PriceScope 2015 $5,000 Holiday Giveaway

[LaSuecia]

How fun!
Thank you pricescope vendors for this opportunity!

This is my favourite bling, well acctually it is my only bling as I lost my engagmentring down the drain ( literally) .
After turns back and forth to hospitals and beeing on sick leave and changing our wedding date twice, we finally made ends meet and I am getting married january 30th and this will be my wedding ring. It took 8 months between when I bought the stone and when I could afford to set it! And now that it is done I am so in love with it!
I am so happy about it even though it is a diamond far from perfect, but it is a stone I chose myself and set in a ring that I loved.
It is special to me because ofcourse it is my wedding ring, but also because it is my first real bling!

 

[tara3056]

My special bling is my halo pendant and earrings set. They are special to me for several reasons: the effort it took to have the set made, the fact that my DH gifted me the pendant for a special occasion, and that I wear them very frequently since they're some of my favorite pieces.

The whole thing started with the famous IDJ earring jackets. I'm a big fan of bezels and my e-ring is a Ritani Endless Love style, so for the earring jackets, I decided to buy some bezeled diamond studs to go inside of them (though I can and do wear the jackets with all sorts of colored stones too). It took a bit of effort to make sure I bought the right size of diamonds that would fit nicely once they were set into bezels. I liked the finished look so much that when my husband was searching for a special piece of jewelry as a gift for me, I suggested a necklace to match. We worked with Michael Edgett, who was able to convert a pendant that was intended to have a prong-set center stone to hold a bezel set center stone instead. The whole set is in platinum.

 

[AGBF]

I have a lot of jewelry and it was hard to decide what I would consider my "special bling". In the end I decided that that appellation had to belong to my AGBF earrings which were designed right here on the Pricescope forum with the help of the Pricescope members. Had it not been for my fellow members I would never have been able to turn the idea of inside/outside hoops that I saw in a jewelry store (Betteridge in Greenwich) into the exact earrings I wanted. That Whiteflash, that designed them to my specifications, then named them after me was just icing on the cake!

The earrings are made of 18K white gold and palladium and contain ten 25 point diamonds from an ACA (A Cut Above) melee of F-G colored VS clarity stones adding up to 5 carats total weight.

 

[ladybug16]

This is ring that I wear every Christmas, because it reminds me of Christmas and my Grandma. My Grandma literally never wore the ring any other day; she was always “saving it for good.” Christmas was good.

Grandma had been very ill for many years beginning right after my Dad was born; first, beating cancer, then with a severe heart condition. By the time I was a child, she had been sick for over 30 years. Despite the fact that she spent a lot of time confined to bed, every Christmas was like magic. When I walked in the door, everything was in its place—the scent of fresh baking cookies wafting from the oven, the dining table with its white starched table cloth decorated with a mirrored skating pond and miniature skaters, fresh poinsettias in the hall, and in the living room: the tree decorated to perfection, presents wrapped, and best of all, Grandma sitting in her chair waiting for me, looking regal, her snow-white hair just fixed in curls at the salon, dressed in her black silk dress, hands folded in her lap, wearing her diamond engagement ring.

To a child’s eyes, Christmas was like magic; Grandma was always well and everything was wonderful. I can still hear her laughter as she called me over to sit on her lap so she could read me a story. I remember the scent of her perfume, and the way she turned the pages. I remember everyone’s joy.

While Grandma and even my Dad have since passed on, and I have a family of my own now, I’d like to believe that a little bit of that Christmas magic happens when I put on her ring.

 

[Dancing Fire]

This is my special bling from rough to finish. A 2.30ct I VS2 Octavia cut by master cutter Yoram.

 

[uber]

hubby and i were browsing at jewelry shops and we came upon this blue zircon pair. i saw the price and dragged him out of the shop. couldn't stop thinking about it and returned only to find them gone! a few days after lamenting, hubby told me to open my drawer and found the earrings there! apparently, he went back the next day and bought them!!!

 

[deskjockey]

I changed my mind, LOL. I was going to post my engagement ring but I think I'm going to take a chance and post UNSET bling instead. Recently I got a lovely smallish blue zircon to create a really meaningful piece to represent my family. Zircon is my son's birthstone (or at least the stone I prefer of the December options). I'm going to get it set in a pendant surrounded with my husband's birthstone (ruby) and mine as well (topaz).

I know it's unset so I don't know if it's bling, but it will be in the most meaningful piece I have, other than my grandmother's silly costume jewelry (not even sparkly, it's fake cheetah-print, ha!). My engagement ring is very special and I love it, but it's not as meaningful and special as this piece will be. My son is my everything, and the physical representation of how we surround him, love him, and guide him means so much more.

