Pictures of my ring..finally!

[Mara]

Well it's official, we're engaged! YAY! Here are some shots of the ring..I am still learning how to use my ridiculous digital camera and these are the best I could do between last nite and today, hee hee. No I'm not obsessed. I do have to say this ring blows away those pictures big time...it is SO incredibly WHITE and sparkly that it should be outlawed!

Last nite when I saw it for the first time it was in a restaurant and we all know how well diamonds respond to restaurant lights, this thing looked like it was ON FIRE. All I could do was stare and say 'WOW'. At least Greg says he said the same thing when he picked it up from the jeweler so we are in-sync on our initial thoughts.

The ring turned out pretty much perfect. My only thing is that I wanted a lower set head but because I wanted the wedding band to be flush against the e-ring, they had to raise the head on the band a little. It's a very dramatic effect but I have to get used to the heaviness of the ring *and* the high head now. Oh well, I'm sure I will get used to it.

Here are the specs:

Center stone: round brilliant G VS1 1.23c shallower cut stone set in 4 prong head, rated 2.3 BIC on the HCA (when we bought it, it was 1.5!). Stone lookes like a 1.35c due to the spread. Faces up pure whiteness, have gotten compliments on the iciness of it already!
Ring: Platinum setting, with 26 .03c small round brilliants 4 prong set around the entire band, eternity style, 2.5mm thick

Here is the picture! I cut and pasted a bunch into one file so that I could post them all at once. I am going to try to get more closeups later but I have to figure out the DC more.

Enjoy!

 

[lawmax]

Congratulations! Your ring is very beautiful. Did you have the setting custom designed? If not, who is the designer?

Best wishes,

lawmax

 

[Lugus]

It's beautiful Mara. Congratualations to you.

 

[optimized]

Wow, after all this time hearing about it, it's finally in your hands!
You must be thrilled to death! I'm so happy for you!

-Tim

[/b]

 

[divergrrl]

WHOO HOO MARA!! That is GORGEOUS! Hey, I tried to email you a half a dozen times about the "funsy" rings, and I keep getting "mailer daemon" messages. And I was just hitting reply to your email.

I'll be getting my new stones on tuesday & resetting my ring next week (thanks to the help of Dave Atlas) so I'll try to post pics too!

Get in touch with me if you are still interested in the rings, I'll be at my jeweler's next week.

CONGRATULATIONS on your engagement!

 

[Mara]

Yes thanks everyone I am VERY thrilled and excited. The ring is amazing. We both love it.

We had the setting custom designed, our jewelers wife had something similar but in YG with .04c stones all the way around and a slightly smaller 1.0c diamond. We loved the way it looked as it was very eye-catching, but I wanted something thinner than 3mm and in platinum, so we went with 2.5mm and the diamonds to .03c. After making the decision, I looked in vain for a ring similar to it online and found nothing. I was a little apprehensive because by having a setting custom made you don't know what it will come out like. The interesting thing is that my finished product is very different looking from Yvonne's ring, due to the plat setting and the thinner band, larger center stone.

The diamonds are prong-set vs. pave for safety, but to be honest the look of it is very similar to the Michael B pave rings, so I am glad we didn't overpay for the MB ring setting with LESS carat weight and not as safe of a setting. In the end we are very happy with the process and final result. Over time I may have the head modified if I don't get used to it being so high up, but for now I am just so happy to finally have it! Interesting bit about the head is that it reminds me pretty strongly of the Tiffany style 4 prong that is always discussed, with the slightly curved arms around the diamond. The original head I wanted would have rested into the band, with the prongs being straighter and pretty thin. These prongs and the head are much more substantial, but maybe that is for the best as I am a very clumsy girl!

Diver..I will email you again as I think I emailed you from my shell account, and that does not work when replied to. You can just remove the shell. part and then it should go through! I am still interested in pricing out the funsy rings through your jeweler, though I also found a great online resource for similar rings that is not altogether unreasonable. We'll see..I'm on a tighter budget now since tax day is coming, and think I want to upgrade my diamond bracelet next so I will be saving for that!

