Halden

Halden

One ring · One bench · Antwerp

I · The band

It begins as a strip of platinum.

Ninety-five percent pure, drawn to 1.8 millimetres and bent into a circle by hand, then soldered shut.

II · The claws

Four claws, cut by hand.

Each one filed with a graver until it is thin enough to disappear and strong enough to hold for a century.

III · The stone

One stone, chosen under a loupe.

We look at about forty diamonds for every one we set, and turn most of them away.

IV · The setting

Lowered in, then held.

The claws are pushed over the girdle one at a time and checked under ten times magnification.

V · Yours

Forty-one hours. One ring.

Signed inside the band by the jeweller who made it, and boxed at the same bench.

The houseThree jewellers, one bench, and about ninety rings a year.

We don't cast rings in batches and we don't keep stock. Every Halden ring starts as a strip of platinum on the morning it is ordered, and leaves the bench only when the person who made it signs the inside.

A round brilliant diamond seen face-up, its facets throwing white and blue light
Look closer

Fifty-seven facets, all awake

This is the loupe we choose stones with. A stone passes only if every facet returns light, all the way to the edge of the table.

Cut
Excellent, round brilliant
Colour
D to F only
Clarity
VVS2 or better
Origin
Traced mine to bench

At the bench

Five stages, one pair of hands. Nothing leaves the room between them.

  1. Gloved hands bending a strip of platinum into a band
    Hours 0–6

    Drawing the band

    The strip is annealed, bent round a mandrel, soldered and planished until the seam is gone.

  2. A graver cutting the claws of a four-claw setting
    Hours 6–19

    Cutting the claws

    Four claws raised from a single head, each filed to a point you can barely see from the side.

  3. Tweezers lowering a round diamond into the claws
    Hours 19–27

    Choosing the stone

    We match the stone to the hand it is going to, not the other way round: spread, colour and how it sits.

  4. The set ring turned in gloved fingers for inspection
    Hours 27–38

    Setting and checking

    Claws pushed over, tips rounded, then a ten-times loupe on every edge. Anything that catches a sleeve goes back.

  5. The finished solitaire placed into its black box
    Hours 38–41

    Signing and boxing

    The jeweller engraves their initials inside the band, polishes once more, and closes the box themselves.

What one ring asks of us

41HRSat the bench, from strip to box
950platinum, the purest we can still set
40stones looked at for every one we set
1jeweller, who signs the inside of the band
By appointment

Commission a ring

Start with the size of the stone. We'll show you real candidates at the bench, and quote before anything is made.

from €9,800Platinum solitaire, D–F, VVS
Book a bench visit Antwerp, or by video