The Golden Hour

As published in Gents Cafe


Jewellery has the power to be this one little thing that can make you feel unique.

A man shaking in his boots after a long sleepless night. Nerves are an understatement.

An invite to a small countryside town to pursue the privilege of crafting my own wedding ring with a goldsmith wasn’t something I had initially planned on.

The anticipation had my mind running wild as I drove south east into the glare of the expressway... sure, enough the sky was clear, and the middle winter sun was as golden as could be.

It was just one of those days. I took five minutes outside the coffee shop for a breath of fresh air that complimented the espresso well.

Gary had calmed my nerves quite abruptly, he is a professional jeweller of 25 years, South African born and raised with a whole day of tales about what he has done with his trade, who he has built pieces for, and why his passion remains deep in the task to this present day.

The gold I held before me is hard to comprehend the significance of its meaning.

We melted it at a precise temperature before rolling it out to a certain thickness to the nearest of millimetre.

From the clamps tightened with bending the metal, the small hacksaw used to cut the ring to length, the soldering iron to link it all together, the file that shaved the half round into shape through to the polishing machine to bring the ring to spec..

.. all of which, and I mean all of which are very hands on, extremely interactive, the finest of eyes and gentlest of hands are suited to this task of pinpoint accuracy to deliver the most detailed and finest of finished product.

The emotional outbreak of realising what I had done hit me on my drive home.

Where I have been, what these rings mean, where would they eventually end up.

Could my nephews gain it one day for their own story, will it be passed through the generations.. “A good ring never dies, it gets passed on.”

Two rings in tow, my wife-to-be’s wedding band and my very own wedding ring.. partially formulated with melted gold from my late mother in law, may her soul rest easy knowing a piece of her will be worn with pride by her daughter and I.

The easiest of drives home, with my grin from ear to ear. The relief felt and satisfaction gained, a strong lesson learnt in that if you have a feeling that you cannot achieve something, then you best think again.

My life changed that day, forever. All thanks to a bit of self-belief.