Patricia Carruth is a fan of romance and telling a couple’s story, particularly as a jeweler who specializes in custom engagement rings and developing pieces that highlight that connection between a couple as they prepare for a lifetime together.

So, when the Black in Jewelry Coalition (BIJC) announced its Together by Design contest last year, which asked Black designers to create an engagement ring based on a couple’s special love story, Carruth knew she had to apply. And, much to her happy surprise, she won.

“This contest is custom made for me because this is my favorite part of the job. I had to enter because these designs are so near and dear to my heart,” Carruth says.

Carruth is the owner of Your Personal Jeweler, a jewelry business in Royal Oak, Mich. Her winning sketches of the couple’s engagement ring included the Brooklyn Bridge, a symbol of both where the couple lives (Brooklyn) and their first kiss, which was under that famous structure. The finished ring also includes a 1.31 ct. GIA-graded diamond donated by Leo Schachter.

Although Carruth cannot share any other details of the ring until the couple’s May proposal, the bridge is an ideal symbol of the kind of storytelling she likes to include in her custom designs. After all, a bridge is a lasting monument that highlights how a marriage can bridge the differences between two people and make them one.

Carruth started in jewelry as a teen, working at her grandfather’s jewelry store in Detroit. It was the best kind of summer internship, she says, because her grandfather paid her in jewelry—something that started a lifelong love affair with the craft.

Fast-forward, however, and Carruth thought she wanted to become a wedding or event planner—until she had to plan her own wedding.

“I loved the glitz and the glamour, but I also saw the stress, and I didn’t want that path,” Carruth says.

Carruth started working at a small mom-and-pop jewelry store in metro Detroit and began her education and creating designs as a professional jeweler. She jumped into her own business in 2018, quitting her job two weeks before she was about to go on maternity leave with her son—something her husband supported out of love for their family, Carruth says.

As part of her win, which BIJC announced in March, Carruth says more people are coming to her with custom work, something she hopes this contest helps current and future clients realize is within their reach.

“Custom work can be affordable, and you can include these sentimental details,” Carruth says.

Black in Jewelry Coalition is the first international nonprofit membership organization for the advancement of Black professionals in the gem, jewelry, and watch industry. BIJC’s Together by Design competition sought to create a challenge where jewelry-industry pros could show their skills as well as further develop their platform, organizers said in a statement.

As the winning designer, Carruth won a prize package that included $5,000 cash, a scholarship for a two-hour GIA online continuing education seminar, a scholarship for basic tuition at GRS for engraving or stone setting, a scholarship for basic tuition at New Approach School in Tennessee, and a year’s membership to both Jewelers of America and Jewelers Vigilance Committee.

In its award announcement, Annie Doresca, BIJC cofounder and president, said the contest, its sponsors, and the entries all showed a love for craftsmanship and working together toward a common cause.

“At BIJC, we believe in ‘shining together’ and this competition did just that. It created a platform for a couple to share their love story and for Patricia to express her creativity to the max by bringing their story to life through her design,” Doresca said. “What is most rewarding for BIJC is that throughout each area of this contest and competition, it showed representation of Black love and the talented Black designers in the jewelry industry.”

Top: Patricia Carruth won the Black in Jewelry Coalition’s Together by Design contest, helping one lucky couple design their ideal engagement ring. Carruth’s winning entry included the Brooklyn Bridge, where the couple shared their first kiss. (Photo courtesy of Patricia Carruth)

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter

Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine