PriceScope 2015 $5,000 Holiday Giveaway

[darlinh]

Let’s Celebrate the Holiday Season with PriceScope!

We are thrilled to announce the PriceScope 2015 $5,000 Holiday Giveaway! As a thank you to our community and our Featured Sponsors, we are giving away FIVE $1,000 gift certificates to be spent with any PriceScope Featured Sponsors.

All you have to do is post a picture of your “Holiday Bling” or “Special Bling” and write why it’s special to you by midnight Central Standard Time on December 24th. The announcement of the FIVE winners will be posted here on December 25th. We will randomly select FIVE posts from this thread, one entry per PS member. We will use the random number generator and a spreadsheet.

♫♫ On the Twelfth Day of Christmas ♪♪♪ . . . that’s 12 days to post your entry!

Again, we would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone for making PriceScope an amazing diamond and jewelry community! We really appreciate your continued efforts in assisting others and sharing your knowledge and love for bling on the Forum!

So post your entry here for a chance to win one of FIVE $1,000 gift certificates!

Cheers from all of us at PriceScope . . . we wish you a safe, blingy and HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!!!


***All current members in good standing are eligible with the exception of trade members, PS staff, and those who have won a prize in the past 13 months from PS. If any of the winning posts violate PS policies, then they will not be considered. Each eligible member is limited to one $1,000 gift certificate to be spent with any PS Featured Sponsors. We reserve the right to disqualify entries that violate our policies.***

Best wishes and good luck!

Linh and Andrey
Pricescope Owners

***************************************************************************
UPDATED: 12/25/15

Thank you for the WELCOMING introduction, Ella

We are thrilled to announce the winners of PriceScope's 2015 $5,000 Holiday Giveaway! As a thank you to our community and our Featured Sponsors, we are giving away FIVE - $1,000 gift certificates to be spent with any PriceScope Featured Sponsors.

Before we announce the winners, we would like to thank you all for sharing your heartfelt stories and for showing us your bling. And now, may I have the envelope please!

And the winners are . . .

• * Blingbunny10
  * Cloreene
  * Girlyglam
  * Tourmaline
  * Tyty333

PriceScope will contact you so keep an eye for your email.

Thank you again, everyone, for this wonderful gift of sharing! Have a safe and happy holiday!

 

[tyty333]

Thank you Pricescope, Vendors, Sponsors and Admin! Happy Holidays to you all!

This was a piece that was special to me because it was my wedding band that I received for my 10 year anniversary. I wore
only my engagement ring for 10 years because I had felt like we had spent enough money on bling. It was also important because
it was my research for this piece of bling that brought me to Pricescope and opened a whole new interest for me that I previously
didn't know existed. It is a classic piece that can be worn almost any time, any place. I wore this piece pretty much every day
and also as a stand alone piece without my engagement ring. I truly had bonded with this ring on a level that would probably
not be considered healthy by non-PS standards. As some of your are aware, I lost this ring in the end of November due to my own stupidity. I cleaned my rings and left them in a paper towel to dry which got thrown out. Please take care everyone. For some
reason, losing this ring has left me feeling ambivalent about replacing it. I think I just need more time to mourn the loss of it.
I know it's just an inanimate object that doesn't really affect anything but I know there are many PSers that probably understand
the lost of a favored item.

So, without further ado...my 5 stone wedding band

 

[emmalina1]

Thanks Pricescope & Happy Holidays y'all!



My special bling is this floating eye pendant. It was given to me by my mom to celebrate getting my first job and it reminds me of that milestone. I believe she bought it at auction - either Christies or Southbys - not sure.

Even though I have big, blingier necklaces that are probably more "my style" I will always come back to this pendant as a talisman before any major life events, to help me make decisions, or just for plain good luck. I really feel like it just has amazing energy which makes it special to me.

 

[Niel]

My special bling isn't mine, its my mom's.

My.mom never had much I nthe way of rings as I was growing up. Which my mom and dad got engaged they didn't have much money, and he proposed with a small heavily treated Ruby in a 10k setting.
She had a few very small diamonds she had found at estate sales. They where no more than 20 points, at most.
I know she would have loved to have something larger, but of course as mom's do, she spend her money on my sister and me rather than herself.
A year or two ago I found about a 1ct diamond marquise on ebay. I took a chance on it and got it home. It was really lovely, though a bit included. My mom is the first to admit she doesn't have the best eyesight, and when I got it home she really loved it.
I decided to give it to her for her birthday as she seemed to have a soft spot for it, I knew the inclusions wouldn't bother her,and she deserved it (and more).
The setting isn't the best, and it lost one of its stones(and she still wears it daily ) She needs to reset it, but I know she spends her money on her grandkids and my dad, and doesn't want to spend the money on herself to reset it. I don't expect to win the 1k, but I'd I did I'd use it to reset her ring for her. Something thick, yellow gold, I know she's love that.

