I''ve finally made a decision! It may surprise you...

[jellybean]

Hi all!

Sorry to bore those who have heard my saga before, but I''ll repeat it anyway.

My mom wanted me to buy something in rememberance of my grandparents who recently passed away. She is giving me $2,000 -- not a ton of money, but enough to buy something nice.

I kept going back and forth between getting a new wedding set or an eternity band. I never liked my original e-ring setting and recently had the diamond reset in a plain contour setting that is just too wide for my taste. I first considered a 3 stone ring, then considered getting a shared prong round set similar to what Mara and many others have. I never had a "set" and figured since my husband would poo-poo me spending that kind of money on one right now, this would be my only chance to get it.

However, I just kept coming back to that eternity band! I kept trying them on and realized I loved the classic look of it. I saw many pretty wedding sets but never one that just sung to me (know what I mean?)

Soooo....I finally decided on the eternity band! Unfortunately, I have to wait about 3 weeks for it.

I am so excited!

There was a couple of reasons why I picked the eternity band. The jeweler that I dealt with had a lot of good thoughts. He said that wedding sets go in and out of style. Today everyone wants white gold and smaller side diamonds. A few years ago the chunkier settings were more popular. Before that was yellow gold and lots of side diamonds. Knowing my personality I would probably find a new setting I liked in a couple of years.

Second, I have always wanted a platinum ring. If I got a set I could only get white gold -- not that there''s anything wrong with it, but all my rings are gold.

Third, my wedding set should be from my husband, not a "keepsake" from my grandparents.

I am going to have my round diamond put into a stuller 4 prong tiffany setting. I tried one on with the band and it looks great together. I know it''s not a "set" but that''s OK. My goal for my 10th anniversary is to get a princess solitaire to wear with the eternity band. I have already put the bug in my husband''s ear!

I will post hand pics as soon as I get it. For the meantime here''s a picture of the eternity band from the Signed Pieces web site. It is 1.5ct, F-G color diamonds. I think they are 5 points each.

 

[Angel7]

Congrats!
Great Choice.
Enjoy it!!!

 

[jellybean]

I took this picture from the Good Old Gold web site. The diamond in this pic is 2 ct but it gives an idea of what the 4 prong setting looks like. I can''t wait!!!!!

 

[JoangA]

Very nice..

 

[FireGoddess]

That eternity ring is going to look wonderful with its wall to wall princess cut diamonds! I think your solitaire will look lovely with it. Stones don''t all have to be the same shape to look great together..I wore a rb solitaire with a Lucida (modified square cut) half-eternity band for awhile, and then when I upgraded, a pear solitaire with the Lucida band (see avatar). I hope the three weeks goes by quickly for you...it''s torture, I know! They''re going to look stunning together.

 

[bluedawg]

Great choice! I hope the weeks pass quickly for you.

 

[fountainfairfax]

I''m sure that eternity band will be a great reminder of your grandparents and will be a wonderful ring to wear everyday! I hope it gets to you ASAP and that you show us lots of hand pics! Congrats on a choice well made!

 

[belle]

jellybean made a decision!?

yay!!!

i LOVE it!!!! you done good!! .......can't wait to see it!!!

 

[Patty]

I''m with belle...jelly bean made a decision?!

Good for you! I like your reasoning that this will be one ring to remember your grandparents by, not a wedding set. And a narrow band solitaire will look GREAT next to it! (Although I adored your contour setting too!)

What will you do with your smaller solitaire...the .38c or so? It should look nice next to your new anniversary band too!

 

[jellybean]

How about it -- I finally made a decision!

And I''m not second guessing myself!

I still have the 0.38ct in the solitaire setting. I was thinking about putting it back into the pendant because it looks sooooo tiny in the solitaire setting. I did try it on with the eternity band at the store and thought it just looked OK. It kind of detracted from the band in a way because it''s an older cut diamond and the princess diamonds were so sparkly.

For some reason, my MIL has taken an interest in this whole saga. Every time I see her (which is quite often) she keeps asking if I''ve made a decision and each time I told her no, she says "oh please don''t change the solitaire - it looks so pretty!". She even made an issue about it at Easter and got all my husband''s relatives on my case about it.

I''m not sure why she cares so much.

 

[Patty]

Interesting that you MIL is so invested in what you do. I thought at first that she didn''t want you to change the setting that SHE picked out. Now she doesn''t want you to change the setting that YOU picked out?! I guess there is no pleasing some people.

I hate to see money wasted...I guess there is no way to use either of your settings again if you get a new solitaire for your 1.5c and you have your .38 put back into a pendant? Could they file down the contour setting to a narrower band for you so you don''t have to buy the Stuller? (I realize that this will not be the same.) Or could they put a new head on the .38 ring to fit your 1.5c? Isn''t that a narrow band solitaire?

Feel free to tell me to buzz off....

 

[jellybean]

Patty -- You''re right -- at first my MIL didn''t want me to change the setting she picked out. Then when she finally saw the contour setting she kept gushing about how pretty it looked in that setting. I''ll never figure her out. She also has asked several times what I''ve done with the setting she picked out. I think she thinks I threw it out. It''s in my jewelry box and I really think it would look nice with either a marquise or pear shaped stone in it. I should offer it back to her. No, that would start world war III. Actually, one of the reasons why I didn''t get a new wedding set is because no matter what I do with the 1.5ct diamond it will always feel like her diamond. My plan is to offer it to my daughter when she gets engaged. She''s only 2 so hopefully we have a long time before that happens!

I don''t like wasting money either; fortunately neither solitaire setting was very expensive. The 0.38ct is in an x-prong setting so I could only replace that diamond with one that measured 4.5 - 5mm. My mom says I should just keep it in there and wear it like I have been with my 5 stone diamond band as my "everyday" set for running to the store, or things of that nature.

The contour setting was even less expensive than the x-prong one. My 30 day return period is up so the only thing I could do is put a gemstone into it. I should offer it to my MIL since she likes it so much.

I just saw on the GOG website what I want for my 10 year anniversary (in 4 1/2 years)

It''s an ideal cut square -- I think they call it a square cushion. Maybe if I just put a little aside each month I can get it sooner than 4 1/2 years!

 

[belle]

It''s an ideal cut square -- I think they call it a square cushion.

yum!!! that would be nice!!

 

[Lynette]

That eternity band is scrumptious! I have an anniversary band with two rows of 10 princess diamonds invisibly set- I love it.
I had some of the same problems you have with upgrading and inheriting rings. The big snag that I run into is that I have arthritic fingers (since I was 25) and I can''t wear any rings other than on my ring finger- nothing on the right hand.

But I compromise by rotating my rings on different days. My husband understands not wearing my wedding set all the time

. At least you never get tired of any of them. My wedding set has a quarter carat center stone and ruby baguettes- not my taste anymore 25 years later but I am glad that I kept it in it''s original state.
Enjoy your band- I think you made a great choice!

 

[Jennifer5973]

Nice choice!

 

[Kaili]

Jellybean, what a great decision!! I can''t wait to see that stunner on your hand!!