Q: I want my bride to have an engagement ring like no other. Where can I get my own design rendered in platinum and diamonds?
A: After eleven years in the business, six of those at Cartier, private jeweler Angela Vertin (by appointment; 212-734-5652) is the fiancé-turned-designer’s premier hand-holder from Hollywood to Wall Street. She’s discreet about her client list—some gents, she explains, have been known to buy for women other than their wives—but she’ll allow that she’s worked for “a group of Hollywood girls that we read about all the time.” Vertin takes just two weeks to complete your piece, and she’s never had any returns (aside from that one occasion when the proposal was turned down). “Getting engaged is such an emotional purchase,” warns Vertin, who grills buyers about the bride-to-be’s career, background, and style. Recent pieces include an $85,000 Art Deco ring with a 6.3-carat rock for one man’s fashion-editor fiancée, and a set of four yellow- and pink-diamond pavé stacking bands designed by a more budget-conscious groom ($8,000).