Either way, here it is. I call it a holiday ring because I get to see it on holidays when I see my mom, and I have it to her as a gift

It's the marquise on the top, of course

 

[ihy138]

What a wonderfully generous giveaway! Thank you PS et al for putting this together. Tyty - so sorry to hear about your lost ring.

Here is my "special bling." It is a gold and diamond necklace that was given to me on my wedding day by my mother. My late father gifted it to her when they were first married. I've always adored and admired it. My mom was hesitant to let it go, although she never wore it and kept it tucked away. I think she was trying to hold on to my dad. She surprised me with it on my wedding day two years ago, and I'm now proud to call it mine. It's lovely and simple, but as you can probably tell a little beat up. I would love to get it rehabbed somehow, or even have the setting recreated. It would be a great piece to pass along as an heirloom someday.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's pieces!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Thank you Pricescope for providing us with an amazing forum!

I've been a member here for over 10 years and have admired everyones' gorgeous baubles, throughout the years, but as a SAHM mostly just looked, rarely purchased . My moon pave necklace from Blue Nile means more to me than any other piece because I love the style and also because it was the first piece I bought after going back to work FT and finally having extra funds to spend on bling. It's a fun pendant to wear with just about any outfit and sparkles like crazy. There are a couple other pendants I've been eyeing that are just out of my price range that I would love to get if I won this contest.

Thanks for giving us the opportunity to participate in this sweepstakes! Good luck to everyone!

 

[Cozystitches]

Thank you PS for the giveaway! I love the giveaways they are so fun! Thank you for the fun idea of sharing special bling. I love everyone's stories!!!

My special bling is my Cartier Trinity. I love it as it is a great representation of my kids without being a traditional "mother's" ring. I know others have bling that is much more costly, but I love this ring. (I also love my new bracelet, which is Christmas Bling)

First picture is how I mostly wear it. I actually have a 2mm rose gold band that I wear first, then the eternity and then the trinity


And a fun picture of my trinity and my new bracelet

 

[partgypsy]

This is my special piece this year. This summer I gave up my anniversary ring which I was very attached to, for financial reasons. I knew that we would someday replace it probably in a couple years, but it was definitely not a high priority. My husband surprised me this fall by letting me know he wanted me to get something, so I would have something nice to wear for our upcoming 20th anniversary this spring. Getting this gives me hope and is a promise to each other that we will always find a way.

 

[alamana]

Here's my special bling! It's the engagement ring my beloved finally gave me after 12 years together. I've had it for a little over a month. I found the pear diamond myself online after reading posts here at PriceScope for a looooong time. I had it set at Quest -- which I also learned about here on PriceScope.

 

[Slickk]

This will be a wonderful holiday gift to whomever receives it! Although, I don't post much, it's my favorite site that I visit at least once daily. As a teacher, I love learning and I looove diamonds and bling!
I would like to submit my three stone diamond/sapphire ring made by David Klass. It is very special to me because the diamond was my dearly beloved mom's/BFF. I reset her diamond with two sapphires representing heaven; my mom and dad passed away 6 weeks apart from one another unexpectedly, leaving me, the only one to take care of everything.
Anyway, she would adore this tribute to them! I'm aware the diamond is old and far from PS standards, but it's very special nonetheless. Inside the shank I had DK engrave a secret special code m&d had always used with eachother for "I love you." My dd helped design it with the bezel infinity design as our inspiration because my mom's favorite shirt had an embroidered infinity sign on it from MOMA. It's pretty symbolic!
Well, here she is, I mostly wear her as a RHR.

 

[motownmama]

 

[derbygal]

My favorite gift from hubby from Christmas past. My .56 J SI2 pear pendant. She is very sparkly with minimal bowtie and I never notice the color. It is special to me because hubby picked the diamond himself and had it made for me.

 

[sisxixon]

My mother gave me this piece just today. At about 50 years old, this pendant and chain are literally the only thing she had left from her youth in Vietnam.

She grew up in a poor rice farming family about two hours south of Saigon, and at the age of 20 married my father who had been stationed as a lieutenant in the military police in her village. With their wedding gift money she was able to open up a small jewelry shop. This is what she made for herself from her wedding diamonds and some more purchased from her first year of earnings.

They lost everything when the South Vietnamese government collapsed in 1975. Knowing that my dad would be killed for collaborating with the enemy state if he stayed, she grabbed what she could of the jewelry and jumped onto a fishing boat with him, setting off out into the ocean, hoping to be found by the American warships rumored to be waiting in international waters. Everything else-- their love letters, their wedding photos, their photos of her family-- they burned in a giant pyre, desperate to get rid of any incriminating evidence that might endanger the family she left behind.

Luckily for me they made it out, but for ten agonizing years they weren't able to get in touch with her family, who stayed back in Vietnam. One by one they pawned off her collection-- first to get extra rations for my dad's younger sister who caught TB in a refugee camp, then to keep themselves afloat as they rebuilt their lives in the US. This pendant and chain is the only piece that remains.

 

[AnneinGA]

This is the necklace I had made for myself (aren't those presents the best kind?).
I won a national award and found the diamond on e-bay. JbEG got the transitional diamonds for the sides and Brian Gavin made the platinum migraine bezels on a rose gold chain, with an extra loop if I want to make is shorter.

It gives me pleasure every time I wear it. I would not have such a beautiful piece had i not known about Pricescope and gotten so much great feedback. Thanks for the opportunity to enter!

 

[kenny]

Darlinh, thank you. This is very generous of you and the PS sponsors.

I am not entering to win, but I'm just curious how the five winners will be selected.

Most touching 5 stories?
Best 5 pics?
Best 5 diamonds?
Five most-model PS posters?
Combination of above four?

At random?
Admin discretion?

 

[Blessed1]

My special bling is my wedding set. Not only because it was given to me by my husband but because a few weeks after he proposed, we found out that he had a congenital heart defect and he was going to need heart surgery right away. We sped up everything with the wedding so we could at least face this as a married couple. He has had 3 surgeries and is facing a major health crisis right now but every time I look down at my hand, it is a reminder of the love my husband and I share and how committed I am to being by his side no matter what. It is the most precious pieces of jewelry I own! I love my wedding set so much!!!

 

[laurenk]

Is this open to US residents only?

 

[kenny]

FWIW, I forgot to mention that I'm not entering because I already won a beautiful Whiteflash ACA at a PS event.
I'll let others enjoy winning this time.

 

[heididdl]

I am obsessed with Tous bears and this pink sterling Vermeil piece with spinel stone attached to her necklace and double pierced cartilage earrings remind me of my middle daughter. My obsession for my daughter coupled with my obsession with tous Bears made this a very special holiday bling for me thank you to my DH

 

[Logan Sapphire]

These are terrible pictures so apologies in advance.

I was adopted from Korea as an infant and reunited with my birth family in October. It's a long dramatic story but the gist is that my birth mother was told my twin sister and I had died at birth. She went almost 40 years without knowing we had survived and was shocked beyond belief to find out the truth.

In preparing for our first meeting, I really agonized over what gifts to bring (gifts are very important in Korean culture) and finally settled on a trinity pendant necklace for our birth mom; the three interlocked rings signified the three of us and that we were forever connected. I was quite surprised when our birth mom gave us this necklace- a very similar pendant echoing the same theme. They gave us Korean names that included the generational name that our three older brothers have, and engraved that name on the back. My name also happens to be almost identical to that of my daughter, whom I adopted from Korea as well.

 

[HopeDream]

Here is my special bling.

This is my "wish upon a star" pendant that I bought to commemorate finishing all the lab work for my master's thesis (about 1400 hours including over 700 hours of microscope work, identifying over 36,000 tiny critters). It took many long, lonely hours including evenings and weekends.

This bling is also special because the center stone has a unique star-shaped cut. It's generally quite bright, but in certain lighting environments the secret star shines through.

It reminds me that no matter how big the task, I can do any job as long as I put in the time and effort.

 

[yennyfire]

What a lovely thing to do for the holiday's! Thank you PS, sponsors, vendors, etc.!

This sapphire and rose cut diamond ring was my grandmother's, purchased by my grandfather while overseas during WWII. My grandmother wore this ring everyday and from the time I was a baby, it always fascinated me. Apparently, she let me teethe on it. The thought horrifies me now, knowing that I may have damaged a 130 year old ring! It's probably not worth much, but it's priceless to me because it reminds me of her and brings a smile to my face every time I wear it!

 

[GLbluegreen]

Thank you to all the wonderful contributors on the pricescope forum. Your knowledge and love of jewels has taught me a wealth of information and led me to a respected PS vendor where I found my perfect special piece. The picture I have posted is that of the vendor because as many of you know Alexandrite is very difficult to photograph and the vendor picture is as close to accurate as I will ever get.
This ring means the world to me because the alex is the birthstone of my mother and only my child who were born on the same day, as well as my first born grandchild who's birthdate is 7 days later and has the same birthstone. My mother has passed away and my only child, my daughter, was sadly taken too young at the age of 30. My grandchild lives far away and I do not see him often. So when I look at this beautiful ring, my dear ones are looking back at me and we are connected. The hearts say it all.....

 

[mandasand]

I am still completely head over heals for my little circa 1930's OEC engagement ring that my husband purchased from Erica and Grace. We got married a little over two years ago and I don't have any plans to upgrade but I would love to get some diamond earrings or one of those beautiful bangles.

 

[farrahlyn]

I've only been here on PS for a few months and don't post much but i browse almost daily! I apologize for the long story but it explains why this piece is so special to me.

My special bling is my 15th wedding anniversary gift. We normally do not spend money on gifts for our anniversary, we will usually take a weekend trip or spend it on a beach trip with the kids. for our 15th, i told my husband i was planning to buy him something just a few weeks before our anniversary. (a new wedding band as his original was WAY too small and not resizeable) Well, we had discussed upgrading my ring one day (and had discussed that i love the E/W settings) but as i was laid off just months prior and at a new job, making less money, i did not think it would happen for quite a while. I have a history of endometriosis which for me has meant chronic pain and fatigue for close to 4 years. I had finally given in to pain management in April and would count the hours until i got home from work and could take my pain pills. My husband has been simply amazing through it all. i ended up in the hospital in August, just before our anniversary, in a great deal of pain. i had a massive infection in my uterus due to some complications from a previous surgery. I was discharged the day after our anniversary, sent home with some major pain meds with the plan (at some urging of my husband due to how much my health had declined) of having an unplanned hysterectomy within the week.

When i got home, he couldn't wait to give me my gift even though i had not wrapped his. So i opened what i thought was a necklace box and pull a piece of paper off the top only to find the box filled with balls of crumbled up paper. he started laughing and said, "no, this is it!" and handed me the piece of paper off the top with a picture of a East/West set marquise e-ring on it that i had pinned on Pinterest. it took him almost 15 minutes to convince me that he was having a ring custom made for me based on this picture he'd found. He'd been running to the jewelry store behind my back for weeks, working on the design and choosing the center stone. When i was in the hospital, he was trying to finalize everything while worrying about me and taking care of our kids.

To make a long story short, he's stuck with me through a lot of major medical issues in the last few years and there have been many times that i was not even able to even get out of bed to just be able to make dinner or help with the children. He has been such an amazing husband, father (we have 2 children, 6 and 3) caregiver and healthcare advocate when i needed one. This ring is so much more than an "upgrade" to me. every time i look at it I'm overwhelmed with how much we have been through and that he has stuck with me and through it all has shown such undying love. Not many men would have stuck through what he's been through with me and boy does he spoil me! And happily enough, the hysterectomy has been a lifesaver. i have been completely pain free for 4 months now and feel like i've been given my life back.

This is my "special bling" and i have plans to have a RHR custom made out of the diamond on my original e-ring.

 

[picante27]

My special bling is my engagement ring. It belonged to my husband's grandmother and means the world to me. She was a very kind woman and she adored her family. She lived long enough to meet her first great grandchild, which was such a special moment in our lives. Every time I look at my ring, I think of her. I hope to pass this ring down to my children one day.

