A client once sat across my worktable with a small velvet box of loose stones — three sapphires and a scattering of old melee diamonds pulled from a bracelet she'd stopped wearing. She had eleven inspiration boards saved on her phone under names like "maybe," "obsessed," and "no idea." She wanted a pendant necklace built around the sapphires. What she had, laid out in front of both of us, was closer to a hundred good ideas than one clear direction. The first consultation, usually 1.5 to 2 hours, is where I'm doing more listening than sketching. I'll show a handful of physical settings, a few loose stones for scale and color comparison, sometimes photographs of past work in a similar spirit. I'm watching for what she leans toward without being asked to — which sample she picks back up, which word she repeats.
What I need from a client isn't a design. It's a story. Maybe it's a grandmother's ring you've always loved the color of, a place that matters to you, a stone you can't stop thinking about, or just a feeling you want the piece to give off when you look down at your hand. Sometimes clients bring very specific non-negotiables: this exact sapphire, this engraving, a certain proportion they saw once and can't shake. Other times they bring almost nothing concrete, just instinct and trust. Both are complete starting points. My job is to take whatever you hand me, precise or vague, and translate it into something that can actually be built, worn, and live with you for decades.
