Pics of my engagement ring!

[turtledazzle]

I''ve been meaning to do this for a while, but finally sat down today and compiled some pictures of my engagement ring.

The diamond was purchased from James Allen, and I have nothing but good things to say about the experience. Jennifer Norbury helped us find a really great diamond for an excellent price.

Diamond specs:

1.01 carat, H color, VS2, GIA Excellent Cut, Faint Fluorescence
HCA = 1.0 Excellent within TIC range (ex,ex,ex,vg)

We had the diamond set locally, purchasing the setting from Barker Diamond Company. If anyone is looking for a good B&M place in Nashville, I highly recommend Randy Barker. He was very nice, knowledgeable, and spent considerable time while we looked at diamonds and settings without ever imposing any pressure. He had lots of very good quality diamonds (many GIA excellent cut ex/ex), and if we had not purchased online (sales tax is quite high in TN), we probably would have bought the diamond from him as well.

Pics to follow ...

 

[turtledazzle]

First a pic of the unset diamond. This was the best picture we could take that showed the arrows ...

 

[turtledazzle]

The setting is by Sheldon Speyer. It is a platinum ring with side French-cut baguettes. It is really the only setting I tried on that I fell in love with. I really love the unique baguettes, milgrain, and engraving. Also, it is a really delicate ring.

Ring size = 3.5

Hand shot (please excuse my nails -- really need a manicure!) Also excuse my crooked pinky finger -- I inherited it from my mother''s side of the family (though mine are more crooked than most in my family). I''ve been told it has something to do with my Cherokee ancestry (I have no idea if that is the case, though).

 

[turtledazzle]

A close-up:

 

[turtledazzle]

From the side, showing the engraving and milgrain. (For some reason, the baguette looks really dark in this pic, but it doesn''t look that way IRL).

 

[turtledazzle]

A greenery pic (I wish I grew flowers!):

 

[turtledazzle]

In the box, taken outside in the sunshine. Love those blue and green flashes!

 

[turtledazzle]

One last pic ... yellow!!!

 

[turtledazzle]

I am so appreciative of this forum for the wealth of info I gained prior to such a large, important purchase.
Thanks for letting me share pics of my precious!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Turtle, you new ring is georgous! I like the milgraining detail, and I LOVE those prongs!

 

[bling*diva*]

~~Your ring is lovely!! I love the baguettes too!! Congrats!!

 

[Sundial]

Your ring is really pretty! I like the detail in the setting.

 

[shinythings]

That''s just beautiful! I also love the milgrainig and the prongs! Very classy look! congrats!

 

[genette]

Wow it looks bigger than a 1.01. Congratulations on your ring!

 

[Vix]

A gorgeous ring that suits your finger perfectly! Enjoy.

 

[KristyDarling]

Wow, it''s beautiful!! I am partial to round with baguette sides myself.

Congrats!!!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Now that''s a setting I could love for myself! Your ring is very beautiful!

I have a question for you. Did you try on wedding bands with this ring? Is there a matching wedding band by Sheldon Speyer? I am getting new rings for our anniversary and am trying to find a setting! My diamond came from GOG and they do carry Sheldon Speyer, but I wish I could find some to try on nearby.

 

[Snooper]

Beautiful ring! I really like the engraving and milgrain, and I''m a fan and owner of baguettes. Love that look

 

[bookworm21]

I love your ring, it''s beautiful! I''ve always loved step cuts for side stones.

 

[turtledazzle]

Thank you all for your kind words!!! I really love my ring, and everyone compliments it. I''m very happy I finally found something I loved. It took about ~5 weeks and 6-7 jewelry shops plus tons of time looking online to finally decide on a setting. My small fingers made the task more difficult. I would fall in love with a picture of a setting and would even still like it in person, but when I would put it on my finger it was just too big and overwhelmed my finger. I lot of the time I felt like I was a little kid trying on mom''s costume jewelry.

DS -- Funny that you ask about wedding bands. I tried very hard to fall in love with a wedding set, because I am kind of a particular person and was really worried about having that gap! But, like I said, this is the only setting that I absolutely fell in love with, so I decided that this had to be the one and I would deal with the wedding band when the time came.

