- Joined
- Aug 28, 2011
- Messages
- 309
I'm so excited to debut Maxine in her new setting! Read the story below, or just scroll down for the bling.
This is a PriceScope piece from beginning to end. I decided this is the year I would finally buy myself my first OEC and set it in a special setting. For many (many) years I've been thinking about a CER in a VC setting, but I also liked the idea of a true antique stone, so I enlisted PS to help me on my journey. The OEC will be the subject of a future SMTB, but for today we're taking a little detour...
In my search for an OEC, I was frequenting the Somebody's Gotta Buy This Piece thread, where @lala646 showed off this find from Max Pawn. She ended up returning it, and I decided it could be a strong contender in my search, so I made it my life's mission to snag it as soon as it was restocked. I'm not kidding, I was refreshing the site several times a day for a couple weeks. In the meantime, I bought an OEC (which won't be ready for SMTB for another couple months), and the Max Pawn ring was restocked literally the next day! By this time I was invested! The two stones were about what I was prepared to spend on just one, so why not!
I immediately named her Maxine and waited for her to arrive. Believe it or not, I didn't love her at first. I could tell she was a well cut stone, but I had been so focused on OECs that it took me a while to appreciate her as a transitional. I even put her back in the shipping box and decided to return her, but was not in a rush. She sat there for about a week before I took her out again, and when I did I immediately realized I was in love and would regret not keeping her.
Now the fun started. We were playing guessing games on the specs (she looked so yellow in her setting), and I was super worried about a chip on the girdle. Finally I decided to unset her and got her GIA graded. She turned out to be 1.61 J SI1 - pretty white and amazingly clean except for the chip that was actually a cavity.
Now the fun continued - the setting! I was really all over the place on this. I have a highly irrational need that it not look like an engagement ring (being in my early 40's, married & divorced a long time ago and in other relationships since then), even though I don't wear any of my rings on my left ring finger. I considered so many options for this and my other stone - various kinds of halos, clusters, bezels, modern, vintage-inspired, true antique settings, three-stones, and probably more. I went down rabbit holes looking for side stones, halo designs, drawing out my own ideas, researching and contacting vendors... Eventually I ended up where I started and took Maxine on a day trip to Victor Canera. Knowing that he doesn't usually set outside stones, I thought I'd see if any of his in-stock settings would work. I remember seeing this setting so many times on his site and never even paused, until one day I looked at it and thought... huh... maybe. It was made for the exact size of my stone, a true Cinderella situation. I ended up liking it much more in person, and now here we are!
Quite the make-over, right? I actually love that I know what her setting was, even though I'm not keeping it. And I assume this wasn't the original setting, maybe it was an heirloom stone re-set in the 80's? I wore her to work yesterday and it occurred to me that she may not have been worn out potentially in decades.
Here are just a few of the approximately 2682 pictures and videos I've taken. I know this isn't news to anyone here, but I do want to add that the setting is beautifully made and Victor is of course a treasure himself. My pictures don't do it justice, you should see the teensy claw prongs even on the side flowers. I can't believe I own a VC!
Thanks again to all of you who helped in my various threads, I'm so grateful for this community.
Videos: Original setting and loose:
This is a PriceScope piece from beginning to end. I decided this is the year I would finally buy myself my first OEC and set it in a special setting. For many (many) years I've been thinking about a CER in a VC setting, but I also liked the idea of a true antique stone, so I enlisted PS to help me on my journey. The OEC will be the subject of a future SMTB, but for today we're taking a little detour...
In my search for an OEC, I was frequenting the Somebody's Gotta Buy This Piece thread, where @lala646 showed off this find from Max Pawn. She ended up returning it, and I decided it could be a strong contender in my search, so I made it my life's mission to snag it as soon as it was restocked. I'm not kidding, I was refreshing the site several times a day for a couple weeks. In the meantime, I bought an OEC (which won't be ready for SMTB for another couple months), and the Max Pawn ring was restocked literally the next day! By this time I was invested! The two stones were about what I was prepared to spend on just one, so why not!
I immediately named her Maxine and waited for her to arrive. Believe it or not, I didn't love her at first. I could tell she was a well cut stone, but I had been so focused on OECs that it took me a while to appreciate her as a transitional. I even put her back in the shipping box and decided to return her, but was not in a rush. She sat there for about a week before I took her out again, and when I did I immediately realized I was in love and would regret not keeping her.
Now the fun started. We were playing guessing games on the specs (she looked so yellow in her setting), and I was super worried about a chip on the girdle. Finally I decided to unset her and got her GIA graded. She turned out to be 1.61 J SI1 - pretty white and amazingly clean except for the chip that was actually a cavity.
Now the fun continued - the setting! I was really all over the place on this. I have a highly irrational need that it not look like an engagement ring (being in my early 40's, married & divorced a long time ago and in other relationships since then), even though I don't wear any of my rings on my left ring finger. I considered so many options for this and my other stone - various kinds of halos, clusters, bezels, modern, vintage-inspired, true antique settings, three-stones, and probably more. I went down rabbit holes looking for side stones, halo designs, drawing out my own ideas, researching and contacting vendors... Eventually I ended up where I started and took Maxine on a day trip to Victor Canera. Knowing that he doesn't usually set outside stones, I thought I'd see if any of his in-stock settings would work. I remember seeing this setting so many times on his site and never even paused, until one day I looked at it and thought... huh... maybe. It was made for the exact size of my stone, a true Cinderella situation. I ended up liking it much more in person, and now here we are!
Quite the make-over, right? I actually love that I know what her setting was, even though I'm not keeping it. And I assume this wasn't the original setting, maybe it was an heirloom stone re-set in the 80's? I wore her to work yesterday and it occurred to me that she may not have been worn out potentially in decades.
Here are just a few of the approximately 2682 pictures and videos I've taken. I know this isn't news to anyone here, but I do want to add that the setting is beautifully made and Victor is of course a treasure himself. My pictures don't do it justice, you should see the teensy claw prongs even on the side flowers. I can't believe I own a VC!
Thanks again to all of you who helped in my various threads, I'm so grateful for this community.
Videos: Original setting and loose:
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