 

[justme]

Great ring Mara! I think the custom setting is wonderful!

 

[DiamondOptics]

congratulations

 

[Greg G]

Congrats!!! The ring looks great!

Sorry but I can't resist asking and I don't mean to be a wisearse but... Did it really take 425 posts to make this happen?

I've been looking into buying my girlfriend a ring for about a week now (and yes, I keep having to wipe the drool of my keyboard) and I'm hoping I can figure it out witha few less posts

-Greg

 

[Mara]

Greg--Ha Ha...no it took nowhere near 425 posts to make this happen. I think the ring decision making process was completed around post 50. However...I got hooked on posting to help others, or sharing my thoughts/opinions/experiences when other people looking for stones came around Pricescope.

It's easy to get hooked, watch out!

I ended up signing up for the GIA diamond essentials course in their distance education program..and just received my course materials in the mail today..so it's a slippery slope you tread once you start getting interested in the world of gems!

Good luck in your search!

 

[Greg G]

Glad to hear I'm only 40 or so posts away from a ring!

Seriously though, I've read your posts and appricate your sharing. I'm glad you found something that interests you so much and plan to keep on going.

I suspect that once I have the ring picked out I'll do my best to forget all about diamonds and go back to researching important things like HDTV.

-Greg

 

[optimized]

Hi Mara,

I can certainly relate to the "hooked on Pricescope" phenomenon, although I still have some work in front of me if I hope to be as ubiquitous around here as you!

I hope you'll find some time after you've had a chance to look over the GIA distance-learning materials to give a bit of an overview of them for us. I've been tempted to sign-up for the course myself so I'd be very interested in hearing more about it.

-Tim

 

[Mara]

Tim--
I had a chance today to look over the materials, it's all very interesting and much more in-depth than I would have estimated by viewing the GIA decscriptions they have on their site. The materials arrived via 2 day FedEx and it comes with a bunch of paperwork, some info on GIA, jobs (e.g. we'll help you get a job after you graduate), some alumni info, etc. Also included was a big binder with the course materials included. I perused the binder today and was hooked on just looking at the pictures if nothing else..right off the bat. They have a huge chart of the types of inclusions and close up pictures of each which is VERY COOL. There are many more types of inclusions than we mortals see on a grading plot...items such as a 'pit' and a 'nick' as well as inclusions that will not be listed on a plot but rather are held for 'notation' in some mysterious jewelers notes. There is also a great section on color and fancies which I have not learned much about up until this point.

So I really haven't looked through the entire thing, but I can respect your request for more info as I definitely did not get a good feel for what the course entailed by viewing the GIA's site. It was really Rich's comment that he thought that I could learn alot more than I already knew that piqued my interest, as the way that they spin it on the GIA site is more 'basic info' which it is easy to feel like you already know enough of.

In summary...so far I am really intrigued and excited, very glad I signed up. The cost is not prohibitive either...$350 for the first diamond class. Takes 1-2 months to complete depending on your diligence.

Anyway, without giving too much away, I figured I'd just post the basic TOC from each of the sections of the course..gives you an idea of how in-depth the materials can get and in my opinion will intrigue anyone interested even more!

So far, I highly recommend the course to anyone intrigued about learning more, esp if you have not yet bought your stone, since there are things in here that are great to know, such as the sales tactics that some jewelers will use!

Also interesting to see what GIA says about certain things, such as the D-Z color grading chart (what happened to A,B,C, etc)...and more!

Enjoy!

BTW, Greg...you laugh now but you never know..40 more posts into the diamond search and you could be just like me or Tim!

