WHOA... shocking new development!!!

[ephemery1]

OK, HUGE update for me... I just posted earlier this afternoon about going to a wedding this weekend, and two of our friends getting engaged this past weekend... just in time to make the weekend all wedding-talk, all the time. THEN...

My boyfriend suggested we go to one of our fave restaurants for dinner tonight, and while we were there... told me that he had been searching for the right ring/setting for me for the past 6 months to no avail. He was looking for cushions, per my request, and has had a lot of trouble finding a good one through B&M stores... he''s ALSO been spending lots of time on Pricescope (GASP! I had NO idea...) learning about everything. After all this, and not feeling 100% certain that he was choosing exactly what I would want...... he has decided to open the ring-search up to me as well.

I AM FLOORED. He was so dead-set on choosing everything himself, and having it be a surprise... despite my warnings about how picky I am... this is a COMPLETE shock to me. I''m not even sure I want a cushion anymore... I''m just SO excited to go looking with him!!!!! I feel bad, because he''s obviously disappointed and just totally exhausted from the whole process... but I''m hoping my obvious excitement will at least make up for that a little.

He has a budget in mind, so I am going to post in the RockyTalky thread to see what our options are with that... but WOW... I am so excited (but a little sad for him, cause I know he wanted to do it himself...) He also has a gorgeous family ring (round brilliant, about 1.3 ct, not sure of other specs) that his mom gave him to sell, to contribute to the overall budget. I have it on my finger right now cause I think it''s beautiful (and fun to wear ANY e-ring), but he doesn''t like it... I think I''ll take some pix for people to see though, just cause it''s always fun to look!

Anyway, I just wanted to share... I''m in total shock right now and feeling more than a bit guilty

... I feel so bad about being picky enough to make him give up, after 6 solid months of looking on his own. Any opinions on cushion vs. round brilliant vs. possibly oval? Any thoughts/advice on what my next step should be at this point?

 

[Mara]

get into a store and try on stuff to figure out a shape and all that....you will be able to solidify what you want from that point!! it really does work to see things on your hand. congrats on being SO close!

 

[Mandarine]

Oh that''s great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yayyy

I don''t really have any advice...but just wanted to say congrats!!! Don''t feel guilty!! he probably read some threads about girls not liking their rings and thought he better get you in the process!

I''m sure it will be a lot of fun!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[Kaleigh]

Yay, that's great news. If you are looking for cushions I highly suggest Mark Turnowski from www.engagementringsdirect.com He is very knowelgeable and is in the diamond district in NYC. There is even a video on here that leonid and Irina made of him. He knows cushions like no one else. You'd need to make an appointment to see him, but it's a quick train ride from Philly. I'm so glad you get to help your boyfriend and will look for your thread in RT. Do a search on here and you'll find lots of threads on him. He finds the most amazing cushions.

 

[Mannequin]

This is a fantastic development! Yay for you! Good luck with your stone choice, shape was the hardest thing for me to narrow down!

Has he been posting on here????

 

[blueroses]

That''s just great news--he will get over his frustration at the search when he sees how excited you are to be involved and how thrilled you''ll be to get JUST what you want. Yay!!! Can''t wait to see what you all start to come up with as you look!

 

[ephemery1]

Thank you SO much everyone... you''re making me feel a million times better about all this. I really do feel guilty, despite my excitement... he seems so sad and resigned about the whole thing, poor guy. Although I know he''s just tired and depressed about the Flyers, so I guess it''s a combination of things.

And Equestrienne, he claims he hasn''t done any posting on here... mostly just research. And he doesn''t seem to have stumbled across any of my LIW posts yet either!! Which shape did you decide on, just out of curiosity? I loved the idea of a cushion initially, but the size-whore in me is concerned about loss of size compared with an oval or RB. And also about getting bored with a cushion sooner because of it being less traditional. But Kaleigh, he knew all about Mark T. and has even watched the video on here

... he actually suggested we try and make an appt with him for the Saturday we will be in NYC, 2 weekends from now (not sure how likely that will be).

OK, question inspired by Mara''s suggestion... is it weird to run down to Jeweler''s Row tomorrow to try things on just for fun/ideas by myself? I''ve gone once before with a friend, but I am sometimes better as a solo-shopper and my BF can''t go tomorrow anyway, cause he''s taking off work all next week for vacation and will be tied to the office this week.

You guys are SO amazing for being enthusiastic for me... can''t tell you how much it helps to have your support/encouragement!! (PS people =

)

 

[Blenheim]

That is exciting news!

I don''t see any problems with going and trying on things yourself. Since you''re not completely sure what you want, trying on different shapes early in the process is a great idea.