 

[dornab]

Wow you guys are pros... I'm just getting started so mine is a little vanilla.

It's the first major piece of jewelry I bought, a tennis bracelet. It was 5.65cts total, 43 diamonds at 7.25 inches, resized to a little less than 6 inches (still a little big, I have tiny wrists). Each diamond is 0.13cts, G-H, VS2-SI1.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I'm making a 5 stone ring with the extra diamonds (took out 8 total), the ring will be a size 4 so I think it will look nice and big on my fingers.

Edit 2: Also, we are starting to look for e-rings during the break (got married a month ago but needed more time to decide on e-ring), so hopefully next year that will be my special piece of jewelry Will start a rocky talky on that soon.

 

[dell23]

Here's a picture of the engagement ring that I gave to my now-fiancee 3 weeks ago. Much of its significance lies in the fact that it symbolizes our engagement and commitment to each other, but it's particularly special because we were able to show it to her grandmother 3 days before she (the grandmother) passed away. Her grandmother had significant dementia and would often forget who I was when my name was mentioned. However, each time she would ask "Are you going to marry him?" She said she thought the ring was beautiful and she looked thrilled. It meant a great deal to both of us.

 

[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?

I just clarified for Linh. Random drawing out of eligible entries from this thread. We will use a spreadsheet and random number generator. Each qualified post will have a number associated with it (tyty is 1, emmaline is 2, etc.). We will post photos of the generator's selections and the spreadsheet.

Please join me in WELCOMING Linh to PS. She is Andrey's wife and has been doing more work on the Forum.

Thank you Ella.
And welcome, Linh!

 

[hayzing]

Some of you may know that I've been searching for an engagement ring -- one that my girlfriend would be proud to have for the long haul -- without going into a high budget.

My ring isn't - and will never be- as extravagant as a lot of the beautiful(seriously gorgeous, ladies and gents) rings I see here. And the center diamond of this is just a CZ, but I'll hopefully be upgrading in the coming weeks to get her the diamond she deserves.

However, in the spirit of things, I'm going to post a couple of the pictures that my friend sent me of my ring (I had it sent to his house. I pick it up tomorrow) because it literally brought tears to my eyes when I saw them. I can't believe I was able to get a Tacori ring(one of the designers she's always shown a huge interest in) for such a good deal, and that I finally have a ring to symbolize how much this woman I've been with since undergrad means to me.

 

[hayzing]

Here's a picture of the engagement ring that I gave to my now-fiancee 3 weeks ago. Much of its significance lies in the fact that it symbolizes our engagement and commitment to each other, but it's particularly special because we were able to show it to her grandmother 3 days before she (the grandmother) passed away. Her grandmother had significant dementia and would often forget who I was when my name was mentioned. However, each time she would ask "Are you going to marry him?" She said she thought the ring was beautiful and she looked thrilled. It meant a great deal to both of us.

That is such a beautiful ring and sentiment... I'm glad that her grandmother got to see it.

 

[amti]

I'm mostly a long time lurker, but I no less love jewelry, mainly pearls! Here is my Holiday Bling!

These are Tahitian pearls I purchased for my 54th birthday this past September. My husband was on business in China and both my kids had left for college in other cities. I was feeling the empty nest syndrome and decided to buy my own gift to cheer me up. I bought the pearls individually, learned how to string pearls, and strung them myself. Looked at pages and pages of clasps and findings to find the perfect clasp (and am still looking but strung them on a temporary clasp so I could wear them). I am jealous I don't have a husband that can buy me something but in a way it is nice because I can always get what I really want. Since he returned, I showed and thanked him for my lovely strand and wear it with love, and a smile on my face. <3

 

[pokemon12]

I proposed to my gf last Sunday and couldn't have been happier. One of the reasons why I love it is because it reminds me to take risks. Necessary risks of course. If I lived with too much fear I might not have tried to extend the bounds of our friendship to possibly more. If I was too worried about weather I might not have proposed to her when I did (it was heavy rainfall that hour but cleared up fast). It also reminds me that I have someone to be with always.

 

[MMtwo]

My most favorite bling by far is this old mine cut engagement ring I received this year. Not only to I find it's old age and wonkiness charming, I wonder about who loved it first, and how they wore it. The old diamond is natural on all 4 sides. I wonder how long it took to cut. The history adds to the charm for me.
center 1.04 Vs1, I

 

[Demerara]

First of all, I would like thank Linh and Andrey for maintaining this forum. It is the probably the best source for consumer jewelry education I came across on the internet. It is truly enlightening to follow professionally qualified posts here, which helped me a lot to develop a sense for high quality jewelry at adequate price points.