 

[Mrs2Ouch]

This is my special piece of jewelry. Hubby and I have been raising our son for the past 6 years (7 coming up now) before I got a ring.
I was ok with not having one because I have a very expensive and hard to treat chronic illness. All this time I never thought about having a ring despite living in a wealthy area where women have bautiful diamond rings. I, of course, noticed their rings but all of my energy and thought went to survival. Hubby mentioned he feels very bad about me not having a diamond of any kind and wanted to remedy that.
He gave me a price range and took me looking at B&M stores. I immediately went nuts and obsessively researched on PS, it was all I thought about! And, I wanted it to be perfect and "forever".
Needless to say, you guys were such a tremendous help and I discovered Brian Gavin (thanks). I knew right away that was where I was getting it from, and did.
It will be a year in February and I still get caught staring at this thing and snapping pictures. It is a nice distraction from my reality sometimes.
Here she is:

 

[rubybeth]

Thanks for this opportunity! PS is a great place, glad to be part of it.

My special bling is my Old European Cut 5-stone ring (pictured in a Scarlett Mrs. Box), which I was allowed to pick out and get for our five year wedding anniversary in 2013 (PSers know how it is with jewelry... just tell me the budget and I'm happy to do the shopping myself ). All of my jewelry brings me happiness and many pieces commemorate special events, but this ring is special because 2013 was a big year: we paid off our student loans and DH got into and started graduate school. He's now nearly done with his degree, and we've managed to pay his way through without loans. I feel pretty lucky to get to live my life with this guy.

 

[ame]

These are terrible pictures so apologies in advance.

I was adopted from Korea as an infant and reunited with my birth family in October. It's a long dramatic story but the gist is that my birth mother was told my twin sister and I had died at birth. She went almost 40 years without knowing we had survived and was shocked beyond belief to find out the truth.

In preparing for our first meeting, I really agonized over what gifts to bring (gifts are very important in Korean culture) and finally settled on a trinity pendant necklace for our birth mom; the three interlocked rings signified the three of us and that we were forever connected. I was quite surprised when our birth mom gave us this necklace- a very similar pendant echoing the same theme. They gave us Korean names that included the generational name that our three older brothers have, and engraved that name on the back. My name also happens to be almost identical to that of my daughter, whom I adopted from Korea as well.

 

[ame]

My "special" bling grew this year to include my Ruby and Diamond "DBTY" necklace. As many of you know, I have had a ridiculous ride with my rings, but the last couple projects have thankfully gone really smoothly, thankfully. Part of that was finally burying the hatchet and giving a trusted vendor another chance. Maybe time does heal some wounds? And maybe growing up a little. Clearly, since three big projects happened in like 2 years now. My husband would like me to stop having ideas, growing up and healing wounds I think.

Eight years ago at a gem show, my husband and I picked up 4 little rubies. They were bought after a "rebirth" in our marriage, in part brought on by the ring drama early on in our marriage, and the rubies and this project would be the "new beginning" item. Originally, we had intended to set them in a Jazz style ring, and I never could settle on what I would do with them. Since we just could not get a single jewelry thing to go "right" for us, they just sat there, locked up, unused. Over the last year, DH kept saying over and over "I think we really should set those. We got through all the drama, we got through the basement, and now, you just healed after your accident. It's time. You didn't do it at 5 years, so please do it this time."

So I set out to make sure I did it. I fought with myself over it. Ring? Necklace? Bracelet? What would I actually wear at least once a year ( ) When I got a SCREAMING deal on the Kwiat band, it freed up the money I had been saving for the Fishtail pave band I still totally want anyway and made it clear to me that I didn't need another ring I wouldn't wear (again ) I didn't need earrings, I just bought my baby bezels. So a DBTY was the clear winner. I had seen a Ruby and Diamond alternating one a couple years prior that I thought was gorgeous and while now I definitely "need" a totally diamond one, and a diamond and Sapphire one (for obvious reasons!), this project turned out PER-FECT-LY. Not a flaw. The diamonds are magnificent, the bezels are perfect. Since I fail at necklaces, I ordered an extender to get me through adjusting... I have actually worn it a few times with and without the extender.

Between this project, the studs, and my setting, I feel like I am finally "jinx free." I have a few things I really want on my list: a CBI diamond I have no idea how I'd set, possibly an AVC, again I have no idea how I'd set... and some other odds and ends...but I feel like I am finally over the jinx. It took 10 years. And you will all be SHOCKED to know, I wore my rings to do a household project this weekend with a power drill. WITH THE RINGS ON. (That was actually really stupid, but thankfully nothing happened. Whew.)

So, instead of ONE "special piece" I guess really it's my "special pieces" as a cumulative 2015 jinx-free year of bling.