From Wax to Gold: The Artist Behind the Floating Leaf Ring

Creating the Floating Leaf Ring by Hand

🙑

The Tool Is Not the Artist

As I worked on my Floating Leaf Ring today, I realized something.

I use my wax pen much like a painter uses a fine brush. The tip of the pen is heated to nearly 500 degrees, and I guide molten wax exactly where I want it to flow.

My father was a painter. He was passionate about his art, and I understand that passion now more than ever.

He worked with color.

I work with wax.

He built images one brushstroke at a time.

I build jewelry one drop of wax at a time.

But the jewelry itself still begins the same way it always has—with an artist's vision and a pair of hands.

Every curve of a twig, every texture on a leaf, every adjustment made to create the illusion of a floating gemstone is sculpted by hand in wax before it ever becomes gold.

Technology is a tool.

The artist is the one who brings the design to life.

Today, as I held my wax pen and worked on the Floating Leaf Ring, I thought about my father and his paintbrush.

Different tools.

Different mediums.

The same passion to create.

— Dawn

 

Floating Leaf Collection Sketch – Lab-Grown Diamond Engagement Ring by Dawn Vertrees

 

Floating Leaf Collection
Sketch – Lab-Grown Diamond Engagement Ring by Dawn Vertrees

For years I have created nature-inspired jewelry featuring natural diamonds, rough gemstones, twigs, leaves, and organic forms sculpted by hand in wax.

As the jewelry world evolves, I wanted to create a design specifically for those who love the beauty of lab-grown diamonds and gemstones while still appreciating artistic craftsmanship and meaningful design.

This sketch marks the beginning of a new collection.

The Floating Leaf Engagement Ring was inspired by a simple question:

How can a gemstone appear to float between two leaves?

The design features a one-carat round faceted lab-grown diamond nestled between two sculpted leaves that rise gracefully from a textured twig band. Rather than relying on traditional jewelry styling, the leaves appear to lift and present the gemstone as if it had grown there naturally.

The result is a ring that feels organic, elegant, and timeless.

While this first design showcases a round lab-grown diamond, the setting is being developed to accommodate a variety of lab-grown gemstones, including:

• Lab-Grown Diamond
• Lab-Grown Emerald
• Lab-Grown Sapphire
• Lab-Grown Ruby

Each gemstone brings its own personality to the design while maintaining the same floating leaf concept.

This ring will eventually become part of a complete wedding set. The matching wedding band will feature a simple twig design that complements the engagement ring without competing with it. Together they create a harmonious woodland-inspired bridal set rooted in nature.

As with all Dawn Vertrees Jewelry designs, every detail begins as an idea, a sketch, and a hand-sculpted wax model before becoming a finished piece of jewelry.

The Floating Leaf Collection was inspired by a simple idea: a gemstone lifted and offered by nature.

Two sculpted leaves rise from an organic twig band, cradling a faceted gemstone so it appears to float between them. The design creates a sense of lightness and wonder, inviting the question, "How is the gemstone staying there?"

Available with lab-grown diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies, each piece celebrates beauty, craftsmanship, and the organic forms found in nature.

This is the first sketch.

The collection is still growing.

💗

Why the Original Always Matters

 

Why the Original Always Matters

Hand-sculpted twig engagement ring, an original design by Dawn Vertrees, featuring a brilliant rectangular center stone set in organic gold.

Twenty years ago, I began a journey into wax artistry, bringing the textures of the forest—twigs, leaves, and roots—to life in gold. When I brought my designs to Etsy in 2011, this organic, nature-inspired aesthetic was something I had pioneered.

An original hand-sculpted design by Dawn Vertrees in 14k rose gold with an antique finish, featuring a brilliant lab-created blue sapphire nestled in organic forest textures.

The Evolution of the Art

Today, you will see many manufacturers mass-producing "twig" and "leaf" rings using machines. They are chasing a trend; I am continuing a twenty-year tradition of hand-sculpted art.

A machine-made ring is a copy of a design. A Dawn Vertrees ring is an original piece of wearable art, hand-sculpted with the soul and intent that only an artist can provide.