 

[Kaleigh]

By all means go to jewelers row. Try on all different shapes and setting styles. I''m not a fan of buying from there though. But lots of great variety, etc.. Then you''ll get a feeling of what looks good on you etc.. Plus Dave Atlas has is office down there for when you need an appraisal. I have used him myself, he''s known as Oldminer on here. Too bad about the Flyer''s. My son is bummed too.

 

[monarch64]

Don''t feel bad ephemery, the guilt will only last so long...so long until you start trying on rings, lol!

I agree with the others: just try on those three shapes you mentioned and you''ll have a better idea of what you want. And I think your BF will really start to enjoy sharing the process of buying the e-ring with you there by his side. It is sad that he won''t get to do all the work himself, but I''m betting he''s a little relieved already that you''ll be there with him and he won''t have to do ALL the work! You can always just make suggestions at the point when you know what shape you love and let him take it from there. Nothing wrong with that!

Good luck!

 

[diamondfan]

Hey! Don''t waste any time on guilt...get going!!! (tee hee) Seriously, I am just in the mindset of thanking the powers that be so you are now in the process with him and can have some control. And, he decided it! Best of all worlds. I would ABSOLUTELY go down and do a quick look see to see what tickles your fancy! Best of luck...PS why does he not like the one you have from his mom?

 

[ephemery1]

Diamondfan, I''m not sure why he didn''t like the family ring... maybe the specs aren''t good? I''m not diamond-literate enough to know from looking at it... he thought the color listed on the appraisal was J or lower, but it looks plenty white to me! He also didn''t like the setting, but I think it looks nice on my hand... then again, I think most rings look nice on my hand at this point.

He also wasn''t sure of the size... he thought 1.3 for some reason... I don''t know if that''s total ct-weight or center-stone only. Here''s a pic on my size 5 finger:

 

[ephemery1]

Another pic... the setting is platinum, and those are 4 little round diamonds on the side. if the center diamond were smaller, it would be nice to incorporate it as a sidestone or something... but he says there is no real sentimental value attached, just something his mom had for some reason. It was her suggestion to sell it to contribute to our ring budget...

 

[LizzieC]

That''s a gorgeous ring... I wonder why he doesn''t like it? Hmmm... Well, at least you have something pretty to wear in the interim!

 

[LizzieC]

Oh, and I vote cushion

 

[Mannequin]

Date: 5/1/2006 9:28:57 PM
Author: ephemery1
Thank you SO much everyone... you''re making me feel a million times better about all this. I really do feel guilty, despite my excitement... he seems so sad and resigned about the whole thing, poor guy. Although I know he''s just tired and depressed about the Flyers, so I guess it''s a combination of things.

And Equestrienne, he claims he hasn''t done any posting on here... mostly just research. And he doesn''t seem to have stumbled across any of my LIW posts yet either!! Which shape did you decide on, just out of curiosity? I loved the idea of a cushion initially, but the size-whore in me is concerned about loss of size compared with an oval or RB. And also about getting bored with a cushion sooner because of it being less traditional. But Kaleigh, he knew all about Mark T. and has even watched the video on here

... he actually suggested we try and make an appt with him for the Saturday we will be in NYC, 2 weekends from now (not sure how likely that will be).

OK, question inspired by Mara''s suggestion... is it weird to run down to Jeweler''s Row tomorrow to try things on just for fun/ideas by myself? I''ve gone once before with a friend, but I am sometimes better as a solo-shopper and my BF can''t go tomorrow anyway, cause he''s taking off work all next week for vacation and will be tied to the office this week.

You guys are SO amazing for being enthusiastic for me... can''t tell you how much it helps to have your support/encouragement!! (PS people =

)

I thought about shape and size for a while. I have always liked my mom''s marquis, but I knew I wouldn''t get one because she has nothing but problems with the prongs because it catches everything. I seriously thought I was going to be a princess cut all the way, no negotiating. I knew I wanted something with sidestones, and that is what I kept looking at online and in stores. A friend of ours just proposed with a princess center stone and I thought I wanted one similar to his fiancee''s. So, in the beginning stages of looking, that is what shape I was completely set on. I also knew that as a teacher/horse person who tends to whack her hands on everything, I didn''t want something huge on my hand. 1 ct was about as big as I wanted to go at the moment and it fit well with his budget.

When BF and I went shopping together (finally!), I saw a lot of beautiful princess cut rings as we were looking and trying on rings, but the one ring that stuck in my head and made my breath catch every time I thought of it was a beautiful, simple RB with four sidestones. I tried this on at a local B&M that does a lot of custom pieces. It''s a .48 tcw band, and there is a matching five stone .50 WB. The woman helping us gave me a few different stones to set into the prongs, and the princesses did not compare to the RB. The set was just beautiful together, very sparkly and a perfect fit for my hand. Imagine this with a 1 ct center:

This is the website photo, but it doesn''t do the ring justice. It needs to be seen in person. I LOST SLEEP OVER THIS RING. Is that crazy? Normal? Sheesh. I turned all the ring shopping duties over to him after we saw this one, and after that he told me he visited stores on his own. I don''t know if he has purchased yet, or if he will/did go with a B&M store or online retailer. He''s going to ask this month though, probably around our anniversary on the 18th, and I hope I see this little beauty peeking out of the box!