----
TOC (Bold items designate the section of the course the content pertains to)

Diamond Clarity and Value

Diamond Formation and Clarity
-Cutters Contribution
-Clarity Treatments

GIA Clarity Grading System
-Flawless-I3 in detail
-Diamond Plots
-GIA Diamond Reports

Selling Clarity

Diamond Color and Value

Diamonds and Color
-Diamond Color Scale
-Grading Color
-Fluoresence and Diamond Color
-Fancy Diamond Color

Color Treatment
-Adding and enhancing color
-Removing color

Selling Color

Cut and Value

Lights, Proportions and Finish
-A Little About Light Performance
-Proportion Variations (Girdle outline, table size, crown angle, girdle thickness, pav depth %, total depth %, culet size, L-W ratio)
-Appealing Proportions
-Finish (Polish, Symmetry, Excellent/Excellent Ratings)

Selling Cut

Carat Weight and Value

The Obvious C
-Expressing Diamond Weight
-Computing Diamond Cost
-Diamond Weight and Value
-Hanging in the Balance

Diamond Dimensions
-Measuring Diamonds
-Diamond-measuring Instruments (MM gauges, Hole Gauges and Templates, Optical Measuring Devices)

Selling Carat Weight

Daily Retail Business

Staying Secure

Care and Cleaning
-In Store
-At Home
-Damaging conditions for diamonds

Selling Care and Cleaning

Presenting Diamond Jewelry

The Seven Steps to a Sale

Final Thoughts and Actions
-Striking a Balance
-Fifth C

 

[Giangi]

Very beautiful diamond and ring, Mara!!!!

 

[Mara]

Was fooling around with the digi cam today outside in the sun (it was around 74 today here in the Bayarea!!) and got this great picture with the ring catching the sun..so here it is!

 

[Mara]

And here is the non-so-closeup shot of that same picture...with the ring on my hand for some sense of scale. I do have to say that the closeups of the rings on the hands are NOT FLATTERING to hands at all, you can see all the pores and wrinkles..yikes!

 

[kim-h]

Mara,

Your ring is beautiful! Does your band match with small diamonds all the way around as well? I am thinking of a ring with 4 rounds about 10-12 points and a band with 5 rounds, but your ring is making me rethink!

Kim

 

[PuddyKat]

Congrats on your 'official' engagement Mara! I know exactly how you feel, I finally got my ring last Saturday! Your ring is gorgeous!! What is your ring size? The diamond looks huge on your fingers! Once again, congrats!!!

P.S. Why don't they have ABC colors and start grading at D? Hmm...

 

[Mara]

Thanks for the great words on the ring and CONGRATS puddy!

The wedding band will be an eternity ring, same style, same setting etc and same width (or maybe a little smaller..2mm instead of 2.5mm) as the e-ring, so they will fit flush together and give a sparkly look. We saw what it could look like when we tried one on that was somewhat similar to our 4prong baby stone setting and it looked GREAT!

But the wedding is not for a year or so...so we have lots of time for that.

Again, we were really pleased with the look of this ring and how it came out. It's not too thin, but not too thick. I didn't take a picture of the palm of my hand (where you can see the back of the ring..the band is eternity so stones all the way around) but it looks really cool to have the diamonds all the way around. The price difference between getting stones halfway and all the way around was only $600, and in the end we figured it was worth it to have the ring we really wanted. Also as I said, I have not seen a ring similar to mine other than the extremely overpriced Michael B 3-sided pave ring, so I am happy with the more unique aspect of the setting.

BTW my ring size is 6. The stone looks pretty big on my hand...I love it! Of course I'm sure I will fall prey to the 'shrinking diamond' syndrome that seems to plague most women after they have had their stone for a while. Hee Hee

According to the GIA, the reason the color scale starts at D is because before they came up with their grading scale, jewelers everywhere had their *own* grading scales and structures and many of those included the letters A B and/or C. One jeweler might use ABC to designate 'white', 'near white', 'off white' and another may use A, AA, AAA (which I think I have still seen some jewelers use who don't sell certified stones), or A+, A-, B+ etc. So GIA decided that they would come in and instead of trying to revamp what the general public and industry thought of ABC, just start the scale at D. It goes to Z. Then of course the GIA color scale was widely adopted and that was all she wrote! Kind of interesting anyway!

 

[JayTee]

Mara,
Beautiful ring! Congratulations on your engagement and I'm glad to finally see the ring that you have talked about for so long!

