Yay- Big Surprise from my Mum

[INdmbLove]

Tonight I was talking to my mom about some future-ish wedding stuff. I mentioned that I was looking at white sapphires for my engagement ring and she got this Big smile on her face. She gave me my grandparents'' wedding set (which was her original wedding set as well)- I don''t know the specifics- however I''m Guessing its about a .4 Round Iternally Flawless center stone- which I''ve ALWAYS admired- with a few very small diamonds on the wedding band and either side of the center stone- all set in platinum. I''m going to take it in to get checked out and possibly just start the thought process of just What I want to do with it. I plan on having it reset into a more updated setting (my wheels are really turning tonight!).... Does anyone know if they could re-use the existing platinum? There is a fairly substantial amount, and I''d love to keep the ring "whole"....
anyways I''m super excited- I''ve loved this diamond as long as I can remember. I asked her a few years ago when I would get it and was told "when I am gone"- so I guess she was just waiting for the "right" time. Yay- I''m super excited- I''ll try to post pictures soon.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Wow that is so special!! I can''t wait to see the pics!

 

[INdmbLove]

OMG- I''m such an idiot- can you tell that I depnd on spellcheck much in real life??

Iternally flawless=Eternally


wow- I''m so embarrassed.... please forgive any typos....I''m just a tad excited

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 3/19/2008 10:15:16 PM
Author: INdmbLove
OMG- I''m such an idiot- can you tell that I depnd on spellcheck much in real life??


Iternally flawless=Eternally



wow- I''m so embarrassed.... please forgive any typos....I''m just a tad excited

Unfortunately it''s still not right. It is internally flawless...

 

[INdmbLove]

Well whatever it is- it is that

..... It was appraised some years ago by my grandmother- too bad my mother does not remember the weight.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Don''t worry, I read it right even if it wasn''t typed right.

 

[monarch64]

It sounds like a beautiful gift...please let us know what happens with the appraisal and what you end up deciding what to do with the stone! Congrats on a wonderful and sentimental gift!

 

[glueck]

How wonderful to wear a diamond passed through 2 generations already! What a wonderful gift! Cant wait to see the pictures!!

 

[bee*]

That''s so cool!! Congrats.

 

[LegacyGirl]

Where are the pictures???

 

[INdmbLove]

So... last night I did my best to take some pictures (BTW how does everyone get them so crisp and clear??? mine kept coming out fuzzy and not so great) and then I couldn''t find the USB cord.... ugh

So as I have been searching and collecting ideas I''ve always been so fond of an "x prong"- my mom''s current wedding set has this in a much larger diamond (about 1.25) so I know I like it with a larger diamond- but what about a smaller??? I just can''t get a good image of it in my head... and once I want to know something, I''ll do whatever it takes to find out- so I drove to indy to a mall type of store.... I was not with my BF, so I was nervous going in- as I''ve always had him with me when going into any kind of jeweler- I just feel like he kind of validates that I''m not just there window shopping (even though maybe I''ve done that a time or two)- I''ve been to this particular store before with him and they were wonderful to us. A member of the management team helped us out and was just so pleasant- so tonight when I got the itch to go and snoop around a bit, I didn''t think twice about driving over to quickly browse. My BF really dislikes shopping for jewelry if we''re not going to buy it right then, he hates that pressure of feeling like he just wasted the saleperson''s time- but I''m not going to buy something I''m not completely in love with- so it takes a lot of looking and trying on stuff to find "the" one- and as many of you know that means going to different locations to find.

I had two major items on my agenda, and since I wasn''t planning on buying anything I made it clear, so the salesman didn''t waste a lot of time pitching anything to me- so I asked him 1) guestimate how big the stone was- and he said about what i thought .38-.5 or so. AND 2) look at an X prong setting with a diamond similar in size. As soon as I said it, he looked at me like I had fell out of a tree when I mentioned an X prong- and then made me feel stupid by going on about how long he had worked in the jewelry business and never even heard of such a thing.... so I promptly looked around and found about 3 in the store in the gem stone section. I''m not angry that he hadn''t heard of it, fads come and go, and I''m sure its hard to keep up with everything- especially with the internet- customers are far more informed now than ever I am sure- BUT you don''t make a customer feel stupid because you simply don''t know what they are talking about. So the conversation goes on for a few more minutes and he''s cramming this stupid credit card down my throat, and tries to make me feel bad for not applying because he''s trying to win a contest.... after just making me feel like a peice of crap you think that I''m going to Help you out?? (Mind you, the place is not busy, and all of this takes place over about 10 minutes of time- I''m not using up a ton of his precious time) So as I''m clearly getting annoyed with this guy, I start reaching for my keys and he gives me a card and mentions about next time I want to drop in I need to make an appointment!!!! (I''m very sorry to sound snobby about this- but its a chain store- come on! and appointment?) The way he said it just Really crawled under my skin, it was just So condescending as if I were not worth his time. I had Such a wonderful opinion of this store because of the service we received on the first visit- but this guy ruined that in the 10 minutes that I was in there tonight. So tomorrow I believe that I''m going to go to our family jeweler and I''m sure he''ll be more than happy to spend the time with me to answer any questions without making me feel like a fool.

