Illovo · Johannesburg
One of life’s most meaningful moments, made by hand.
Gavin Ruschin is with you from the first conversation to the finished piece, made by expert craftspeople in our own Illovo workshop.
Meet your jeweller
Gavin Ruschin
For more than 20 years, Gavin has helped clients choose the perfect diamond and create pieces that become part of their story.
You choose the stone and develop the design with him. He remains your point of contact while our Illovo workshop makes your piece.
His storyThe journey
A familiar face, throughout.
- 01
The conversation
Your idea, your style and what matters to you.
- 02
Choose the diamond
Gavin hand-selects stones and explains what truly matters.
- 03
Design together
Every proportion and detail refined until it feels right.
- 04
Crafted with care
Made in Ruschin & Co's own workshop in Illovo.
“Gavin guided us through every decision without ever rushing one. The ring is more beautiful than we imagined.”
The journal
Fine jewellery, diamonds and the moments worth marking,
considered properly.
What happens during the design processInside the design stage itself: what I ask, how proportions get decided, the stone's role, and where the line falls between your decisions and mine.
The four Cs that actually matterCut does more work than the other three combined. Here is where to spend, and where a certificate is quietly selling you nothing.
Insuring a ring in South AfricaA valuation, specified cover and the clause most people never read. Ten minutes now spares you a very bad conversation later.
What a bespoke commission actually costsWhere the money goes in a made-to-order ring, what moves the number most, and why bespoke is rarely the expensive option you might assume.
Why diamond cut quality matters mostBrilliance, fire and scintillation, the angles that produce them, where light leaks, why fancy shapes have no cut grade, and hearts and arrows explained.
Caring for platinum, gold, diamonds and coloured gemstonesEmeralds and pearls need almost the opposite treatment of a diamond, and platinum ages differently to white gold. A material by material reference for what each one actually needs.
How to plan a proposal from first idea to the questionThe order that works: the ring timeline first, the setting second, the guest list third and the exact words last of all, with a step-by-step plan and a week-before checklist.
Where to propose in JohannesburgEight settings I'd consider for a Johannesburg proposal, from a private table in Illovo to the Magaliesberg at golden hour and a rooftop most people walk past.
A practical South African wedding-planning timelineA month-by-month South African wedding timeline, adjusted for the December shutdown, load-shedding, the Highveld storm season and the country's two busiest wedding windows, so you can see what to do when.
How to build a wedding budgetHow to build a wedding budget that survives contact with real quotes: which categories usually take the largest share, why the venue sets the rest, and why to build in contingency from the start.
Affordability
Money, discussed privately.
Nobody should have to guess what a ring costs. Gavin talks about budgets plainly and in private, then helps you make the number work: how a ring is priced, the ways to pay for one, and how to insure it.
Affordability, finance and insuranceBegin with a private consultation
Private consultations.
In person at our secure Illovo studio, or virtually from anywhere in the world. Private & discreet.
