Say Hello to my Not-So-Little Friend

[joflier]

Wow!!!! That is just sooo beautiful.

I hope your able to work out something to get to keep it!!! Good luck!

 

[amcgookin]

Beautiful ring! I love the halo and I don''t think it is too big at all, but then again I might be biased. I am being given by my soon to be fiancé a 3.57 OEC stone (VS1 & H color). It is an heirloom from the family jewelry collection! It is at the jeweler right now getting polished to remove years of wear and tear much like yours. The mold is being made so it can be set in a radiant cut (don''t know if I am saying this right) halo with a medium width band of more pave diamonds. We are doing some more bling in the gallery too! I was actually really excited to see this ring because minus the side stones this is similar to what I am getting designed. Oh and I am only 33 and definitely don''t think I am too young to year this big of a diamond!!!

Hope you get to keep it

 

[chickpea]

LGK, that stone is too spectacular to sell!

i''m crossing my fingers, hoping some day i have the good luck to happen upon such a huge, gorgeous OEC, with such wonderful character and at such a great price! got any hunting tips for those of us who aren''t antique buffs? please...?

congrats on your once-in-a-lifetime find

 

[LGK]

Hey Reader. I took some pics of the two rings together for you and I'll post them in a moment; I decided to fiddle with some of my silver for fun too. Funny you should mention selling some of my other collections- I think you read my mind

My BPAL (Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume oil) collection is going up on eBay slowly- who knew it would be a good investment, it's perfectly weird that their LE perfume is so collectable... I'm thinking I'll probably get a third of the way there just selling my horrifying amout of it. I'm also getting rid of me Juliana costume jewelry that I don't wear, the book was just published so it's a good time to do it.

Gemgaga, thanks

It's definitely staying in the setting it's in for a few years.

Joflier, thanks! Me too.

Amcgookin, wow! That sounds smashingly gorgeous. Your setting is like my absolutely ideal one since I've realized I can't do a rosebud style without smashing the crap out of the diamond, the cushion type halo & pave shank with detailed gallery. You MUST post a TON of pictures when it comes back, pretty please! That is so amazingly cool yours is a family stone. I wish I knew the history of mine.

Chickpea, there's no trick to my ability to spend money, trust me! Most of the jewelry I find is on eBay, usually through patient sifting of keywords over weeks or months. Sometimes I find great deals in antique stores too; I have a 1940s 5 stone 1/2 tcw diamond anniversary band (that I lost

right about the time I got this ring) that I bought for $100 at work. I wore it as a thumb ring for years. I miss it! My 3.55 ct OEC ring wasn't hard to find on eBay, it was expensive, and that really narrows down the number of people willing to chance it on eBay. (I was scared to death the two days I waited for this ring!)

OK, I'll post some pictures now. This first one is the one Reader wanted to see.

 

[LGK]

A closeup.

 

[LGK]

This is one of my most favorite pieces of Art Nouveau silver ever, and perhaps the rarest. It is, of all the odd things, an opium stash box. I am 90% sure that is what it was intended to be- it could have been for tobacco but it''s too small for that really, and the imagery rules out it being a woman''s pin box or other vanity item. It is c.1900/1910, made by Kerr, and if you look closely, you can see it shows a high relief image of a woman blowing smoke rings entwined in poppies. The rarity of a smoking nude from this time period is incredible- it was rather risque at the time for a woman to smoke in public, so this would have probably been something a man would have hidden from his wife as it would have been rather racy, and no woman would have used something like this. I''ve seen a one or two similar pieces of smoking Nouveau figures on sterling pieces in books but never in person, usually they''re vestas- again, a men''s item.

I personally find Kerr''s Nouveau sterling to be the equal of any- it is at least as gorgeous as Gorham or Unger Bros, though their name is not as well known (shorter production period, I guess). It seemed the perfect perch for my ring!

 

[LGK]

Again. A bit clearer image. Notice her nose isn''t dented in either, that''s about a 50/50 chance on something like this!

 

[LGK]

This is a pre-Revolutionary Russian Art Nouveau sterling purse- it''s c.1900-1910ish, and is lined in blue silk. The engraving is done by hand. It has a garnet pushbutton clasp and a wrist chain. This is about half of the design.

 

[LGK]

This is the other half of the design on the Russian purse.

 

[LGK]

Sitting in a Reed & Barton sugar shell- I forget the pattern, Cinq Fleurs maybe?

 

[LGK]

Another view of it perched on the purse.

 

[LGK]

On the top of the sugar shell.

 

[jewelerman]

VERY NICE CHOICE!

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 5/4/2008 12:14:43 AM
Author: LittleGreyKitten
Hand shot, note glowingly white skin thanks to the Pacific Northwest winters, and also please ignore heinous tattoo, I blame my prozac-crazed 17 year old self entirely. (Note: do not take Prozac if every gene you have predisposes you to bipolar disorder, or you too will end up with ugly finger tats.)

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!

That stone is fabulous.

I have had some great finds on ebay - not as great as that. But to get them I have to work very hard, a lot of hours of research, and looking for a long time till they come up. But when they do - Yee ha!


