misskittycat
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2012
- Messages
- 1,068
So, a couple of weeks ago I finally received my long dreamed of ring, featuring “Gladys”, my 4ct GIA L SI2 OEC (and yes, the name seems to have stuck).
I’m not a fan of calling her an “upgrade” as I didn’t sell or trade my engagement ring in to buy her and I still wear my engagement ring about half of the time (a legacy style halo ring with a 1.5ct radiant). She is our anniversary ring as we celebrate 10 years together next year.
As background, I had often joked with Mr K about getting a gigantic diamond to celebrate our big anniversary and he would smile and pat me on the head, non-commitally. We have had a lot going on in our lives over the past few years and a long planned house renovation has been delayed multiple times so to make amends, he offered to buy me my rock a little earlier than our anniversary.
Around the same time, I received the JbEG Sneak Peek featuring the one and only Gladys and I was absolutely transfixed. As soon as Mr K said that I should start thinking about looking for a stone, I pulled it up onscreen for him. He was slightly taken a back as he thought it might take a few months to find something, plus he hadn’t really thought about an antique stone, even though I had been banging on about them for months. He was worried there wouldn’t be enough sparkle in an OEC but after seeing some of the videos on JbEG’s website, he was fairly comfortable that they would be and ultimately I was the one who was going to wear it so he told me to buy what I wanted. I started chatting with Erica about her and before you know it, we had placed a deposit on her (8th August).
Once we had paid for her in full, a little over 2 weeks later, we started the CAD design process. CADs took a little longer than expected (due to time zones and the fact we were overseas so internet was not fabulous), and some questions back and forth but I approved the design for manufacture at the end of September.
Despite the quoted time of 3-4 weeks, it ended up taking 6 weeks to get to me. Unfortunately she had to be sent back to the jeweller as she was set crooked (she is slightly cushiony and one of the corners was set poking up towards the nail), plus there were a few other delays, but finally, mid November, I had her in my hands.
I have delayed putting this up on Pricescope because I wanted to live with her for a couple of weeks before sharing my story. Nothing bad, I just wanted to be sure. I have never owned an old cut and although I have seen many, both on here and in antique stores, living with one is very different to just looking.
When I first got her I was stunned at how little she was (that’s what comes from staring at super magnified pictures on the internet for 3 months!!). Even Mr K said she was smaller than he thought. She is clearly the right size but I was honestly expecting something the size of a dinner plate to arrive
Having said that, the more I have worn her over the past few weeks, the more I can see she is just the perfect size for me. Despite a couple of comments (including one from my mother about being careful not to be mugged), I feel very comfortable wearing her around. I definitely don’t think she is too big and nor is she too small! She is, as Goldilocks would say “just right”.
Colourwise, she is brighter than bright. A soft white, she shows no tint top down until you place her alongside a whiter diamond. You can see a slight yellow tint from the side, but only on a white background. There are no dark spots at all – she is a true fireball. Lots of pastely flashes and bright light. She is very symmetrical for an old cut and with the slight cushiony outline, I feel like I have the best of both worlds: a cross between an OEC and a vintage cushion.
The setting is lovely. So delicate and fine. The teeniest diamonds ever on the basket and the claws are exquisitely fine. She is elegant in her simplicity.
But…
Okay, there is a but. A teeny tiny but.
I don’t think I am a solitaire girl. GAAAH!!
The ring is exquisite. It’s so very very beautiful, but I always seem to have worn haloed gems or more intricate rings so it’s been a big adjustment for me to wear something so very plain (listen to me, Princess much??). The initial thought was to have it set in a solitaire so I can work out what I want to do long term with the stone because I have never had something this big to wear and I was worried a more intricate setting would be overwhelming.
Quite a few of my friends have commented that she is so plain compared to what I usually wear. In a nice way, of course (I hope they aren’t suggesting I am far too blingy!!). But she is. From the top down she is exquisitely plain. All you see is diamond. You can just see the teeny claws and the band and just big sparkly Gladys.
I think the other hesitation I have is that my engagement ring, including the halo, is about 11mm across, so if you don’t look all that closely, Gladys actually looks smaller than my engagement ring (even though she clearly isn’t).