An original hand-sculpted design by Dawn Vertrees, this 14k white gold wedding set features an oval lab-grown diamond and intricate organic leaf patterns.

A New Chapter: Lab-Grown Diamonds

I don't mind that the industry has followed my lead—it just proves that my vision for organic, non-traditional jewelry was right all along.

An original hand-sculpted engagement ring by Dawn Vertrees, featuring a brilliant lab-created stone set within a high-contrast, antiqued rose gold twig setting.

We are now pairing these signature, hand-sculpted settings with high-quality lab-grown diamonds. This combination offers you the perfect balance:

• The Original Vision: A design with the weight and texture of nature, perfected over two decades.

• Modern Brilliance: The ethical, durable, and breathtaking beauty of lab-grown stones.

If you want the piece that started the conversation, you are in the right place. Welcome to the next generation of Dawn Vertrees Designs.

An original, hand-sculpted Leaf & Berry engagement ring by Dawn Vertrees, masterfully crafted to capture the organic beauty of nature in fine metal.

Leaf & Berry Twig Ring

"This one-of-a-kind engagement ring features a 1ct center stone cradled by the organic, hand-sculpted textures of my signature leaf and berry motif. Every detail was meticulously shaped in wax by my own hands, ensuring that the final cast piece retains the authentic, tactile beauty of nature. This is not a mass-produced setting; it is an original work of art designed to celebrate the life and growth of your love story."

When a Simple Berry Tells the Story...

The first glimpse of the Leaf & Berry Twig Ring. A little red berry inspired what would become the beginning of the Berry Collection.

Front view showing the intertwined branches rising to offer the center stone, a guiding principle behind my nature-inspired jewelry designs.

Side profile highlighting the bark texture, leaf detail, and substantial branch structure that form the foundation of the design.

🌿🍒

Every design has a beginning.

Sometimes it starts with a gemstone.
Sometimes it starts with a sketch.
And sometimes it starts with something so small that most people would overlook it.

For me, it started with a simple little red dot.

That tiny berry became the spark that inspired what is now growing into the Leaf & Berry Collection.

The ring shown here represents the earliest stage of that journey. At this point, the design is only about 30% complete. Like the vines and branches that inspire my work, it will continue to grow, change, and evolve as new ideas emerge and future versions are created.

The foundation begins with intertwined twig structures that naturally weave around the finger. Small leaves emerge from the branches while tiny berries appear throughout the design, creating the feeling of a living woodland vine rather than a traditional jewelry setting.

At the center, the branches rise upward and gently offer the stone. This reflects one of the guiding principles behind my work: gemstones should feel lifted and presented by nature, not simply held in place. The stone becomes a gift offered by the branches that grew around it.

The berries may be one of the smallest details in the design, yet they carry the greatest meaning. They serve as a reminder that inspiration can come from the simplest things. A single berry became the seed from which an entire collection began to grow.

This blog will follow the development of the Leaf & Berry Twig Ring as the design progresses from wax model to finished jewelry. Future updates will document design refinements, castings, gemstone variations, finished pieces, and new additions to the Berry Collection.

Today, it begins with a single berry.

Tomorrow, we'll see where it grows.

— Dawn Vertrees

Updated Wax Model & 14k Rose Gold Visualization

"Every design goes through a period of growth. After studying the original wax model, I refined the branch tips so they embrace the diamond more naturally, strengthening the feeling that the stone is being lifted and offered by the surrounding twigs. The updated wax model allowed me to fine-tune these small details before casting."

"Seeing the design visualized in 14k rose gold revealed details that are difficult to see in colored wax. The soft oxidation settles into the bark texture while the polished berries catch the light, creating contrast and bringing the organic elements to life. Comparing the wax model to the rose gold version helps me evaluate the flow, balance, and overall emotion of the piece."

"Sometimes a simple berry tells the story. What begins as a small accent becomes part of a larger journey, guiding the eye through the design and connecting every branch, leaf, and detail to the center stone. Each refinement brings the ring closer to my vision of nature gently presenting a precious gift."

From Story to Wax

Every custom piece begins with a conversation.

