes obvious quickly.
Design and CAD. Once we have the ruby and a direction, I work with you on the design. Band width, setting type, prong style, profile height, accent stones. Every detail gets decided before anything is made. The design goes into CAD so you can see the finished piece in 3D. This is when proportions get dialed in.
Wax model. For rings and complex designs, I produce a physical wax model. You can hold it, see the proportions in real life, and confirm the fit. Adjustments at this stage are simple.
Casting, setting, and finishing. The piece is cast in your chosen metal. The ruby is set by hand. Every prong is checked. The piece is polished, inspected, and inspected again. I check every stone under magnification. If something is not right, it does not leave my studio.
If someone’s birthday is in July and you are reading this in May or June, you have time. If it is early July, you are cutting it close.
Four to six weeks is comfortable for a custom ruby piece from consultation through delivery. The timeline depends on stone availability and design complexity. A straightforward ruby pendant or pair of studs moves faster than a ring with a full CAD design and wax review.
Two to three weeks is tight. It can be done if the ruby is already in my inventory and the design is simple. But you have fewer options and you are making decisions against the clock.
A gift should not be rushed. Plan ahead. A ruby birthday comes every year. A ruby anniversary you know about months in advance. Start early. You will enjoy the process more, and the result will be better.
Anyone can walk into a store and buy a ruby ring. It takes effort to commission one.
When you give a custom ruby piece, you are giving evidence of thought. You chose the stone. You chose the metal. You looked at the CAD renderings. You waited six weeks because the piece was being made, not pulled from inventory. The recipient sees all of that.
I have watched clients give custom ruby rings to their mothers on 60th birthdays. I have seen a husband hand his wife a custom ruby pendant on their 15th anniversary and watched her cry in my studio lobby. I have designed July birthstone earrings for daughters, sisters, and best friends. The reaction is never about the stone alone.
It is about the fact that someone took the time to make something that had not existed before. That is the gift. Not the ruby. The act of creating something for one person that belongs to no one else.
I work one on one from my private studio in Ladner Village. No showroom, no walk-in traffic, no distractions. When you sit down with me, you are the only client in the room.
If you want to design a custom ruby piece for someone you care about, reach out. July is closer than you think.
Learn more about gemstones and custom jewellery in my birthstone guide.