This necklace is very special to me because it was a gift from my aunt. This is probably the first piece of authentic jewelry I ever received, which piqued my interest in jewelry and gemology.

 

[Funion]

Happy holidays, and thanks PS!

My husband won this stunning starfish pendant made up of pink diamonds at an auction for me for my birthday.

 

[minmin001]

Here is my special bling that I picked out for this year's mother's day to celebrate the birth of my first baby. It took a long search and few ups and downs for me to finally set my eye on this pretty little ring with my son's birth stone. I wear it everyday and every time I miss him when I'm at work I will look at it.

 

[DonnaH]

It's not holiday jewelry but an upgrade custom by Mark T. I lost my holiday bling a few years back, a bezel set solitaire oec. I removed it before a massage. Poof, never to be seen again

 

[girlyglam]

Thank you so much for hosting such a generous giveaway! I haven't been on here very long, and I don't post much, but PriceScope has proven to be invaluable to me as I enter the world of jewelry and pretty things!

My holiday bling is definitely my engagement ring. I got engaged in September, earlier this year, and he proposed with a natural alexandrite ring. Admittedly, it's not the most top-of-the line alex out there, but I love it all the same. I'm a June baby and years ago, way before my fiance and I were ever dating, I guess I had said something about how I'd love a natural alexandrite ring one day. Somehow he remembered that and made it his mission to propose with one. I love it, and I love him for being so loving and thoughtful.

The ring and engagement are also super special to me, for all the obvious reasons a proposal and engagement are special to anyone, but also because there was a time that I truly didn't believe a real future was ever possible for us. It's a long story, but basically we have a history in which our relationship felt forbidden and we kept it hidden for quite a while. We finally came out with it when it was clear that we were for real, but coming clean was terrifying, and I truly feared that I would lose some very dear people in my life because of it. We're lucky though to have amazing people in our lives and to have been met with amazing support, and I really couldn't be more thankful.

Below is a picture of the ring. I tried to show it in it's many different faces, but as we all know, alex is so hard to photograph. It sometimes turns this beautiful bottle green that I can't seem to capture, and I've never had my camera around to capture it when it turns this pretty purple shade. I love having a color change stone though. It's so much fun to see it in all its different colors!

 

[mtsapphirelovingannie]

Thank you PS for this Giveaway to celebrate the Holidays!

I am submitting a “special ring” that my mother bought for me several years ago. We saw it while shopping together. The different colors of the sapphire ring reminded us of a friend that had recently passed away.

I love wearing the ring because it reminds me of my friend and also my mother’s kindness and love.

Happy Holidays!

 

[Tourmaline]

This is my first holiday season with my 7-AVC 18k RG Wedding Band. I got the stones from Good Old Gold, and the ring was made by Brilliantly Engaged. I absolutely LOVE this ring! I was thrilled to discover that 5 of the 7 stones are fluorescent and phosphorescent, and I love to charge them with a black light flashlight at bedtime, haha! The one on the end glows for 2-3 hours! Here's my thread:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/7-avc-band-vly-in-18k-rose-gold-by-be.217280/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/7-avc-band-vly-in-18k-rose-gold-by-be.217280/[/URL]

 

[Tanzigrrl]

What a fun thread - thank you for the chance to win!

This Christmas, my husband made me this ring. It's a 1.04ct Ceylon sapphire, set in an 18kt yellow gold buckle ring. I bought the sapphire years ago and this is the third time he has set it for me. First it was part of a pendant, then a bracelet, now a luxurious 18kt YG ring that he made entirely by hand for me. It's special because my husband made it for me with his own hands and because it's my Christmas 2015 present!!!

Here is some additional information about this ring: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/buckled-up-for-christmas.217869/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/buckled-up-for-christmas.217869/[/URL]

Here are some pics of the ring and the process it took to make it.

 

[DiamondXXX]

My special holiday bling arrived just a few days ago - preloved, discovered on PS and ready to find a new home its a solitaire Leon Mege ring with a gorgeous newly cut antique style cushion cut diamond and the only picture I have of it now is with my dirty hardworking hands and gorgeous diamond with a lot of character in the most delicate LM setting. It is a gift from me to myself, mainly for the wonderful 4+ years spent at home with the kids which were both a bliss and hard work at the same time Thank you Pricescope for making this happen - I discovered a whole new world of diamonds thanks to this forum and even though its "just" bling, it makes every day just a bit sweeter and happier and magical.