The upshot is that I will probably wear it as a solitaire for a while and then try and track down a pair of sidestones for her and turn her into the most spectacular three stone ring in a few years. Even Mr K said he thinks she needs a little something (and that says a lot). At this point I am not sure if I will go for pears or little OECs (possibly 0.5ct each) but for the moment I am loving her and wearing her (now she is insured). I did think about haloing her down the track (now I completely understand why SB haloed Venice), but my engagement ring has a halo and I wanted something different. A three stone I think is nice for the way it represents the past, present and future and is a great concept for an anniversary ring.
The other “but” is the sizing of the ring. I asked for her to be made as a size 5.25 which is bigger than my engagement ring (sized at just under a 5). When she arrived she felt a little tight, but it’s been humid here and my fingers do swell a bit when it’s warm. Over the past few weeks I have noticed she is even tight when it’s cold, so I had a jeweller check her size and she isn’t the right size. She has been sized at between a 4.75 and a 5, which is annoying. I had another jeweller check again and he said 4.75. So it’s somewhere between a ¼ and ½ a size too small. When I told Erica about the mistake she said that it was unfortunate but not uncommon and there is no unified system of calibration for these things. Whereas here was I thinking a size meant a size…
What is really unfortunate is that my jeweller (who I trust) will charge me $150 for it to be resized so I can wear it comfortably, and after spending all that money on the setting I am a bit peeved I have to have it fixed when I had allowed for it to be a little bigger in the first place. I clearly cannot send it back to Erica to be rectified as I live in Australia and the shipping outweighs the cost of the resizing. Erica suggested I look for another jeweller and “shop around”, but unfortunately that’s pretty much market rates for a good manufacturing jeweller where I live (Australia is tres expensive like that). Plus I trust him, and I have had pieces mangled by other jewellers in the past who have charged almost the same rate, so I don’t want to give it to anyone else to play with. I can squeeze it on with my wedding band but I can’t wear my eternity band with her at the moment and I really really want to. The only downer in what was a pretty exceptional overall experience.
So, without much further ado, here are some pictures!!
I’m not a fan of calling her an “upgrade” as I didn’t sell or trade my engagement ring in to buy her and I still wear my engagement ring about half of the time (a legacy style halo ring with a 1.5ct radiant). She is our anniversary ring as we celebrate 10 years together next year.
As background, I had often joked with Mr K about getting a gigantic diamond to celebrate our big anniversary and he would smile and pat me on the head, non-commitally. We have had a lot going on in our lives over the past few years and a long planned house renovation has been delayed multiple times so to make amends, he offered to buy me my rock a little earlier than our anniversary.
Around the same time, I received the JbEG Sneak Peek featuring the one and only Gladys and I was absolutely transfixed. As soon as Mr K said that I should start thinking about looking for a stone, I pulled it up onscreen for him. He was slightly taken a back as he thought it might take a few months to find something, plus he hadn’t really thought about an antique stone, even though I had been banging on about them for months. He was worried there wouldn’t be enough sparkle in an OEC but after seeing some of the videos on JbEG’s website, he was fairly comfortable that they would be and ultimately I was the one who was going to wear it so he told me to buy what I wanted. I started chatting with Erica about her and before you know it, we had placed a deposit on her (8th August).
Once we had paid for her in full, a little over 2 weeks later, we started the CAD design process. CADs took a little longer than expected (due to time zones and the fact we were overseas so internet was not fabulous), and some questions back and forth but I approved the design for manufacture at the end of September.
Despite the quoted time of 3-4 weeks, it ended up taking 6 weeks to get to me. Unfortunately she had to be sent back to the jeweller as she was set crooked (she is slightly cushiony and one of the corners was set poking up towards the nail), plus there were a few other delays, but finally, mid November, I had her in my hands.
I have delayed putting this up on Pricescope because I wanted to live with her for a couple of weeks before sharing my story. Nothing bad, I just wanted to be sure. I have never owned an old cut and although I have seen many, both on here and in antique stores, living with one is very different to just looking.