Hopefully, I will get a chance to post pictures of my ring as well -- I actually am waiting on a digital camera purchase in order to take the pics (seems easier than using my current SLR, anyway) I am very impressed by the light catching on your stone -- looks to have a lot of fire.

So you're actually taking a GIA class? Sounds like another Graduate Gemologist will join the RockyTalky crowd

Let us know how the class goes. I can definitely attest to the hunger for more knowledge created by just browsing through this forum and if this class sounds good, I might be interested in ordering a packet myself!

 

[enibas]

LOVE IT!!

congratulations!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

I'm calling my attorney. I think you burnt my retinas out.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Hey Mara, I'm really glad to see you're taking the GIA course. You're a natural!

Nice hands too, by the way.

 

[ccuheartnurse]

Congratulations Mara!!!!!

You've moved up in the ranks. haha
Enjoy that stunner of a ring. Its really nice & looks huge on that band.

Judy

 

[Mara]

Since there was some interest in the ring itself..if anyone is considering getting something similar, here is our jeweler's wife's ring which is the same exact ring but in yellow gold, with a 1c center stone and .04c rounds all the way around. It is 3mm thick, mine has .03 rounds and is 2.5mm thick with a slightly larger center stone (1.23). Also her diamond head is placed directly into the band, while mine is a little big up so that my wedding band can sit flush. Her ring is absolutely stunning. While mine is very cool and I adore it, hers has a different look, the yellow gold and the diamonds compliment each other in an extremely flattering way. Every time we visited, her ring caught my eye, even when we were thinking of going with a different setting. In the end her ring just drew us to it each time so we went for it in platinum. So figured I'd post this picture in case anyone wants to see it. It's a closeup so it doesn't have the same effect as it does on a hand, but you will see the gold vs the diamonds. When it's glittering its amazing.

Thanks for all the kind words on the ring!

Rich, if you want to sue me you won't get anything because after this purchase we are eating mac n'cheeze for dinner

On the GIA course...really it was your comment that I'd learn alot more and if I was to become hooked it would be during this course that settled the matter for me, so if I fail out of the course, I'll be sure to track you down!

 

[Mara]

Found one more picture that shows the sparkle, its a litte blurry so here it is. Also her ring is slightly diff from mine in that while the stones are prong set like mine, hers have more of an open bottom to let maximum light in, as you can see in the first picture. Mine has more of a finished bottom of the band, with smaller round holes to let light in. Her ring was made about 15 years ago. Her original center stone was 1.25 but she chipped it and had it re-cut to 1c.

Okay no more pictures I promise!

I can't help it..I love the eye candy!!

 

[divergrrl]

Ohmigosh love your ring. soooooooooooo stunning! I have to admit, it's a lot prettier than the MB ring, yours just seems to have more "oomph" and sparkle to it. Besides, you'll feel a lot better with the prongs holding your stones.

The best way to handle shrinking diamond syndrome is to soak your ring overnight in windex & gently brush off the goo that makes it look dull after time. And if you have a cappucino maker you can use the steam function after you've soaked it to really blast off any dirt or grime...but use a tweezers or something to hold the ring so you don't burn your fingers! LOL

I just got my new side stones via fed ex today and they are very pretty! I went with two 4.5 mm trillions to flank my princess, and yes its been THREE MONTHS since I ordered my setting, but oh well, these things take time! Hopefully I'll have some digi pics to share! I am so excited to finally get this ring reset, I could just BURST! And my current sidestones are slated to become earrings....tres exciting!!!! New jewelry, can't think of anything more delish.

I just found my reciept for the diamond band, it was $140 for around .20 ctw. You can email me at [email protected] if you want to avoid going thru the forum.

Cheers !

Divergrrl

 

[okaynow]

wow, the ring looks beautiful on your hand.

 

[optimized]

Ask and ye shall receive...

Mara's "enhanced" Ring, Part I

-Tim

 

[optimized]

And another...

Mara's "enhanced" ring, Part II

-Tim