Thirty-two years ago, DeBeers London, the world’s leading diamond group, awarded Nicholas T. Ferro of Woodstock their prestigious Diamonds Today Award for his stunning platinum and gold double diamond engagement ring. DeBeers asked Nick (as everyone knows him) his thoughts on jewelry and diamond trends. Nick noted interest in new and different cuts of gems. He also told DeBeers that he thought diamonds in the Old European cut should be brought back.

The depth of their brilliance, sparkling even in low light, and distinctive flash of color drew Nick to admire these gems that were hand cut before the advent of mid-20th-century diamond-cutting tools. With tiny differences, no two Old European–cut diamonds are alike.

Now Nick, founder and owner of NT Ferro Estate & Custom Jewelers in the heart of Woodstock, is introducing a limited selection of rings featuring these elegant diamonds—and he is setting them in ring designs from their era. “These are diamonds mined in the 1920s in designs from the 1920s. They are truly antique and truly unique,” he says.

As unique as these diamonds, Nick has a lifetime of experience, expertise, and commitment to bringing people together with jewelry that they cherish. Founded in 1981, NT Ferro Estate & Custom Jewelers offers a meticulously curated selection of jewelry sourced from around the country and world. True to their name, they specialize in custom design, including working directly with clients to create meaningful, exquisite one-of-a-kind pieces. They also excel in offering top-quality estate jewelry including rings, timepieces, earrings, bracelets, pins, and necklaces.

This new selection of NT Ferro rings is deeply rooted in Nick’s expertise in estate jewelry and his knowledge of diamonds and jewelry styles. His personal history, and inspiration from his wife Beverly, ignited the project.

 

A Family Legacy

When Nick opened the Woodstock store 45 years ago, he brought decades of experience to the new endeavor. He and Beverly and their children frequented the area for years before they made the move. They invested in downtown Woodstock and imbued the store with refined and welcoming ambiance—lush hunter green carpet, custom wood-trimmed display cases. The store has the same classic look today.

At the time of their move, the Ferro family’s jewelry legacy was already in its fourth decade. Originally from Salerno, Italy, Nick’s grandparents and their children emigrated to the United States in the early 20th century. Settling in New Jersey, his grandfather made custom suits and shirts—and inspired his children. Newark was a jewelry-making hub then. Its 150-plus jewelry manufacturers included Tiffany & Co.’s castle-like factory.

Nick’s father, Nicholas, wanted his own business. He built his skills, as Nick recalls, “at a small little jewelry factory.” In 1947, Nicholas and Victor Parmigiano opened their firm, Essex Jewelers. They grew the business to become one of the leading ring designers and manufacturers in the country. In the 1960s they employed over 65 people, including 40 jewelers.

“They could make everything, but didn’t,” says Nick about their specialization in rings. His father’s lesson was “Focus on what you do well. Don’t try to be everything to everybody.” Nicholas also told his children, “You have jewelry in your blood.”

Nick studied design at Pratt Institute and business at Pace University. He earned advanced certifications with the Gemological Institute of America, an institute considered the foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones, and pearls.

 

Taking the Lead

After his father died, Nick led the business and opened a high-end retail store in Bernardsville, New Jersey. In Woodstock, from the beginning, Nick and his team focused on helping people find or create jewelry to treasure.

Collaboration with clients on custom pieces takes many directions—the perfect set of engagement and wedding bands, pendants with personal meaning, sometimes carrying family jewelry forward in new ways. Pieces of jewelry passed down through a family often have profound personal connections, but design-wise they may not be the right fit, or a family may want to pass on various stones to multiple family members. For all of these and more, Nick and his team’s talents step in. From sketch to finished product, they transform vision to reality.

Repairing, restoring, and selling estate jewelry, Nick has worked extensively with antique pieces. “Over the last 40 years I have received many important pieces for my estate department. Being a diamond setter and jeweler, I appreciated the quality and filigree design jewelers created in the 1920s,” he says. Styles from the 1920s are known for delicate lace-like metalwork.

 

Giving Old Jewelry New Life

With pieces he acquired that he particularly admired, Nick would remove the large center diamond from the mounting and then have a mold made of the ring, preserving a record of its design. Today, this process is done with computer-aided design (CAD) software. After the mold was created, he reset the stone in the original ring and brought it to top condition for its next owner.

Through the years, Nick built an extensive collection of molds—200 or so. Working with the collection was a project he long intended to pursue. Recently, Beverly nudged it along, encouraging Nick to select some of his favorite designs and have them cast in gold and platinum.

The rings dating to the 1920s featured the Old European–cut diamonds. Beyond the hand-cutting technique, which results in larger facets overall, they have a large culet (the facet at the bottom of the diamond) and a small table (the facet at the top). This design affects the way light bounces around inside the gem and then re-emerges with multicolored flashes.

Nick works with a company that specializes in buying 1920s hand-cut diamonds. They sell them to a few select jewelry designers, including him. “Every one of my 1920 designs are set with European diamonds that were hand cut in the 1920s,” he says.

Back in 1994, when DeBeers selected Nick Ferro’s elegant double diamond ring design over more than 600 other entries, Nick was already thinking about the spectacular attributes of Old European–cut diamonds. This spring, he is bringing them forward for the rest of us to delight in these one-of-a kind-beauties in distinctive settings of their time.

 

NT Ferro Estate & Custom Jewelers

11 Central Street

Woodstock, VT

(802) 457-1901

http://ntferro.com/