When I first got her I was stunned at how little she was (that’s what comes from staring at super magnified pictures on the internet for 3 months!!). Even Mr K said she was smaller than he thought. She is clearly the right size but I was honestly expecting something the size of a dinner plate to arrive
Having said that, the more I have worn her over the past few weeks, the more I can see she is just the perfect size for me. Despite a couple of comments (including one from my mother about being careful not to be mugged), I feel very comfortable wearing her around. I definitely don’t think she is too big and nor is she too small! She is, as Goldilocks would say “just right”.Colourwise, she is brighter than bright. A soft white, she shows no tint top down until you place her alongside a whiter diamond. You can see a slight yellow tint from the side, but only on a white background. There are no dark spots at all – she is a true fireball. Lots of pastely flashes and bright light. She is very symmetrical for an old cut and with the slight cushiony outline, I feel like I have the best of both worlds: a cross between an OEC and a vintage cushion.
The setting is lovely. So delicate and fine. The teeniest diamonds ever on the basket and the claws are exquisitely fine. She is elegant in her simplicity.
But…
Okay, there is a but. A teeny tiny but.
I don’t think I am a solitaire girl. GAAAH!!
The ring is exquisite. It’s so very very beautiful, but I always seem to have worn haloed gems or more intricate rings so it’s been a big adjustment for me to wear something so very plain (listen to me, Princess much??). The initial thought was to have it set in a solitaire so I can work out what I want to do long term with the stone because I have never had something this big to wear and I was worried a more intricate setting would be overwhelming.
Quite a few of my friends have commented that she is so plain compared to what I usually wear. In a nice way, of course (I hope they aren’t suggesting I am far too blingy!!). But she is. From the top down she is exquisitely plain. All you see is diamond. You can just see the teeny claws and the band and just big sparkly Gladys.
I think the other hesitation I have is that my engagement ring, including the halo, is about 11mm across, so if you don’t look all that closely, Gladys actually looks smaller than my engagement ring (even though she clearly isn’t).
The upshot is that I will probably wear it as a solitaire for a while and then try and track down a pair of sidestones for her and turn her into the most spectacular three stone ring in a few years. Even Mr K said he thinks she needs a little something (and that says a lot). At this point I am not sure if I will go for pears or little OECs (possibly 0.5ct each) but for the moment I am loving her and wearing her (now she is insured). I did think about haloing her down the track (now I completely understand why SB haloed Venice), but my engagement ring has a halo and I wanted something different. A three stone I think is nice for the way it represents the past, present and future and is a great concept for an anniversary ring.
The other “but” is the sizing of the ring. I asked for her to be made as a size 5.25 which is bigger than my engagement ring (sized at just under a 5). When she arrived she felt a little tight, but it’s been humid here and my fingers do swell a bit when it’s warm. Over the past few weeks I have noticed she is even tight when it’s cold, so I had a jeweller check her size and she isn’t the right size. She has been sized at between a 4.75 and a 5, which is annoying. I had another jeweller check again and he said 4.75. So it’s somewhere between a ¼ and ½ a size too small. When I told Erica about the mistake she said that it was unfortunate but not uncommon and there is no unified system of calibration for these things. Whereas here was I thinking a size meant a size…
What is really unfortunate is that my jeweller (who I trust) will charge me $150 for it to be resized so I can wear it comfortably, and after spending all that money on the setting I am a bit peeved I have to have it fixed when I had allowed for it to be a little bigger in the first place. I clearly cannot send it back to Erica to be rectified as I live in Australia and the shipping outweighs the cost of the resizing. Erica suggested I look for another jeweller and “shop around”, but unfortunately that’s pretty much market rates for a good manufacturing jeweller where I live (Australia is tres expensive like that). Plus I trust him, and I have had pieces mangled by other jewellers in the past who have charged almost the same rate, so I don’t want to give it to anyone else to play with. I can squeeze it on with my wedding band but I can’t wear my eternity band with her at the moment and I really really want to. The only downer in what was a pretty exceptional overall experience.
So, without much further ado, here are some pictures!!
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