Among birders, bullfinches are distinguished by their front-heavy, bullheaded form. But there’s nothing blunt about Ichien Ballaga’s jeweled rendition of a pair of bullfinches about to take flight. The founder of Moscow-based Ichien infused an uncommon airiness into a piece that boasts a lot of volume. But then a certain grace was baked into the design from the get-go: “As soon as I started drawing, these graceful birds started appearing through the rough lines, with outlines and shapes forming as if by themselves,” Ballaga recalls. “Within minutes, two were fluttering all over the watercolor paper.” If he hadn’t willed his hand to stop, he adds, “they would have turned into a whole necklace of bullfinches.” 

Airy Tale

The piece’s unusual, highly nuanced use of colored gemstones played into the mission of “portraying the lightness of the birds and their movement in flight,” Ballaga says. “I wanted to capture the moment when they spread their wings in such a way that they do not look like frozen statues. I wanted people to feel a touch of magic.” 
 

Flying Lessons

The challenge, says Ballaga, was imbuing the ring with a feeling of weightlessness. “It’s extremely hard to achieve the essence of something ethereal when working with metals and gemstones,” he says. “One has to really understand how to apply color, and how to work with silhouettes.” 
 

Feather Man

The Bullfinches ring—which retails for $40,000—comprises 40.36 grams of 18k white gold, 5.35 cts. t.w. white diamonds, 3.03 cts. t.w. black diamonds, 2.02 cts. t.w. rubies, 0.74 ct. t.w. pink sapphires, 1.45 cts. t.w. yellow sapphires, and 1.17 cts. t.w. blue sapphires.