This ring is your time on the sea, in any kind of a craft, especially when it’s late afternoon or early evening and the sun is low in the sky and a sea breeze has raised a fine chop. The sun is orange-gold. The light on the water is the white diamonds on the east-west sides of this ring, catching the light and sparkling on the waves. If you own a Hinkley and you’ve sailed all your life, you already know what this ring is telling you. When she wears this ring you know the day, the hour, the boat. It’ a really nice way to reconnect to your most awesome days on the sea.
Why We Love This Ring
This is one of the prettiest rings in the world today. A strong statement. The design is a perfect 10. The center gem sits pretty, it’s glittery and golden, catching light and reflecting sunshine. This ring is set low, close, and comfortable. It’s smooth at all the important touch points. As the ring narrows towards the back and sweeps down to a thinner point, the three graduated diamonds follow the taper of the design. It’s perfect. If you have, or ever had a boat, this Sea to Shining Sea ring captures perfectly the light on the sun-dappled sea.
From Sea to Shining Sea
In some part of my romantic imagination I can see myself 150 years ago as crew on an American Clipper Ship. The work is hard, the days are long, the food is awful. There are moments after passing the tip of South America and heading north into the Pacific, that the ocean is warming, and the sun on the water and waves is sparkling. The Pacific lies before us stretching all the way to China. This is the sea I see as I look at this ring. I listen to the waves at the bow, can feel the push from the sails and the surge of the ship into the waves. I can taste and smell the salt in the air. I like this ring. I believe this is one of the best rings ever made. Ergonomically smooth, low, natural, comfort-fitting. Center gem is locked securely with guard rails of gold. Diamonds trail at the sides like a wake. Ring is handmade in America. This ring is awesome.
About the Trade Wind Collection:
Where does inspiration come from? Where do the creative sparks for design begin? For Cross’ new Trade Wind Jewelry Collection, we find ourselves drawn into the story of Captain John Henry Drew, from Gardiner, Maine. Born in 1834, he grew up the son of a Ship’s Carver, and went to sea at the age of 15, eventually becoming Captain of a series of clipper ships, and traveling from New York to China and back home, when that voyage took more than seventeen months.
Instead of carving or knotting or other hobbies that were characteristic of sailors, this mostly self-educated man read books, memorized details from newspapers, and wrote about his journey—his literal and his inner journey. His hand-written and personally illustrated journals tell us of his longing for Maine, for his family, and for “making something of himself”. He is very much like you and me, and it makes his story that much more compelling. He savors apples from home, as tasting better than apples from anywhere else. He imagines the scene he might see looking in the window at home, where his family sits, and he chastises himself for not getting more done at home when he was there.
The jewelry in our Trade Wind Collection is made by his great-great-great grandson, Keith. This young man went to sea as well, at age 18. As part of his service to the US Navy, his travels took him to many of the same places his great-great-great grandfather’s clipper ships visited. Keith also had a hobby unconventional for sailors— he had a fascination for gems and he studied gemology. He studied so that when his service was completed, he could become a jeweler. As Keith traveled the world, he collected exquisite gems, and after leaving the service and returning home, he mastered the art of fine jewelry making.
It is now decades later. We met Keith for the first time in March, 2014. We were impressed with his jewelry, and as we talked further, discovered he had a clipper ship sea captain ancestor and became intrigued with the parallels of his journey in life with that of his sea captain forebear.
The parallels in the two stories are expressed in the jewelry itself—the exotic colors, the flow of the designs, the attention to detail which is something passed down in this family—whether it is to protect the ship, its cargo and its crew, or to create a design that will last and protect its valuable gems, giving the wearer the same pleasure we experience when a ship at full sail goes by. You can’t help but stop and exclaim, “Isn’t that beautiful?”
We were hooked by this story, and by the jewelry. We think you will be too. In fact, we’re posting pages from Captain Drew’s journals from the Voyage of the Franklin in 1868. Take a few minutes to join in the journey, and think of those you love most, and rejoice if they are right there with you.
Read the Captain’s Journal Entries
Keith’s Gem Expedition Dispatches
