bunnycat
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2012
- Messages
- 2,671
Hello Pser's! I wanted to wait and make this thread until I knew I had some time to spend on it as it is very special. (It is also very longwinded and has lots of pictures....)
Back when my husband and I got engaged and were ring shopping, I got to pick the ring I wanted (at the time) while he mostly had the input for the wedding band. His taste has always been wonderful, and being visually impaired, it came as no surprise to me that he wanted my band to be an intricately carved and tactile Van Craeynest ring. I don't even remember the actual band number for it now, it looks like what is called B810 now, and is the 5 blossom band with pillars in between. This band is special as it seems to basically be one of the last made before the company changed hands and production methods, which happened right after we were married.
The ultimate saga with this band is that while beautiful, I found it to be one of the absolute hardest rings to coordinate with an e-ring. Add on to this the fact that while both of us loved OEC and antique cuts, at the time there weren't as many easily or readily approachable options for finding antique stones that had a lot of user friendliness to them. This basically created mess after mess for me in terms of stones rings, ring decisions and wearability and so in the past 7 years, I have been through numerous rings.
Here's a really brief pictorial trip of my rings through time.
The 200 year old ring he proposed with- I still have this!
The actual wedding set! (Looks pretty in a pic but didn't match on the hand...)
Upgrade fever- 1.13 OEC (didn't match the band...oh well..)
1.57 OEC (Looked pretty good with the band, but still not the direction I wanted to go)
well..what if I upgrade the modern stone and put it in an antique setting?
1.65 K BG Blue (This is also OK, but still not feeling' it)
Well, I officially give up on that band....let's change settings and see what happens:
So what is not right? Well I can't get out of my head that what i really truly want is a bigger stone, despite have 2 that are superbly cut....But the debate rages on....OEC or Modern? OEC or Modern? I don't want both. I just want ONE that is nice and the size I know I will be happy with. And there is no getting around the fact I prefer a halo or other "frame" around a stone but that immediately makes for trouble for matching my VC band.
By now MrBcat is just resigned to letting me do what I think necessary because as much as we love each other, he and I are both tired. So I just happen to be browsing for possibilities on both fronts, when this ring came to my attention. I didn't look at it much at first, because I wasn't sure how the setting would work out. But, as I generally do when I like something but need more info, I researched PS (lol) an of course, it turns out it had belonged to a PSer (imdoubler, I believe) and was now for sale. Honestly, it was her pictures of the ring here that decided me that THIS was what I was looking for.
So, to cut to the chase (with more info and lots of pics to follow) I am pleased to present my FINAL upgrade (and heaven help me as I wouldn't be able to manage the feat again! I had to sacrifice SCARVES for this!)
Meet my New To Me 2.42 OMB (GIA M SI1) in a platinum Lilybell setting by JYB Jewels. I am beyond thrilled my lovely Van Craeynest will get worn regularly and has a "mate" worthy of it now. Thank you all for bearing with me and letting me share. This ring represents many things to me, a successful new job opportunity, closure on a long time "problem" and pleasure at being able to see something through to the end, successfully (if a little painfully). More pics and stats incoming.
Back when my husband and I got engaged and were ring shopping, I got to pick the ring I wanted (at the time) while he mostly had the input for the wedding band. His taste has always been wonderful, and being visually impaired, it came as no surprise to me that he wanted my band to be an intricately carved and tactile Van Craeynest ring. I don't even remember the actual band number for it now, it looks like what is called B810 now, and is the 5 blossom band with pillars in between. This band is special as it seems to basically be one of the last made before the company changed hands and production methods, which happened right after we were married.
The ultimate saga with this band is that while beautiful, I found it to be one of the absolute hardest rings to coordinate with an e-ring. Add on to this the fact that while both of us loved OEC and antique cuts, at the time there weren't as many easily or readily approachable options for finding antique stones that had a lot of user friendliness to them. This basically created mess after mess for me in terms of stones rings, ring decisions and wearability and so in the past 7 years, I have been through numerous rings.
Here's a really brief pictorial trip of my rings through time.
The 200 year old ring he proposed with- I still have this!
The actual wedding set! (Looks pretty in a pic but didn't match on the hand...)
Upgrade fever- 1.13 OEC (didn't match the band...oh well..)
1.57 OEC (Looked pretty good with the band, but still not the direction I wanted to go)
well..what if I upgrade the modern stone and put it in an antique setting?
1.65 K BG Blue (This is also OK, but still not feeling' it)
Well, I officially give up on that band....let's change settings and see what happens:
So what is not right? Well I can't get out of my head that what i really truly want is a bigger stone, despite have 2 that are superbly cut....But the debate rages on....OEC or Modern? OEC or Modern? I don't want both. I just want ONE that is nice and the size I know I will be happy with. And there is no getting around the fact I prefer a halo or other "frame" around a stone but that immediately makes for trouble for matching my VC band.
By now MrBcat is just resigned to letting me do what I think necessary because as much as we love each other, he and I are both tired. So I just happen to be browsing for possibilities on both fronts, when this ring came to my attention. I didn't look at it much at first, because I wasn't sure how the setting would work out. But, as I generally do when I like something but need more info, I researched PS (lol) an of course, it turns out it had belonged to a PSer (imdoubler, I believe) and was now for sale. Honestly, it was her pictures of the ring here that decided me that THIS was what I was looking for.
So, to cut to the chase (with more info and lots of pics to follow) I am pleased to present my FINAL upgrade (and heaven help me as I wouldn't be able to manage the feat again! I had to sacrifice SCARVES for this!)
Meet my New To Me 2.42 OMB (GIA M SI1) in a platinum Lilybell setting by JYB Jewels. I am beyond thrilled my lovely Van Craeynest will get worn regularly and has a "mate" worthy of it now. Thank you all for bearing with me and letting me share. This ring represents many things to me, a successful new job opportunity, closure on a long time "problem" and pleasure at being able to see something through to the end, successfully (if a little painfully). More pics and stats incoming.
) I will need to get it sized at some point (but not just yet!!!)
the low setting and all the detailing
I know how much of a struggle that can be.... Congrats! 
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