 

[Linda W]

My special bling is my 3 stone ring. The diamond earrings were a gift from my husband, when I completed 5 years of chemotherapy, for Ovarian Cancer. Unfortunately, I lost one of the earrings. I felt horrible, so I had the three stone ring made, with the remaining diamond. This wedding band, is dear to my heart.

 

[KaeKae]

What a fun thread and a wonderful, generous giveaway from Pricescope, thank you!

My special bling has to be my wedding set. I found Pricescope when researching ideas for how I wanted to reset my solitaire for my 20th anniversary, six years ago. Among other things, I discovered I loved the idea of a split shank and the double pronged head. Those ideas came together, with the help and talents of my local jeweler. A year or so later, I found my gemstone eternity with IDJewelers, who, of course, I learned about from PS.

Bonus picture of this year's special piece, which is actually something I already won, from the wonderful Leibish company. I already shared my experience and surprise in having won their 2015 Mother's Day giveaway. What a wonderful experience! The last picture is of Leibish himself, pulling my name from the bowl of entries. Isn't that cool?

 

[packrat]

I have three things, but I choose my opal pendant. DK did the pendant for me last year. The opal came from my Gramma several years ago. I've told the story so many times on here but I will tell it again-it makes me sad, but happy too, remembering. When mom was pregnant with me, Grampa told her, "You're going to have a girl, she'll be born on my birthday, and her name will be Hazel Dell" So, mom had me, and I came on Grampa's birthday. Mom called Grampa and said "Well, Doc, two out of three isn't bad" and Grampa said "Aw, what's the matter with the name Hazel Dell??" haha. Grampa and I were very close. We didn't celebrate birthday's (neither did Grampa and Gramma) but every year on our birthday, I'd fling the door open and he'd be sitting on the davenport (green velour, and if you called it a couch you would be corrected), he'd open his arms and I'd run and jump to him and he'd say "Well, Love, how old are we today?" and we'd add our ages together. Grampa called me Love.

Grampa was an amateur stone cutter. He had a little room in the basement w/all his equipment, and he'd disappear for hours, cutting and polishing, rocks and gemstones and making jewelry--he even did some engagement rings! Opal was his favorite stone (and his, Gramma's, and my birthstone ha!). Grampa and Gramma used to spend winters in Australia/NZ. They had a friend w/an opal mine and did some digging there.

Grampa died in 1989 when I was 13, about a month before our 84th birthday. I was over visiting Gramma several years ago (we live right around the corner!), and I was telling her about PS, and we talked about how much Grampa loved gems, so Gramma got out the remaining stones in the gem box and we talked about them. Friends and family asked for a lot of the things after he died, so there wasn't much left. She was telling me the story about this opal--it is one that Grampa dug from their friends opal mine, and he cut and polished it himself. I remarked on the pretty lavender, and she said I was so young when Grampa died, I didn't know that people would ask for something to remember a loved one by, so she asked if I would like that opal.

On the front of the pendant, there is a design engraved. This is similar to the design Grampa used to paint on the bottom of their pool--the biggest most crazy colored clematis vines you'd ever see! The back says Grampa Doc, 10/29 for our birthday, and Love, his nickname for me.

 

[yssie]

I have read that story before Packy, and it never ceases to make me smile. That same bittersweet smile, every time.

Your pendant is a beautiful commemoration of years of obviously beautiful memories - thank you for sharing it with us... ::HUG::!!

 

[sydneyatl]

My favorite piece by far would be my purple sapphire engagement ring, which y'all helped me pick out here! It's special to me for all the reasons that make an engagement ring special, but I also always smile (or at least I can now) about the fact that when my husband took it to get it set, the jeweler accidentally threw our sapphire in the trash and thankfully, was able to dig it back out! Her store is located a bit far away from where we live, but it's in an area with lots of great restaurants and so every time I take it up to get it cleaned and polished, we make a point of trying out a different place for dinner.

It's also what rekindled my interest in gems. As a child I thought my dream job would be to sift for gems in the beaches of Sri Lanka, I had this image that I'd find a ton of shiny pre-cut gems in every bucket I've learned so much since our purchase of that first purple sapphire and this Christmas, my sister and I will be gifting our mom a gorgeous red garnet which my dad is going to set for her birthday. No doubt I'll be buying more gems in the years to come

 

[packrat]

I have read that story before Packy, and it never ceases to make me smile. That same bittersweet smile, every time.

Your pendant is a beautiful commemoration of years of obviously beautiful memories - thank you for sharing it with us... ::HUG::!!

Aw, Yssie, that's so thoughtful of you to say-thank you very much!