A Diamond Is Forever

I acquired this ring as the starting point for a new work titled A Diamond Is Forever. The work examines the tension between the diamond ring as a symbol of eternal love and its actual material lifecycle, in which rings may be worn, abandoned, pawned, restored and recirculated. Unlike the polished second-hand jewellery displayed in the pawnshop cabinets, this ring was kept in a crumpled plastic bag at the bottom of a drawer. It was heavily worn, outdated and considered too commercially insignificant to restore or display. Its hidden storage and visibly aged surface made it particularly meaningful to me. While the other rings had been polished to conceal their previous ownership, this ring still carried clear traces of long-term wear and eventual rejection. I later melted down the ring and recast its metal into the form of a second-hand jewellery price tag, setting the original diamond into the new object. Its condition and the way it had been stored contributed directly to the work’s