What is fingerprint enhancement and why would you need to enhance it?
Most of the jewellery created at Serendipity Diamonds features personalisation in one way or another. For example, one of our most popular services involves the application of a loved one’s fingerprint onto a ring. We add enhanced fingerprints onto the outer and inner surfaces of many types of jewellery.
But, why would you need fingerprint enhancement? Many of the fingerprints received from clients carry imperfections, smudges, scars and missing sections. Moreover, fingerprint enhancement improves the quality of the print. For example, many clients prefer the removal of scars or blank areas.
The enhancement work cleans the print, transforming it into a clean, crisp image. As a result, the final item stands apart from alternative fingerprint rings with low-quality prints with an inferior finish.
How are fingerprints enhanced?
We consider every fingerprint on an individual basis. Interestingly, some take less time to enhance. Conversely, others take several hours of manual reconstruction.
Firstly, using our free fingerprint kit, clients return their fingerprints for scanning.
Then, we import the image file into Photoshop and apply changes to the contrast and brightness. Through a process of manual editing, we clean up dust, scratches, scars and faded areas of the fingerprint.
Finally, most clients receive the final enhanced artwork for their approval before we apply it to an item of jewellery.

After the painstaking process of fingerprint editing, we create a crisp vector image of the fingerprint, perfect for engraving.

Some of our fingerprint jewellery features a combination of prints. For example, the double heart design with two fingerprints.
For this ring style, we create a canvas of equal size to the item of jewellery and use a heart-shaped template to isolate the best area of the fingerprint. As a result, the important whorl, or arch detail features in the final enhanced fingerprints.

Enhanced fingerprint jewellery – final results
The final result of an enhanced print speaks for itself. When viewed on the final item, the fingerprint detail appears very clear.
View the following design in our shop section of the website

Many other engravings go through a similar process of enhancement. These include footprints, handprints, paw prints, nose prints (dogs) to name just a few.
Memorial fingerprint reconstruction
We create some designs intended as memorial fingerprint jewellery. From time-to-time, we restore fingerprints from documents such as birth certificates.

Read our related posts on Fingerprint jewellery
Do you need to have a fingerprint enhanced?
We can provide fingerprint enhancements for other individuals and organisations upon request. Please contact us with an example of the fingerprint you need to be enhanced for more information.

About Mark Johnson
Mark attended Liverpool University and went on to pursue a career in the diamond industry. After more than a decade working in polished diamonds, Mark moved to the Isle of Wight where he launched Serendipity Diamonds. He works most days from their busy Ryde showroom, photographing jewellery and writing for the Serendipity Diamonds website.