If you look at the ring in the pics, you''ll see that a wedding band is not going to fit completely flush against the ring because of the way the metal lines from the prongs go down all the way to the base of the ring (does that make sense?). So, there will be a gap, but a pretty small one. I did try on some wedding bands with the ring in the jewelry store -- and, honestly, the little gap didn''t bother me too much. As my jeweler told me, "embrace the gap".

As for a matching band, my jeweler did not have any of Sheldon Speyer''s wedding bands. However, there does seem to be one that would be a good choice on Sheldon Speyer''s website (which is annoying to navigate!). http://www.sheldonspeyerplatinum.com/menu.htm Click on "wedding bands" and then click on the top ring in the column on the right side of the page. It is style #544B -- it is alternating French cut baguettes and rounds, with milgraining and engraving available.

My jeweler was supposed to contact Sheldon Speyer for pricing, but we haven''t heard from him yet. I think it is probably going to be a bit out of our price range, as we were a little lucky with the setting and got it at the "old" platinum prices (i.e. before platinum went through the roof this year) since the jeweler had obtained the setting a while ago.

I''m not positive what I''ll do for a wedding band yet. I may get a SP eternity (3/4 to allow for easy sizing later on) with alternating baguettes and rounds with milgrain. I also might get a plain platinum band with milgrain and then get someone to do some hand engraving to match or compliment the engraving on my e-ring. Or maybe both

DS -- As a regular PS lurker now, I have followed your diamond saga and was soooo happy (as all the others) that you chose that beautiful 1.6 diamond! What a pretty stone! Good luck in finding the setting of your dreams.

 

[turtledazzle]

Here is a pic of the wedding band, taken from Sheldon Speyer''s website (http://www.sheldonspeyerplatinum.com/menu.htm). Style #544B. 0.5 ct of French cut baguettes and 0.2 ct of round diamonds. (FYI, the engagement ring is style #904.)

 

[sevens one]

this is such a lovely ring

 

[Scintillating]

OOoooo turtledazzle - how lovely!
I love Sheldon Speyer and I love your setting. I love Rbs and Baguettes - especially french baguettes.

It looks really beautifully made, very nice details (prongs, milgrain, and engraving), and very crisp.
It looks beautiful on your hand. Congratulations!

Oh* I just saw the RB and French Baguette wedding band - that's going to look amazing! Wow. I can't wait to see pictures of that! (I secretly covet a band like that.)
I think an SP band would look *wrong* with your setting. (but, I could be wrong.) You'll have to see.

Scintillating...

 

[FacetFire]

Beautiful!!!!

 

[Kaleigh]

I love it, what a gorgeous stone and the setting is just stunning!!!!

 

[stretch4]

GORGEOUS!!!!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Very pretty!!!

 

[turtledazzle]

Oh, you guys are so nice. Thanks for all of the compliments!!!

Date: 7/15/2006 1:25:39 PM
Author: Scintillating
Oh* I just saw the RB and French Baguette wedding band - that''s going to look amazing! Wow. I can''t wait to see pictures of that! (I secretly covet a band like that.)
I think an SP band would look *wrong* with your setting. (but, I could be wrong.) You''ll have to see.

Scintillating...

Scintillating --

Just curious, but what makes you think a SP band would look *wrong* -- do you think it would overwhelm the setting or is it something else?

I''m definitely going to find out the price of the matching Sheldon Speyer band (and hopefully he''d be willing to make it 3/4 instead of full eternity -- for easier sizing and for price decrease as well), but I do have the feeling it will be more than we want to spend. If the matching band is out due to budget, do you have any other suggestions?

We''re not actively looking at wedding bands yet -- right now we''re still deciding on the guest list and picking a venue, hopefully for a late spring wedding. We''ll probably look at bands this fall.

Thanks again -- all of your rings are gorgeous, and it makes me smile to get compliments from those whose rings are so nice!

 

[FireGoddess]

Beautiful ring - and I love that band you picked out!

 

[mrssalvo]

beautiful ring turtle, i love sheldon speyer and the diamond looks huge on you.


..and I know Randy Barker too. he consigned my grandmother''s ring for my parents. maybe we can plan a mid. tn GTG?