As far as ring shopping, I say go try on stuff without him AND with him. You can never try on too many rings!

Plus, boys are buyers, not browsers. They go in, get what they need, and get the heck out. They can''t keep up with us professionals when it comes to shopping around. My BF got overwhelmed and then "bored" with the whole browsing ordeal by the time I dragged him to a few stores. I even had to buy him a Mrs. Field''s cookie at the mall we were in when he pooped out, since he got a little cranky.

 

[Mannequin]

I like the family ring as well. Too bad about the size, it would have been nice to incorporate the stone(s) somehow. Maybe instead of selling it, it could be remade into another piece of jewelry?

 

[glitterata]

I love the family ring. Do you know anything more about it? Has it been appraised?

 

[Mara]

I also love the family ring! That stone looks bigger to me than 1.3 ...more like 1.5 at least. It also looks kind of like an older cut with the bigger chunkier facets, I want to say a little bit OMC but kind of OEC too. It''s beautiful.

 

[jesterjigger]

That''s great news! I would try to convince him to propose with a stand in ring and then you guys pick out the real one together. I got my ring from jeweler''s row (in Philly, if that''s where you are) and it''s gorgeous! Though I haven''t seen the set ring yet. Here is the link for it though...I would look at LOTS of rings though to figure out what you want. Barsky''s ring I went with a regular round stone that''s super sparkly. I thought I wouldn''t want one with any sidestones, but this has some tiny ones that I adore.

 

[ephemery1]

Equestrienne, what a gorgeous setting... no more losing sleep over that... perfect! I can imagine the RB center is spectacular with it, too. That is sweet that your BF may time the proposal to be close to your anniversary. Mine told me tonight that he had originally planned to have everything ready by February, which is our anniversary plus V-day as well... then when that didn''t work out, hoped to have it before our friends'' wedding this weekend and trip next week... before finally giving up in discouragement.

Ugh, I feel so bad. He obviously tried so hard. Actually, I think he said one of the B&Ms down here just got a cushion in for him that he was supposed to go see this week... but he is worried about the depth and I think a little frustrated with the store overall, for whatever reason.

And he does have the appraisal for the family ring... I think he said it was appraised close to $10k maybe? Would that be right? I could be totally wrong... I know he didn''t expect to get much $$ for it as a trade-in, though. Definitely a good thought to get it reset into a different piece of jewelry... in the meantime, I would feel bad wearing it out (plus it''s too big) since we''re really not engaged yet, but man I''m having trouble taking it off!! Before he fell asleep tonight (poor guy is wiped out) I whispered, "so... what am I supposed to do about this ring on my finger?" and he just laughed and rolled over. It''s making me re-think RBs though...... and aren''t the prongs cool?

 

[ephemery1]

Date: 5/1/2006 11:06:42 PM
Author: Mara
I also love the family ring! That stone looks bigger to me than 1.3 ...more like 1.5 at least. It also looks kind of like an older cut with the bigger chunkier facets, I want to say a little bit OMC but kind of OEC too. It''s beautiful.

Mara I hadn''t even thought about it being OMC or OEC... that would be so interesting and unique... now I''m really curious about the appraisal. I''m also starting to brainstorm all the sudden... the budget he had been working with was around $8k, which means we probably wouldn''t be getting anything larger than 1.3ct (or whatever this current one turns out to be) as a center stone anyway. So maybe it would be worth just resetting this diamond in something he (and I) like better, and saving the rest of the money for an eventual upgrade? Hmmm... lots to think about tonight... my mind is swimming a bit. He was unsure about the color listed on the appraisal (he likes the idea of as near to perfect as possible)... but I REALLY don''t see anything yellow or "warm" about it. For me, size is definitely paramount!

Jester, my friend and I went ring-researching on Jeweler''s Row last year, and Barsky''s was our absolute favorite of all the places we checked out. They were so great about letting us try things on, and bringing out different stones for us to see... plus they had about a zillion settings to try on... and they were the only place we found that had several different cushions in the store so I could see what they looked like in "real life", dropped into the settings. And I love the setting you chose, by the way... very similar to the kinds of things I was looking at too!

 

[SoonIHope]

CUSHION CUSHION CUSHION!!!

Hehe, orrrrrr more importantly, try a million on and see what you like on your hand!!! And don''t feel guilty about him including you in the search, that is GOOOD! You''ll get exactly what you want!!!

Also, I loooove that family ring too!

I''m really curious to know why he doesn''t like it! I definitely think it''s worth considering a reset so you can save for a potential future upgrade....IF you don''t get a cushion!