My client described her vision as delicate tree branches entwined together, with the season's first snowflakes settling on sparse leaves. Because her engagement ring needed to remain delicate to fit her size 4.5 finger, we chose to carry more of the story into the matching ring holder pendant.

The pendant became a place where nature, memory, and function could come together. Twisting branches form the structure, leaves represent life and growth, and a snowflake rests within the design. Surrounding it are tiny white gold spheres, capturing the feeling of snow flurries drifting through the winter air.

These photos show the journey from the original sketch to the developing wax model, where a client's vision slowly becomes a wearable piece of art.

Every piece begins with a story.

💘

Original concept sketch showing the client's vision for a nature-inspired ring holder pendant featuring entwined branches, leaves, and a snowflake motif.

Determining the size and proportions of the ring holder pendant before carving begins.

Keeping the soft wax aligned while building the framework of the ring holder pendant.

The ring holder pendant begins to take shape as the branches, leaves, and snowflake elements are refined in wax.

A digital visualization created from the wax model to help the client imagine the finished pendant.

❅

While wax models allow me to create and refine every detail of a design, they can sometimes be difficult for clients to visualize as finished jewelry.

Using AI-assisted imaging, I can create a digital representation of how a wax model may appear when cast and polished in precious metal. This helps bridge the gap between the wax stage and the finished piece, allowing clients to better understand the design before casting begins.

The design itself remains my original work. AI is simply being used as a visualization tool to help bring the concept to life.

New Forest Collection: The Matching Wedding Band Story

 

When It becomes Something More...

Sometimes a custom design reaches a point where everything suddenly makes sense.

This wedding band began as a challenge: create a ring that matched a previously commissioned engagement ring featuring a Blue Sapphire in 14k Rose Gold with a medium oxidation finish — but without simply copying the original design.

The engagement ring carried a very organic, woodland flow with curved branch structures wrapping and lifting the sapphire almost like it was being offered upward. The side profile had movement, growth, and softness to it. 

But this ring needed a different presence.

Instead of designing the wedding band completely from scratch, I decided to work almost genetically.

New Forest emerald engagement ring set in flowing organic branches
with matching nested wedding band in warm rose gold.

Because I made the molds from both of my original rings, I began borrowing structural elements directly from the engagement ring and wedding band. I used the side architecture from the engagement ring as the foundation for this band, then combined and blended two wedding bands together to create a broader, stronger flow.

New Forest matching wedding band in rose gold featuring intertwined
flowing branch textures inspired by natural woodland forms.

The result became less about creating “matching rings” and more about creating two rings that clearly belong to the same story.

One of the most important parts of the process was preserving the organic language of the original design while shifting the overall movement into a more masculine direction. Instead of delicate upward movement, the branches became more grounded and structured. The lines were straightened slightly, spacing adjusted, and the overall posture of the ring changed without losing the feeling of natural growth.

Since this ring would not contain a stone, additional twig structures were added to blend the transitions together and create continuity across the surface of the band itself.

The medium oxidation in the 14k Rose Gold will help unify everything in the final cast by darkening the recesses and emphasizing the bark-like texture and depth between the branches.

These are the moments I love most as a designer.

The quiet early-morning hours where the pieces stop feeling separate and suddenly become one complete idea.

Not duplicated. Not copied. But connected.

That is always the goal.

To create jewelry that feels like it grew naturally into existence.

— New Forest

Where Vines Hold Light — Forest Design Collection

It started with a feeling I couldn’t ignore.

Shop Online DV Jewelry Designs or our Etsy Shop

A deep blue sapphire lifted by flowing vine-like gold
—where nature’s movement meets quiet strength.

The first image captures that moment when everything begins to settle into place—soft movement, natural curves, and a stone that feels alive within the design. The rose gold carries warmth, while the sapphire draws you inward, like something discovered rather than set.

A closer look at the flow
—each vine wraps with intention,
lifting the sapphire as if grown into place.

As you move to the next, the perspective shifts. The structure reveals itself more clearly—the way each vine wraps, not to confine, but to support. There’s intention in every line, yet nothing feels forced. It grows the way nature does—quietly, organically.