Oh, on the bipolar/Prozac thing. Been there, done that - had a superbly great time for 6 weeks, fortunately no tattoos, but only just!

Now on Lamotrigine, which keeps me that 5% up of normal that suits me fine, without the sky being the bluest blue you've ever seen (if you know what I mean...

)

 

[slmulkey]

Just out of curiosity...have you tried putting the ring on your index finger with the tattoo? I looks big enough to cover it. Maybe that could be another reason to keep it.

 

[Futuremrss]

Date: 6/6/2008 7:23:17 PM
Author: slmulkey
Just out of curiosity...have you tried putting the ring on your index finger with the tattoo? I looks big enough to cover it. Maybe that could be another reason to keep it.

UUMMM if you sell it, write me first...that is a stunning ring. They have something that fades tatoos...I hear about it on satellite radio...you know the one with NO commercials. It is something like Wrecking Bomb..

 

[LGK]

Jewelerman: thankies

Pandora: Glad you managed to survive that experience sans tattoo! I have many tattoos and love all of them EXCEPT the darned finger one. I too managed to deal with just about 6 weeks of manic crazed-ness before realizing it probably wasn''t a good way to operate, though it was... interesting.

Slmulkey: it does actually hide it, it would just need resizing because my index finger is bigger. I have a ''40s cocktail-type diamond ring I wear over it sometimes, but I don''t like it with anything else on that hand, because it''s pretty ornate. Funny thing is, nobody''s commented on the tattoo once the monster OEC took up residence next door- sorta like people get distracted or something. Hmmm.

Futuremrss: Yeah, there is a way to get it removed. It would be a good candidate, being all black. I am just lazy and haven''t done anything about it. (For years I always wore a ring over it, but that ring doesn''t play well with others.) I''ve actually been giving some thought to getting it zapped, but I haven''t done anything other than think about it so far.

The boy hasn''t pestered me about selling it for two days... progress perhaps!

 

[Futuremrss]

The cream was "Wrecking Balm." Seriously, let me know if you want to sell it. I would pay for your laser tattoo removal...promise!

 

[RxTechRN2b]

Yummy -- if I were you I''d just wear it and forget about re-selling!!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I just love that stone, and the whole ring. Gorgeous!!!!! It is flashy as it should be. That stone is not a shy girl.

 

[cellososweet]

it''s beautiful! I feel like I''m in first grade and you have the lunchbox everyone wants and I go home and tell my mum (or in this case DH) I WANT ONE!!!!!!!!!! NO FAIR!!!!!!! hahaha. that was seriously my first reaction. haha. cheers and congrats on it. It''s gorgeous!

 

[LGK]

I have an update!! I got the DH to agree I could keep the ring! I’d just been quietly wearing it and not selling, oops, heh heh... but we finally talked about it and he agreed last night it actually made sense to keep it for now. Quite simply inflation sucks and the last thing we need is more cash; considering what we paid for it, it’s more reasonable just to hang on to it for now- frankly we could do worse than to have some (more) material-object hedges against economic ickiness. Plus I’ve done enough research ever since buying it to reassure myself that I Done Good on the price; frankly even replacing it for the insured value would be difficult.

I have not come to love the setting however- I hoped it would grow on me but no such luck. I thought about what it was that I really, really didn’t like and I realized it’s the plain profile view that I dislike. I don’t adore the triple halo style in general, but it’s not an actual DIS-like. The blah profile is an actual pet peeve I have against the poor setting.

So I cruised by Green Lake Jewelry Works today, they’re about 20 minutes away from me down Lake City Way. Their shop is so cute! They have this celtic knotwork frog design painted on the floor. Also the man who helped me, Steve, was super nice. OK, he looked at my left hand before he started talking to me, but he was nevertheless really easy to work with. I’m a pretty good test of how good customer service is- if they can be polite to me when I am dressed especially gothy on a day off, then bonus points... not everybody is polite even if you are, if you’re wandering around in stompy boots and black etc. And GLJW passed with flying colors, nobody batted an eyelash at me.

So anyway, I was absolutely shocked at how nice their engraving work was.. The work that their engraver Larry does is absolutely on par with even antique engraving. You just don’t see that. Only Van Craeynest engraving might possibly be better- but GLJW is pretty darn close, certainly as good as most antiques.
I asked for a quote on what it would take to engrave the three sides of the shank of my ring and the profile of the gallery, and the quote was VERY reasonable, far far less than a new setting of any type. It’ll have a sort of art nouveau vine motif on the outside of the shank and the gallery and a wheat design on the sides of the shank. Can’t wait to see it done! And as difficult as it is to be parted from a sparkly, it is so fun to get it back and see how HUGE it looks again (I actually got used to the size finally, and it seemed "normal" and not enormous, which is just weird. It sure hasn't seemed small though, no actual DSS here!)

 

[cara]

That is one awesome ring. Its beautiful. Glad you are working with the setting - I think the detail work will spiff up the side view enough and the top view is already stunning. Congrats on getting to keep it!