How We Designed an Engagement Ring for a Horse Trainer

Recently, a customer asked us to create an engagement ring for his girlfriend. He saw a ring on our website that he thought his partner would love, but he had one big concern: would it be appropriate for her daily routine? His future wife was a horse trainer who worked with her hands every day. He wanted to make sure the engagement ring he wanted would fit her lifestyle.

We have written a number of blog posts over the years about how to choose an engagement ring that you’ll actually wear. We have numerous posts that cover everything from different stone settings to engagement ring styles. However, it is one thing to read about it and another to go through the process of creating your ring with your jeweler. We decided to share with you a recent real case we had so you can see what questions were asked, what details we discussed, and how they shaped the ring that didn’t have to compromise between beauty and durability.

A trainer’s hands go through a lot in a day so we had a lot to consider before sketching even began.

How Our First Conversation Started Shaping the Ring

The written requests we receive tell us what someone wants, but even a quick conversation with the customer is better when we want to understand more about the person who will wear the ring and if the design they want is appropriate. That’s why, instead of jumping straight to sketches after receiving the initial email, we set up an online video call with the customer.

He didn’t know some details like his girlfriend’s ring size, but he could tell us a lot about what her day looks like. The conversation with him confirmed our suspicion that for his girlfriend, horses were more than a hobby. She was actually a professional, and he knew her work in detail. Horse training requires physically demanding hands-on work: leading and handling animals that can weigh over 1,200 pounds, gripping lead ropes, leather straps, and metal buckles, mucking stalls, hauling hay, and constant exposure to water, sweat, and cleaning chemicals.

All the details he shared during our conversation were invaluable. By the end of this first conversation we were certain that the engagement ring our client had in mind needed a few substantial changes so it could survive a job that’s rougher than many other professions we design for.

Or Elyon Diamond Engagement Ring with Mokume Gane is the original ring our customer liked. We kept as many of the elements of the design while making the ring more suitable for his girlfriend’s profession.

How Did We Choose the Gemstones and Metals for the Engagement Ring

Many professional trainers remove their rings in the arena and the barn altogether. Some equestrians even wear them on a necklace instead because a ring can easily get caught on something and cause serious injury. However, there are always situations that could prompt a quick, unscheduled trip into the barn, which is why the ring still needed to be strong and safe to wear.

We had to be sure that the ring we designed could hold up against 2 key risks:

Sudden pressure and crushing: if a horse pulls or bolts while she’s holding a lead rope, a poorly designed ring can be crushed against the finger at that moment.
Exposure to moisture and chemicals: horse sweat, cleaning products, and grooming the animals all take a toll on both metal and stone over time, so it was important to choose the right materials for this engagement ring.

Choosing the Gemstones

The original ring our customer saw on our website featured a round, 1-carat diamond with pavé-set diamond accents. He loved the design but wanted to personalize it further by replacing the accent diamonds with colorful gemstones.

Sapphire, ruby, and emerald are the classic choices when clients want color in an engagement ring. But not every gemstone is a good fit for every lifestyle. Gemologists judge a stone’s durability partly by hardness, measured on the Mohs scale. It gives a 1 to 10 rating of how resistant a mineral is to scratching. Emeralds, while beautiful, rank around 7.5-8 and are also naturally prone to inclusions (tiny internal flaws, like small cracks or trapped minerals, that form inside the stone as it grows.) They are so common in emeralds that they’re often accepted as part of the stone’s natural character. However, inclusions also create weak points that make the gem more likely to chip or crack under sudden pressure or impact, which is exactly the kind of daily wear our customer’s girlfriend would put a ring through. Sapphires, by comparison, are exceptionally hard and durable, ranking 9 on the Mohs scale, just below diamonds, so they are exceptionally hard to scratch or damage, which makes them a far safer choice for accent stones for this equestrian’s engagement ring.

We discussed with our customer that sapphires would give him the pop of color he wanted, without compromising the ring’s ability to hold up over time. He agreed, and he chose vivid blue sapphires as the accent stones along the original round diamond.

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Choosing the Metals

The ring our customer originally loved was made from our signature Baobab Mokume Gane color palette. A Mokume Gane ring, when made by an experienced goldsmith, can be just as strong and durable as a ring made from a single metal. But for this piece, we thought it would be better to use platinum as the main metal because of its “no memory” quality.

Unlike many other metals, platinum doesn’t spring back to its original shape after being bent. If a prong or setting is knocked or pressed out of position (something very likely to happen during a physically demanding job like horse training), platinum holds its new position instead of bouncing back. That might sound like a drawback, but for a setting, it’s actually a safety feature: metals that “spring back” also tend to loosen their grip on a stone over time, increasing the risk of it coming loose or falling out entirely. Platinum’s stability keeps the stone held firmly in place.

So while the ring kept its distinctive Mokume Gane pattern in select details, we made the body and the setting from platinum. This way, we kept the design our customer fell in love with while ensuring it was strong enough for his girlfriend’s lifestyle.

designing engagement ring for a horse trainer — Elyon was a really thoughtful choice, but we still wanted to make a few changes that would prevent the engagement ring from catching on anything.

What Changes We Made to the Original Engagement Ring Design

After we chose the metals and gemstones, it was time to look closely at the ring design. Once we understood what appealed to our customer, we could begin adjusting the sketches. Beyond choosing the best materials for this ring, we also had to consider its shape and structure in light of what her work actually involves, including:

Constant friction: gripping rough pitchfork handles, hay bales, and leather reins all day wears down textured details fast.
The “catching” hazard: a ring with raised prongs or a high setting can snag on a halter, a mane, or a gate latch. If that happens while a horse is moving, it’s not just the ring at risk.

To be honest, the ring our customer liked before even reaching out to us was already a very thoughtful choice, considering his girlfriend’s profession. The setting wasn’t too high, the lines flowed rather than being sharp, and there were no tiny prongs. All of these details showed real attention on his part. He also asked a few very good questions in his email: “I am slightly concerned that the setting is too fragile for her daily routine. Is the stone set in a base, or what manner is it secured to the ring?“

This was the very quick visual we sent to the customer so he could envision the options: the original design with our suggested changes sketched directly over it.

The ring he’d chosen had a setting similar to a bypass reinforced with a base underneath, but wasn’t secure enough for her daily routine. We explained what we could do to reinforce the setting while reducing the risk of friction and catching, offering two options:

Elongate the lip on each side of the diamond so it hugs the stone more firmly, potentially extending all the way around, in a full 360-degree wrap. If he liked that look, we could even remove the base beneath the diamond entirely, turning it into a true bypass setting.
Elongate the lips without wrapping them fully around the central stone. Instead, we could connect them to the band on each side.

We recommended the first option because it would hold the stone more securely, and he agreed.

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What to Take From This Case Before Talking to Your Jeweler

You can use this case as a reference for what a bespoke engagement ring should be: from the stones and metal to the setting, every element was chosen with the real life of our client’s girlfriend (now his fiancée!) in mind. Creating a bespoke ring is a collaborative process, and the quality of that collaboration directly shapes the result. Simply telling your jeweler that your partner “has an active lifestyle” isn’t quite enough information on its own. A potter, for example, also works with their hands but faces different daily challenges than a horse trainer, which means different factors to design around. That’s why an experienced jeweler asks a lot of questions and pays close attention to the details you share. A good consultation usually teaches you something too.

If you’re planning a ring for someone with a specific lifestyle, hobby, or profession in mind, and you’re not sure how it will hold up over time, we’d love to talk it through with you. Book a consultation with our design team to start the conversation.