The same form, reimagined in light
—where a diamond is lifted and offered within flowing gold.

Then the story changes slightly.

A diamond takes the place of color, and suddenly the design speaks in light instead of depth. The form remains the same, but the emotion shifts—cleaner, brighter, yet still grounded in that same flowing structure.

In white gold, the movement sharpens
—cool tones revealing every ridge, every shadow,
every line that carries the stone forward.

In white gold, the piece becomes something else again. Cooler, more refined, the textures stand out differently. The contrast between light and shadow deepens, and the organic lines feel almost sculptural.

The full expression—two rings grown from the same form,
flowing together as one continuous movement, lifting the stone in quiet harmony.

And finally, the full composition.

The wedding set brings everything together. The curves extend, the movement continues, and the design feels complete—not as a single piece, but as something that belongs together. Each ring flows into the next, like branches from the same root.

This collection was never about holding a stone in place.

It was about lifting it.

💙

Letting it exist within something that feels grown, not made—so that when it’s worn, it carries more than beauty.

It carries feeling.

Shop Online DV Jewelry Designs or our Etsy Shop

 

The Beginning of the Oakwood Twig Collection

Oakwood Twig Collection — where growth becomes form.

Oakwood Twig Collection

Inspired by Growth. Made with Meaning.

There are moments in the creative process where everything begins to align—where an idea stops being a thought and starts becoming something real.

This is one of those moments.

The oak leaf—strength,
structure, and naturally guided form.

At the center of this collection is the first ring.

This is where it begins.

I will be starting this piece in wax, shaping it by hand—allowing the form to develop the same way branches do: not forced, but guided. The stone is not simply set; it is lifted and offered, held by the structure like a gift formed by the earth itself.

This is the foundation piece. Everything else grows from here.

---

The acorn—small, grounded, and full of potential.
Where growth begins.

Nature doesn’t rush, and it doesn’t repeat itself perfectly—and that’s the point.

The oak leaf carries strength and identity. The acorn represents beginnings—small, grounded, and full of potential. Together, they tell a story of growth, endurance, and quiet power.

That story is what this collection is built on.

🤎

The first ring now begins in wax—
where each curve will be shaped by hand,
guided by the same natural movement that inspired it.

 

Oakwood Twig Collection Sketch Designs

Oakwood Twig Collection Sketch Designs

The Oakwood Twig Collection

The Oakwood Twig Collection begins here—where nature wraps, lifts, and offers each piece like a gift.

You don’t design in straight lines—and this collection doesn’t either.

It grew the same way branches do—naturally, without force, each curve finding its place. Every twig wraps with intention, every leaf settles where it belongs, and every detail is built to feel like it was always meant to be there.

These pieces aren’t just inspired by nature…
They’re guided by it.

---

Where It Began

The rings are where this collection first took root.

Twigs wrap around the band like growing branches, forming structure without feeling rigid. Oak leaves layer gently into the design, creating a sense of protection and movement at the same time.

Crafted in sterling silver with 14K rose gold leaves, finished with soft oxidation in the recesses and a gentle polish, these pieces balance contrast and warmth in a way that feels natural and effortless.

---

The Collection Grows

From there, the collection began to expand.

A sterling silver pendant lifts and presents a moss agate stone, wrapped in flowing twig forms and accented with oak leaves—never held tightly, always offered.

The earrings carry that same movement—light, organic, and alive—formed from oxidized sterling silver branches with oak leaves and acorns that feel as if they’ve grown into place.

---

A Natural Pairing

The collection also moves into more personal pieces.

A solitaire engagement ring with a 1ct round diamond pairs with a coordinating oak leaf band, bringing structure and symbolism together. The design allows the stone to feel lifted and presented, while the band continues the language of natural growth.

---

Still Growing

This collection is not finished—and it’s not meant to be.

Some pieces will remain simple and quiet. Others will grow more detailed and layered. But every design will follow the same path—guided by nature, shaped with intention, and created to be felt as much as seen.

These pieces already exist—just not in metal yet.
They’ve taken shape here first.

And I can’t wait to show you what they become.