It’s not an uncommon occurrence: When Pete and Patricia Van Lierop picked up Patricia’s custom-made wedding ring at Hartley Jewelers, they practically danced out the door.
“We were definitely doing our happy dance,” Patricia says with a laugh. “We were both just thrilled with it.”
“It exceeded all our expectations and everyone at Hartley Jewelers made it so fun,” adds Patricia.
When Pete recently suggested he’d like to get Patricia a locket, they went to Hartley Jewelers. “My girlfriend pointed me to them,” Patricia says. “I’d checked out a couple other jewelers in town that I’ve known for years and Hartley won out on all levels: they were the friendliest, most creative, and the pricing was right.”
The Lacey couple has been married for 26 years and also has collectively lost 150 pounds, which meant Patricia’s wedding ring was frequently falling off. Once she saw the stunning rings at Hartley Jewelers, she realized she wanted a new wedding set to commemorate their 25th anniversary.
“Pete said, ‘Okay, sure!’” Patricia says, smiling.
When they married, the couple started with simple gold wedding bands. “This new ring is the last hurrah,” she says. “We wanted it to be the end-all, be-all, and for the rest of our lives.”
The couple worked with Craig to dream up a fabulous new piece for Patricia, made up of her longtime wedding ring and other pieces. “We took all the parts and did a design for that,” she says.
“Craig was so wonderful,” Patricia says. “He’s very knowledgeable and friendly⎯and so helpful. He gave me a ballpark estimate immediately, so I could easily make the decision.”
Over four weeks, Hartley Jewelers provided sketches of several designs, built a wax mold of Patricia’s choice so she could try it on, and then completed the final piece.
The final ring has five diamonds, a marquis cut in the center flanked by two round diamonds, and two smaller diamonds to the front and back. White gold wraps around the stones.
“My original wedding set had three of the stones, and then I bought a couple other larger diamonds to add to it,” Patricia says of the final design. “I also brought in a few gold rings, which they let me trade in⎯I really appreciated that.”
When Ashley at Hartley Jewelers called to tell the couple the ring was ready to pick up the next day, they could hardly wait.
“It was so cute, because we arrived about 10 minutes before the store opened and Craig let us right in,” says Patricia. They saw the ring and the happy dancing commenced.
“The final result was spectacular and we couldn’t be happier with it,” Patricia says of her new wedding ring. “It’s more than we dreamed.”