Sorry I had to vent about this experiene. I was worried about going in by myself to begin with, and this just validated my concern. I completely understand that they are under a lot of pressure to sell their product- and even though I wasn''t planning on buying a ring from this company- that didn''t mean a definitive "no"- but it sure does now.

Anyways, I will go search for that USB cord


***Side Note*** My mom always thought that the metal was platinum, as I was looking on the inside engraving it is marked 14K- so I believe it is actually white gold- or does platinum come like that??? Sorry might be a dumb question- but I can''t find the answer on the internet- therefore I''m leaning towards it is gold- which is a tad bit disappointing... (well I love the rings, regardless... but you know....

)


Happy Friday all!

 

[INdmbLove]

I forgot to include the most insulting comment of all from the salesmen:
After I''m reaching for my keys and I have politely explained that I am not going to open up a useless credit card account I will never use..... he''s frustrated and says:

"So, what exactly are you trying to accomplish here tonight?" in a what''s in it for me tone

(I made NO bones about it- obviously I''m not going to buy/charge an engagement ring for myself) He then went on about when I''m going to buy a ring pressuring me to set up one of his "appointments"... I explained that its completely up to my BF, and I can''t give him an answer on that and he just looked at me in a... uh-huh sure, kind of way. (I stew a bit when I''m angry- can you tell?)

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I hope you can post some pictures. It really is sad to take a stone out of a heirloom setting unless the setting is just really bad. If you do reset, I am thinking a halo type setting might be better for that size stone than an x-prong. That was sweet of your mom to give you the rings, though!

 

[INdmbLove]

I''ve been looking on various websites trying to see the proportions of the trellis/x prong setting with a diamond that is close to the same size as ours.... and I don''t know- mixed feelings on what I have found- that setting really requires a larger stone to not "swallow" the diamond. I like halo settings, but I''m definitely not in love with them. On top of this my BF and I have differing feelings on the engagement ring- he would like for it to just be a solitaire- I''d like a tad bit more bling- so I Know that a halo would not be to his liking. I keep telling him that I''m the one that is going to wear it, it should what I want- however I understand that he wants to have a certain amount of pride in it aswell... or maybe he''s just being difficult

(never.... haha)

Late Friday night things got crazy with his mother (a couple of trips to the ER due to kidney stones) so he didn''t get much sleep and we didn''t make it to the jeweler yesterday as I had planned. We''re both on vacation in a week, so I am thinking that might just work out well one afternoon

, that way we don''t have to worry about a Saturday rush, and he can really take his time with us.

As far as keeping it in the setting that it is in, I have mixed feelings on that too. It is certainly not "bad" by any means- just not me.... My mom actually said "How about I give you my rings and you may reset the diamond as you want" there is some history there- I won''t go into it- but I think she would just like for them to have a "fresh start" if you will (no bad marriages/luck or anything... just..... hard to explain family stuff....)

Anyways- Happy Easter everyone!

 

[INdmbLove]

FINALLY got some decent-ish pictures of my mom''s wedding set..... not great- I''m still learning the ins and outs of photographing jewelry

 

[INdmbLove]

another

 

[INdmbLove]

The setting I''ve told bf that I want is:
http://www.jamesallen.com/products/item_412-2047_build.asp?module=setting

I''m really debating what to do though b/c I don''t want the setting to take over the diamond... I''ve tried on a similar style with a .75 and I really liked it- but I''m not sure with this diamond- which I believe is a .5ct.


Oh- I wear a size 7 ring---- my hands look sooo fat in those pictures!

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Beautiful!

 

[Just_Me]

I really like the set! So sweet and lovely!

 

[Pushin40]

Personally, I LOVE it and I think the new seeting you picked out is beautiful! I don''t think the setting would take over the diamond.

It''s SO special you have your grandmothers diamond!