Good Morning PSers,
Some of you may remember me as the PS member Austinj so generously helped when I was looking for a padparadscha colored spinel for my engagement ring. She and I were looking at the same stone Jim McCormick was selling, and after she put half down on the stone, she offered that I could pay the other half and keep the stone. Her hope was that I would pay it forward to someone else one day. I gratefully accepted her offer and my BF purchased the stone.
Given our tight budget constraints--which were loosened a bit after Austinj's gracious act of kindness--I figured it would be awhile before we could find a setting I loved. After turning in an old ring setting purchased at a nearby jeweler, we were able to find some affordable settings that would fit the stone's dimensions. I narrowed it down to two very different settings and told my boyfriend to surprise me.
I figured it would be awhile before he could pay off the setting, but my BF popped the question a few weeks ago at a little bed and breakfast on the Northern California coast. I completely thwarted his original plan, which was to ask me at a romantic dinner on the wharf at sunset. I had a headache, and wanted to go back to the B&B where we were staying. He was so nervous about it that he decided he couldn't wait another night and got down on one knee while I was lying in bed. I couldn't believe it, and of course I said yes!
I love the ring and am happy he went with the more simple setting. The other was very ornate and overpowered the spinel. In my original post, I didn't like the stone against white gold, but when I put it in a rose gold setting, it played up the brown in it and was quite unflattering. The stone is very shifty, and can brown out in direct sunlight, but looks beautiful in many other lights.
Thank you all for your help during this process and, especially to you Austinj, for your generosity and kindness.
Some of you may remember me as the PS member Austinj so generously helped when I was looking for a padparadscha colored spinel for my engagement ring. She and I were looking at the same stone Jim McCormick was selling, and after she put half down on the stone, she offered that I could pay the other half and keep the stone. Her hope was that I would pay it forward to someone else one day. I gratefully accepted her offer and my BF purchased the stone.
Given our tight budget constraints--which were loosened a bit after Austinj's gracious act of kindness--I figured it would be awhile before we could find a setting I loved. After turning in an old ring setting purchased at a nearby jeweler, we were able to find some affordable settings that would fit the stone's dimensions. I narrowed it down to two very different settings and told my boyfriend to surprise me.
I figured it would be awhile before he could pay off the setting, but my BF popped the question a few weeks ago at a little bed and breakfast on the Northern California coast. I completely thwarted his original plan, which was to ask me at a romantic dinner on the wharf at sunset. I had a headache, and wanted to go back to the B&B where we were staying. He was so nervous about it that he decided he couldn't wait another night and got down on one knee while I was lying in bed. I couldn't believe it, and of course I said yes!
I love the ring and am happy he went with the more simple setting. The other was very ornate and overpowered the spinel. In my original post, I didn't like the stone against white gold, but when I put it in a rose gold setting, it played up the brown in it and was quite unflattering. The stone is very shifty, and can brown out in direct sunlight, but looks beautiful in many other lights.
Thank you all for your help during this process and, especially to you Austinj, for your generosity and kindness.
. Lovely ring!
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