Thank you so much icekid, LisaRN, & panda08 for your kind comments
CareBear - My stone is spready for its weight, the dimensions are 7.36 x 7.26 (and I forget the last one, sorry!) Strictly by the numbers, my stone wouldn't be considered 'ideal' because it's a touch shallow, but it doesn't affect the performance negatively at all. And I quite like that everything about my stone, in all its wonkiness, came together just so to produce a magnificent result - it reminds me of me and FI (I definitely bring the wonkiness to the equation)
vespergirl - Wow, thank you so much, that is a huge compliment! I'm honored
I adore that setting. I haven''t seen anything like that from 23rd before- I really love it!
I have noticed a lot of well cut stones go dark with a blue hue in the sunlight. All mine do, regardless of fluoro or not. I suspect the blue is from the sky. I think the darkness was explained as something to do with your pupils constricting because of the intense fire, making an optical illusion of a dark looking diamond. If I''m remembering that right!
Anyway, enjoy your absolutely gorgeous ring. It''s smashing!
Thanks LittleGreyKitten! Yeah, it's not the more oft-done super thin micropave 23rd Street setting, it was important to me that the setting be a fitting home for our beautiful antique stone. Tina actually said the designer/benchman delighted in making a setting unlike what most people have been asking for. So much so, in fact, that he made the first one, didn't even show anyone but was unsatisfied with it, and so made a new one all over. I don't how I messed it up in my first post of this thread, but what I was trying to say was that both he and Tina were so passionate about this ring, their dedication was incredible!
I too chose to impose a budget under what was actually available for us (~3 weeks salary rather than 3 months). I am so happy with what I got and I can't imagine having something significantly more because for me, I get really stressed about having to keep up with stuff. You pay more in insurance, you have to worry more about drawing theft or opinions, and as someone else said you still have to make a trade off somewhere. Even a billionaire could figure out other uses. Any extra is cash that we save.
In fact, I don't even enjoy owning lots of shoes, clothes, or bags. I have one black mini Dooney satchel that I wear every day and one other larger leather satchel for travel. A few years ago I got rid of all my plastic shoes and now have fewer, quality shoes: pumps in black and neutral, a sandal, pair of keds, evening shoes, my workout shoes, and some basic flat boots. I live in FL and I got rid of all my old cheap bikinis and just kept my favorite- a Poko Pano. And I enjoy the brands for the quality, not the branding.
It's just so much easier to keep myself organized and in check this way. I feel like I have an identity rather than the things being the identity for me. I hate that feeling. With that being said, I don't have GEM but I am not against large purchases either. That's just what works for someone else. My lifestyle is moving more and more towards living below our means, which makes me feel happy. I did purchase a second solitaire for myself just under .5 carats for travel and right hand use. I know that wasn't a necessary purchase but there is just something so classy about it and it provides good versatility.
What I'm really trying to say is that no one, anywhere, at any time, can have it *all* so try to remember that when you have GEM.
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