Design Your Own Engagement Ring With This Toronto-Based Website

Sisterly duo Mercedes and Alexis Smith launched their custom ring site, Turnsmith Jewelry, earlier this year. Alexis has been a custom jeweller for over a decade, designing gorgeous one-of-a-kind engagement rings for clients, while Mercedes spent six years working in PR and content creation before joining forces with her sister. The result? An intuitive, fashion-forward website inspired by what the next generation of brides is looking for, and how they want to shop for rings (hint: not by blindly trusting their fiancé). “We wanted people to be able to jump in and get their hands dirty,” says Mercedes. “It’s super-approachable, and we put everything out there, including the size of our stones and the pricing.”

The stones are all alternative and ethically sourced: Alexis gets black and gray rose-cut diamonds from a small family-run company in India, and lab-grown white diamonds from the States. The designs are purposely simple, in order to showcase the uniqueness of the stones, but clients can customize them how they like, by adding a halo, pavé band or using a different colour gold. “These stones have so much character,” says Alexis. “Some are opalescent, some are salt-and-peppery while others have a galaxy effect in the centre.” (Personally, we’re obsessed with this milky-gray oval.) Once customers have played around on the site to create their rings, they’ll have a one-on-one consultation with Alexis (either over the phone or in person) where they get to see a rendering of their final design before it’s handcrafted in Toronto. Prices currently range from $2,000 to $4,500, depending on the level of customization.

Turnsmithjewelry.com