- Joined
- Aug 12, 2005
- Messages
- 19,445
Oh boy, this is gonna be a doozy, so buckle up your ruby slippers and get ready for story time.
For about a thousand years I’ve been saying to myself and to others that I want a big old emerald cut emerald ring. I told both my ex-husbands this information. They preferred diamonds for engagement rings and I swallowed my disappointment and was happy with what I got. But let’s back up for a minute and I’ll tell you the tale of Why I Wanted an Emerald to Begin With. (I’ll try to make it shorter than Don McLean’s American Pie, promise.)
1. When I was a kid the movie Wizard of Oz came on tv once a year, kind of like the Miss America pageant. It was a special event, and my parents were always excited to watch it with me because I was fascinated by it, as anyone would be. The Emerald City certainly had my attention as the most alluring destination in any book I’d ever read or movie I’d ever seen.
2. In my teenage years, we started vacationing twice a year on the “emerald coast” of Florida—the northwest part/panhandle, where the beaches are sugary white sand and the water is clear and on sunny days it glows green near the shore. These were times I really got a chance to spend time with my dad (who passed last year) one on one. My brother and mom weren’t beach people but my dad and I were and we’d sit at the beach and walk it several times a day and just talk.
3. I’m a May baby. So is my daughter/only offspring.
4. Everything green. I’m a gardener, love the color green having grown up in the vivid, verdant Midwest especially in the spring.
When my dad passed, my trading green grew a bit. I decided it was now or never to build the emerald ring of my dreams that I can wear and enjoy now, and pass on to my daughter when I’m one with the earth in my green burial mushroom suit (it’s called manifesting, look it up). I’d been following JR Columbian on Instagram since 2020, and reached out to them to start the process. I knew I wanted yellow gold, an elongated step cut, and I wanted to bezel the stone for a little extra protection.
I didn’t have to pick up the phone once (yay, I’m a xennial introvert who is appalled by actual phone conversations unless I’ve had a glass of wine); we worked everything out easily over IG messaging. From start to finish the project took maybe 3-4 weeks. I was incredibly happy with the way things were handled and now that the ring is in my possession I’m incredibly happy with IT! Natalie was great about suggesting stones and sending me videos and hand shots every time. I ended up choosing between 3 that I found on their website and picked my stone from those. I actually let my daughter make the ultimate decision by telling her absolutely nothing and showing her the pic of all 3 together to ask her which was her favorite. She liked the same one I did, and the deal was sealed.
When I chose my stone I was prioritizing things in no particular order but it had to meet these criteria:
1. Color reminiscent of emerald coast shoreline
2. Glow
3. Size—3-4 Ct
4. Elongated step cut
5. No visible black inclusions
I chose the 3.92 (you’ll see comparisons in pics) because ultimately it GLOWED. It practically GLEW. It gave new meaning to the phrase “glow-up.” It was so glowing it might as well have been 8 months pregnant.
We absolutely nailed it, in my eyes. I am beyond happy with the ring, and…happy. For many years I felt unheard and ignored when it came to my likes and what would make me happy. At long last, I’m going my own way and taking care of me, and rewarding myself for making it through some extremely difficult things without running screaming into the void like many sane people would do. Sticking around and showing up is not easy. My dad was always proud of me for being adventurous and taking risks but he also got after me more than a time or two for phoning it in when he saw me not living up to what he knew I could do and be. He was my courage, my heart, my intellectual inspiration, and always my home. This ring is a tribute to him, a fulfillment of a dream I’ve had, a reminder that I can achieve anything I want to in life, and just the prettiest damn thing I’ve ever seen which is obviously most important unless you’re colorblind and then I guess you’re f-ed.
Here is a whole entire slide show for those of you who are not colorblind (congrats!):
For about a thousand years I’ve been saying to myself and to others that I want a big old emerald cut emerald ring. I told both my ex-husbands this information. They preferred diamonds for engagement rings and I swallowed my disappointment and was happy with what I got. But let’s back up for a minute and I’ll tell you the tale of Why I Wanted an Emerald to Begin With. (I’ll try to make it shorter than Don McLean’s American Pie, promise.)
1. When I was a kid the movie Wizard of Oz came on tv once a year, kind of like the Miss America pageant. It was a special event, and my parents were always excited to watch it with me because I was fascinated by it, as anyone would be. The Emerald City certainly had my attention as the most alluring destination in any book I’d ever read or movie I’d ever seen.
2. In my teenage years, we started vacationing twice a year on the “emerald coast” of Florida—the northwest part/panhandle, where the beaches are sugary white sand and the water is clear and on sunny days it glows green near the shore. These were times I really got a chance to spend time with my dad (who passed last year) one on one. My brother and mom weren’t beach people but my dad and I were and we’d sit at the beach and walk it several times a day and just talk.
3. I’m a May baby. So is my daughter/only offspring.
4. Everything green. I’m a gardener, love the color green having grown up in the vivid, verdant Midwest especially in the spring.
When my dad passed, my trading green grew a bit. I decided it was now or never to build the emerald ring of my dreams that I can wear and enjoy now, and pass on to my daughter when I’m one with the earth in my green burial mushroom suit (it’s called manifesting, look it up). I’d been following JR Columbian on Instagram since 2020, and reached out to them to start the process. I knew I wanted yellow gold, an elongated step cut, and I wanted to bezel the stone for a little extra protection.
I didn’t have to pick up the phone once (yay, I’m a xennial introvert who is appalled by actual phone conversations unless I’ve had a glass of wine); we worked everything out easily over IG messaging. From start to finish the project took maybe 3-4 weeks. I was incredibly happy with the way things were handled and now that the ring is in my possession I’m incredibly happy with IT! Natalie was great about suggesting stones and sending me videos and hand shots every time. I ended up choosing between 3 that I found on their website and picked my stone from those. I actually let my daughter make the ultimate decision by telling her absolutely nothing and showing her the pic of all 3 together to ask her which was her favorite. She liked the same one I did, and the deal was sealed.
When I chose my stone I was prioritizing things in no particular order but it had to meet these criteria:
1. Color reminiscent of emerald coast shoreline
2. Glow
3. Size—3-4 Ct
4. Elongated step cut
5. No visible black inclusions
I chose the 3.92 (you’ll see comparisons in pics) because ultimately it GLOWED. It practically GLEW. It gave new meaning to the phrase “glow-up.” It was so glowing it might as well have been 8 months pregnant.
We absolutely nailed it, in my eyes. I am beyond happy with the ring, and…happy. For many years I felt unheard and ignored when it came to my likes and what would make me happy. At long last, I’m going my own way and taking care of me, and rewarding myself for making it through some extremely difficult things without running screaming into the void like many sane people would do. Sticking around and showing up is not easy. My dad was always proud of me for being adventurous and taking risks but he also got after me more than a time or two for phoning it in when he saw me not living up to what he knew I could do and be. He was my courage, my heart, my intellectual inspiration, and always my home. This ring is a tribute to him, a fulfillment of a dream I’ve had, a reminder that I can achieve anything I want to in life, and just the prettiest damn thing I’ve ever seen which is obviously most important unless you’re colorblind and then I guess you’re f-ed.
Here is a whole entire slide show for those of you who are not colorblind (congrats!):
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I love that you both chose the same stone. It's wonderful synergy.
Nobody cares, but I got all excited! I have one of those! It's my 'grown up' worry stone. It has a perfect divot for my thumb and forefinger. It's rainbow. I've had it for over twenty years.
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