Keep your fingers crossed for me..

[Selkie]

Date: 5/28/2006 2:12:35 PM
Author: IndieJones
I have some training as a jeweler although I mainly have worked in silver. So this week my sister and her fi tried on wedding bands at Tiffany, fell in love with a set, and apparently had the brilliant idea that I could make the replicas out of silver.... by the 10th.

I am woefully out of practice, so while I''m flattered I''m also panicking just a bit. And feeling a bit annoyed that they''re (ok, she is) unwilling to fork out $1200 ea for a wedding band that will last them the rest of their lives. I think puritanism must be a genetic trait.

I haven''t even touched my bench for well over a year due to an injury.

I do love this kind of thing, and it''s so much fun working with wax again, so I shouldn''t complain (too much). The only real problem I have is that during the year it was closed up my little workshop got infested with black widow spiders! ick!!!

Spider bombs, made by Raid. My fiance''s truck got infested while he was working in the desert, and that''s what he used.

That''s so cool that you know how to make silver jewelry! Where did you learn? Do you have tons of stuff you''ve made for yourself? Sorry to hear that you are injured, though, is it carpal tunnel or something? It''s nice of you to do that for your sister, on such short notice. What is the design like?

And your bf''s comments sound very much like momentum to me. Have things calmed down for him at work, since he defended?

 

[firebirdgold]

Spider bombs, that''s a good idea. I called the exterminators who sprayed, but they told my not to reach into any boxes or dark spots with my hand and to call 911 if I get bit. Gee, thanks.

I''m actually GIA trained, but went a different direction afterwards. I always give everything I make to other people, but I was just getting into wax carving and thinking of doing it more seriously when my hand was injuried. I''m having surgery this summer so maybe it''ll recover enough to get back to it. Carpal tunnel and severe tendinitis from scar tissue after ripping a few tendons. oops.

Anyway, it''s a very simple design with milgrain. I just have to resolve a few technical difficulties with my lathe jury-rig set up. If I had more time it''d be fun to design them in cad, since I used to do 3-d modeling.

My poor bf still has a sort fuse when it comes to work. Personally i think switching sections would do wonders for his mood, but who knows when HR will be back online so people can do internal hires again.

And he should have gotten a huge raise already but because HR is down, no luck. It''s no surprise that everyone''s morale is shot there. You know, I bet having the angel of death sweep through the company with a basket of pink slips would also do wonders for his mood.

There are even more signs of movement! He admitted to looking at the site last night and previously as well as at a few others. He also mentioned that he was thinking of asking for his sister''s opinon. I was so excited by this sign that I agreed but NOOOOO! We have totally opposite tastes (orange and army green wedding colors? ick), she''s 10 yrs younger, and the less said about her e-ring the better. Besides, she may not take it well. Well, I have to back track on that one before it''s too late.
Should I suggest that he gets his mother''s opinion instead?

And why does he need another opinion anyway? I gave him my top 5 choices, is it so hard to pick one???

ARRGH!!!! (resisting urge to fling myself on floor and have a tantrum).

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Heeehee. Your posts are always so fun to read. I''m glad things are getting more *momentumy* for you two. Yay!

I also think it''s awesome that you do jewelry making. How interesting! I hope the plan for your sister works well. Did the bug bomb thing work? Will you show us what they look like when you finish? And, not to sound stupid, but do puritans prefer silver to gold? Or is it more about being frugal? I''m not sure.

 

[anchor31]

Good to hear there''s progress!! Hehe... My FF thought about going to the jewellers'' with his mom or dad instead of me on Saturday and I was like NOOOOO!! Especially not his dad...

Still thinking about you!

 

[firebirdgold]

SIGH.
Note to self, never bring bf into a jewelry store with pushy salespeople.

So we''re out walking and I see that this local (horribly overpriced) jewelry store is open because it has a huge sale sign in the window. (their prices are awfully soft to begin with). I steer him over because I know they always have a few OEC antiques. The saleslady opens up the case and hands me the ring I wanted to see and he starts edging away. Then I ask a question about the ring so she calls a second woman over (who answers wrong btw) and *POOF* bf suddenly starts doing a tour of the cases well away from me. It was sooo frustrating and embarassing.
I just wanted him to see what an OEC looked like and to see what that size looked like on my hand. And he vanishes! I wait until he''s toured the entire store and gotten back near me and call him over to look. Geez, did he ever look pained and uncomfortable.
In all fairness I did have two salesladies on me, one of whom was selling so hard I''m surprised she didn''t try to lock us in the store until we bought! I''m pretty inured to pushy salesladies, but even I was feeling uncomfortable by the time I got him back to look at it. If he had just stayed put and looked in the first place we would have been out of there in under 2 minutes! Although prehaps I should have explained before we went in that this was merely for comparison sake.

Afterwards I tried to explain that I wanted him to see what an OEC looked like live and to see the size, and he said they all look the same. He seemed super-uncomfortable, he didn''t even want to listen to me. You''d think he''d be a little interested? Why on earth wouldn''t he want to see what they look like in person?