In any case, all this is very good news, and I''m soooooo excited for you!!!!!! It sounds like he''s ready to make a purchase as soon as he can and get it on your finger pre-the-rest-of-wedding season!!!!

 

[diamondfan]

Just my humble opinion Ephemery...I would lilkely keep the one from his mom, but I woul reset it to make it more mine. it is better to appraise out of the setting. Save the money, and later, when you want an upgrade, you can put the stone back in the original setting or reset it into whatever you want. If you are happy with it and the appaisal passes muster with your guy, hey, why not? I think it might be nice, unless there is some bad karma associated with it, which it does not seem to have. Where in Philly are you?

 

[Selkie]

I LOOOOVE that family ring too, and if you did reset the diamond into a setting you choose for your e-ring, that old setting would look fabulous with a colored stone of some kind. That style of prongs tends to exaggerate the size of the diamond, so it may not be so overwhelming in a different setting.

 

[ephemery1]

Date: 5/1/2006 11:53:55 PM
Author: diamondfan
Just my humble opinion Ephemery...I would lilkely keep the one from his mom, but I woul reset it to make it more mine. it is better to appraise out of the setting. Save the money, and later, when you want an upgrade, you can put the stone back in the original setting or reset it into whatever you want. If you are happy with it and the appaisal passes muster with your guy, hey, why not? I think it might be nice, unless there is some bad karma associated with it, which it does not seem to have. Where in Philly are you?

I really do like the idea of resetting this one... I guess I''ll have to find out more details from C in the morning about what the appraisal says, and who it belonged to, and what kind of karma it might hold. He pointed out tonight how often I change my mind about things, so this way, I''d be allowed to change my mind about this... somewhere down the road when we''re ready for an upgrade! It would be nice if there was a fun background story with the stone though, as I tend to be kind of sentimental and like when things have "meaning" behind them. Part of the reason I liked cushions was because they were so old-fashioned looking... made me feel like even the brand-new ones had to have SOME sort of story attached. Yes, I have an overactive imagination.

Oh, and we''re on Rittenhouse Square... which means conveniently not TOO far from Jeweler''s Row...

 

[diamondfan]

I think that is a nice idea! I too love the thought of a back story. As long as it is nothing bad!!! This is sort of the best of both worlds to me, and he can save a bit more over time and you can have an "upgrade" when the time feels right. I think it is a win win situation!!!

 

[ilovesparkles]

Date: 5/1/2006 9:28:57 PM
Author: ephemery1
Thank you SO much everyone... you're making me feel a million times better about all this. I really do feel guilty, despite my excitement... he seems so sad and resigned about the whole thing, poor guy. Although I know he's just tired and depressed about the Flyers, so I guess it's a combination of things.

And Equestrienne, he claims he hasn't done any posting on here... mostly just research. And he doesn't seem to have stumbled across any of my LIW posts yet either!! Which shape did you decide on, just out of curiosity? I loved the idea of a cushion initially, but the size-whore in me is concerned about loss of size compared with an oval or RB. And also about getting bored with a cushion sooner because of it being less traditional. But Kaleigh, he knew all about Mark T. and has even watched the video on here

... he actually suggested we try and make an appt with him for the Saturday we will be in NYC, 2 weekends from now (not sure how likely that will be).

OK, question inspired by Mara's suggestion... is it weird to run down to Jeweler's Row tomorrow to try things on just for fun/ideas by myself? I've gone once before with a friend, but I am sometimes better as a solo-shopper and my BF can't go tomorrow anyway, cause he's taking off work all next week for vacation and will be tied to the office this week.

You guys are SO amazing for being enthusiastic for me... can't tell you how much it helps to have your support/encouragement!! (PS people =

)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO OK I can't even wait to read through everyone else's post to reply! I am so happy and excited for you! I would say go for it tomorrow if you want it will give you a better idea of what you want and possibly cut out some time when you go with him. All that ho humming can get tiresome to!

And WOW he knows all about Mark T and suggested you guys make an appt.! That is HUGE! Woo Hoo!

And yes you should post some pics of that ring and keep us updated on things

ETA: OK in my impatience I didn't scroll down far enough to see the pics

I think its really pretty though! I originally loved the princess and square cuts, but have changed sides over to the H&A rounds. So I like those setting that make a round look square, then I get the sparkle and the shape I like. And I also think it looks beautiful on you hand!

 

[ilovesparkles]

OH I just have to post again because I love that ring of his mom''s so much! What about keeping it as a RHR?

 

[Mara]

i went by myself to look at settings about 3-4 times when we were looking...i was a woman on a mission!! it''s really a great way to find out what you like...and i like doing things on my own too in order to do what i need to do, aka i like to go to the mall on my own etc. so i wouldn''t think it odd at all to go see what you like on your own!