Putting a Ring on It

Scott and Minter Richter don’t mind taking work home with them—on many nights, tales from their custom ring business, Minter + Richter Designs, fuel dinner table conversation with their two sons. “Telling them all of the fun and exciting love stories I’ve heard all day is my favorite part of the day,” Minter says. “Scott always smiles, laughs and says the same thing: ‘We are all snowflakes.’ … Each love story is dramatically different from the next. You may see rings on our website, but I see people and stories.”

Minter works at the “front of the house,” consulting with brides and grooms. Scott then translates her notes and sketches into handcrafted bands at his studio at South Boston’s Distillery building, using titanium inlaid with unique materials like concrete and water buffalo horn. Scott integrated a thin blue line into rings for a pair of police officers, while a couple who met on a beach in Hawaii incorporated sand and an inlay of koa wood into their design.

The Richters’ own love story began with a friendship, first forged in 1988 when she moved to Boston and got a job at the store Scott managed for his uncle. Nearly 10 years later, they reconnected for a co-worker reunion. “I fell head over heels for an old friend,” Minter says. “Not far from our 20th anniversary, I can’t imagine life without him.”

Minter says having their own company was meant to be since they worked together from the beginning—and because family-owned businesses run in the family. “We both come from parents who worked together. Somewhere in the back of each of our minds, I think we thought, ‘Of course we’ll work together! We always have!’”