So do you think the pushy salesladies have set us back some on the ring? I''m very confused, maybe one of you ladies could shed some light on this?

 

[bee*]

you''re lucky you even got him into the shop-my bf wont even go near one. I dont know what their fear is! Maybe could he have a ring already and doesnt want you trying on other ones?

 

[Selkie]

My very patient, very laid-back fiance got VERY uncomfortable and snapped at a pushy saleslady the ONE time we went into a Robbins Bros. store, on HIS SUGGESTION no less. I wanted to avoid the place like the plague, but he thought it might be "interesting."
I tend to get nervous like that in jewelry stores too (or any place involving active salesmanship), anyway, but that''s just my personality.

Anyway, I kind of understand his reaction, since he probably wasn''t exactly sure what your motivation was, until you explained it. At least he didn''t run screaming out the door. Men.

How does he feel about the whole online shopping thing in general? Is he more likely to buy something from one of the sites you''ve suggested, or will he suck it up and go with the B&M?

 

[firebirdgold]

He's vastly more likely to shop online than in a store. If this was still back in the day of only B&M's I'd probably never get a ring!

This is so exciting! It really feels close!

He's told me that he's looked at the antique ring website and it looks interesting. He thinks some of the rings I sent him have already been sold. Um, hello? I sent him 3 rings, one of which hasn't been on for a while which the email said, and the other two are still there. ok.

He says that some of the rings there are gaudy (no duh) and some look nice but that he really can't tell the difference between the ones that look nice. He said he meant that he can't tell which one is better not that they all look the same. Which they probably do to him if he hasn't noticed that the rings I sent him are still up.

LOL.

So he wants my opinion, but wouldn't give me a cut-off budget, instead he'll send links to me. However I'm far too impatient to wait for him to do that. So... I went through the entire site and have written an email saying yes, no, or maybe to each ring referenced by stock number.

I'll send that along after I know he's left work to drive home. Seems impolite to send it while he's at work.
I'm going to post the rings on my poll thread for you guys to see.

ETA: oh yeah, the lumpy wax wedding rings for my sis are at the caster's and I'll get them back middle of next week. I'll post pics, promise.

 

[Selkie]

Just wondering how your sister''s rings turned out. And if there was any more movement on the ring front for you!

 

[firebirdgold]

Oh Selkie I just LOVE

your ring!

So I finally finished the rings without a day to spare! There were casting technical problems which delayed everything.

I haven''t put the millgrain on yet since I wanted to see if they liked them or not first. (that and I''ve never actually done it before... that I can remember). There was ... well the opposite of a shrinkage problem. They wanted 4mm and they ended up 4.8... oops. And I''m worried his is a little thick, it''s 2.3ish mm thick.

Oh well, at least I''m sure they''ll fit, and they are shiny enough to not photograph well! (I swear the rims are essentially the same width on both sides of the ring.)

Nothing much on the ring front. I saw a three-stone princess cut ring locally for a really really good price and mentioned it to him via chat. The only response was ''I should have known''. I wrote back "What? that I couldn''t resist looking some more or that I couldn''t resist telling you about it?" His response : ''

''. er.... ok. No idea how to read meaning into that conversation.

Well, I''m off tomorrow to Italy for Sis''s wedding. Since I won''t be back until July 1st, maybe he''ll have the time and freedom to look a bit more. Or he could just spend the next three weeks locked up in his office working... which is probably the more likely outcome.

 

[FireGoddess]

The rings are gorgeous!!!!

Have fun in Italy at the wedding! I hope your BF uses his time wisely. And I don''t mean working.

 

[Selkie]

They look great! Even if they aren''t perfect, it''s so cool that you made them. I hope you have a great time in Italy, and eat lots of good food. And I hope he gets his act together!

Thanks for the compliments on my ring. We were a little concerned because the appraiser pointed out that color on the sapph was a little undersaturated, and looks grey from some angles. The setting really hides that though, and all around we had a great experience.

 

[tulip928]

Hey Indie -
I was just checking Signed Pieces (Tiffany) and I saw a ring there which made me think of you. It's not antique style, and not OEC, but it seems to be in the budget range you mentioned and it sure is pretty! Actually there's still 2 rings - one etoile and one classic tiffany.

 

[firebirdgold]

Heh, I do keep a watch on SP, but thanks for reminding me Tulip. I just sent off an email with the links to my beloved bf. Can''t go wrong with Tiffany!

Oh Selkie, your ring is gorgeous and so is your sapphire! Absolutely wonderful!

Welp, I''m off to Italy. Have fun you guys, I''ll miss you!

Hopefully I''ll find some internet, but if not this is Indie signing off until July!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Wow, those are gorgeous! Super shiny. I like the boxes, too. Shiny band all the way around. Cute! Have fun in Italy! Hope your boy picks something in your absence!!