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Shaun Leane photo

18 kt white gold and diamond interlocking ring set by Shaun Leane

Engagement rings that are on the edge

Shaun Leane's twisted bridal jewelry

The lightening bolt of creativity that has struck the jewelry world in the last several years has yet to make it to the all-too-conventional realm of engagement rings.

So how fun is it to see the edgy bridal designs of Britain’s Shaun Leane? The London-based designer puts traditional solitaires in settings that resemble thorns and serpent’s tails.

“I like to create things that reflect love and pain,” Leane once told Style.com.

Leane’s bridal collection includes interlocking rings, matching dagger earrings, and co-ordinating bands for the groom.

Leane delved into goldsmithing with an apprenticeship at 15. Following training at Sir John Cass College, Leane set up his own workshop where he has made a marriage of tradition and the macabre a signature.

Leane has produced jewellery for Van Cleef & Arpels, Garrads, Kutchinskys, Mappin & Webb, Marc Jacobs and Givenchy.

But he is best known as Alexander McQueen’s favourite silversmith. Leane’s collaborations with the designer have included tusk-like mouthpieces, jewelled body armour, a silver coil corset and a moonstone-studded crescent moon that appeared to pierce a model’s neck.

In 2006, Leane’s red enamel heart lockets wrapped in gold thorns helped him win the UK Jewellery of the Year award.

Leane is planning to stage a retrospective of his work in June and is in talks with Daphne Guinness about a jewelry line.