My 0.80 H VVS2 CBI grandbaby (grandmother?)—the seedling!

[KristinTech]

Introducing.... my new baby! And she sleeps through the night!

A little background... this summer I was interested in starting to save toward a “starter” superideal. The thought was that I would trade up toward a “forever stone” for our 20th anniversary in fall 2020. I had a little nest egg started and my husband said, “Why don’t I match your funds and pick one out for our anniversary as a surprise? Yeah! That sounds Iike a plan to me! I hadn’t thought he’d be interested in that until next anniversary. So far, he’s on board with this slow progression toward The 20th anniversary bling.

I gave him 5-6 ideas for settings. We agreed that this ring setting should be very inexpensive and would be used for a CS ring for our 10-year old for a birthday or Christmas. I wanted rose gold. And 10K gold in order to save a bit of money. Ultimately, I will want the diamond descendant to be set in platinum. Many of you helped me decide how to set this one—how to come up with a plan to avoid a wasted setting.

He picked out this Stuller rope setting from the group I emailed—he always likes curvy/twisted designs like this! I think it will look nice with a garnet or something next year—I may be asking the CS forum for help with that at some point!

On to pics!

 

[KristinTech]

I took a walk late this afternoon and was (mostly) by myself so I could capture some twinkling!

Melissa @Winks_Elf —thank you for guiding hubby!






I love these next two pics, since it shows how colorful the stone can be. It’s really mesmerizing!

 

[MissGotRocks]

Very pretty and great idea for moving up to your ideal 'forever' ring! Enjoy!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

It’s gorgeous! I love you guys have a plan and I think the setting will look awesome with a colored stone down the line.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

That's beautiful!!! I love the idea of gradually upgrading for your anniversary! You're smart to go with inexpensive settings until you reach your final ring, but it looks great anyway!

 

[KristinTech]

These next pics show how trippy the color play is at times. That is my technical term for it! I was pretty impressed that iPhone was able to capture it.


I mean, this one’s CRAZY, right?! A rainbow “feather” in my VVS2, lol.



Neato, some of those perfect arrows.


Just wild. If I thought my productivity was suffering before.... I’m a little embarrassed at how much time I’ve spent staring at this thing over the last day and a half!

 

[ac117]

It's absolutely beautiful! Congrats!

 

[rubysweettart]

It's gorgeous! I love your nails and the rose gold is lovely on you. Happy Anniversary!

 

[Wewechew]

Beautiful!!! I’m doing the exact same thing!

 

[ladyonthelake]

I love the setting! Simple with a little twist. Enjoy! It's beautiful!

 

[marcy]

Very pretty. Congratulations.

 

[caf]

She’s gorgeous! Congrats!

 

[Ally T]

That stone is a knock out & the setting is perfect for letting it be the star of the show! I think your husband needs to have a word with my husband

 

[junebug17]

Oh it's beautiful!!!

 

[tyty333]

Gorgeous! And very smart not to spend a lot on the setting since at some point it's not going to fit one of your upgrades!

 

[MamaBee]

Beautiful! Hubby did good!

 

[metro]

Beautiful ring and stone! And I love you scenery pictures! It's ugly, grey city where I live. I LOVE beautiful country pictures!!!

 

[pearaffair]

Wow that’s pretty! And like @ladyonthelake said, simple with a twist!!

Absolutely stunning!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Beautiful ring!, congrats!

 

[MarionC]

It’s beautfiul and I love your word “seedling”!
The twist band is quite attracfive. Great choice!
Enjoy

 

[Bonfire]

Just beautiful!

 

[KristinTech]

*sheepishly comes forward*

Introducing my F-colored CBI! (Not a typo)

0.90 F SI1

Pictures first!

In front of a local artist mural with dd photobombing and telling me to stop being weird.



I call this the “pop rocks” shot—when body color goes dark and the light show begins. It can be so crazy intense that you can’t believe that it’s only a visual input. It seems as though there should be a tactile and sound sensation with it! Obviously doesn’t show in a still photograph, but it’s crazy!



Morning light in our hotel room today before visiting family:



Afternoon sun before our trip home:



Way earlier than expected, but I have already utilized the upgrade policy (I can’t find the right emoji for embarrassed and excited all at once). The H was so beautiful, and it taught me a lot about my oval that I’ve worn since our 1999 engagement! It is an F oval. The H CBI looked *whiter* than the F in some environments (yes, it’s true!). But I just wanted a colorless stone, I guess—bottom line.

Melissa @Winks_Elf helped me through their super easy process, and I’m extra thankful that she was *excited* for me, even as I was a little embarrassed to be approaching them so soon on a color upgrade!

They had a 0.90 F SI1 in their inventory that would fit the current setting. The setting was always intended to hold a garnet for our 10-year-old daughter at some point, so we wanted something very inexpensive that would be lovely and fun for a short window of time. I will set next year’s anniversary upgrade in platinum.

I will take some comparison pictures soon regarding the F oval and this F round. I’ve never had a MRB. Only the oval, and old cuts. More on that later, I think it’s a physics lesson!

I’m thinking 1.4ish final upgrade size in 2020, but maybe bumping up past the 1.5 mark if finances allow at that time.

 

[KristinTech]

Just to clarify the statement above... I’ve never had MRBs in rings before—my studs are MRB, but I don’t view them in the same way in my ears.

 

[whitewave]

It’s amazing and gorgeous!

 

[krusty900]

It looks amazing!
(I was going to buy that stone, but you beat me to it(I ummed and ahhed for too long) so now have a .9 h cbi on the way)

 

[Lykame]

*sheepishly comes forward*

Introducing my F-colored CBI! (Not a typo)

0.90 F SI1

Pictures first!

In front of a local artist mural with dd photobombing and telling me to stop being weird.



I call this the “pop rocks” shot—when body color goes dark and the light show begins. It can be so crazy intense that you can’t believe that it’s only a visual input. It seems as though there should be a tactile and sound sensation with it! Obviously doesn’t show in a still photograph, but it’s crazy!



Morning light in our hotel room today before visiting family:



Afternoon sun before our trip home:



Way earlier than expected, but I have already utilized the upgrade policy (I can’t find the right emoji for embarrassed and excited all at once). The H was so beautiful, and it taught me a lot about my oval that I’ve worn since our 1999 engagement! It is an F oval. The H CBI looked *whiter* than the F in some environments (yes, it’s true!). But I just wanted a colorless stone, I guess—bottom line.

Melissa @Winks_Elf helped me through their super easy process, and I’m extra thankful that she was *excited* for me, even as I was a little embarrassed to be approaching them so soon on a color upgrade!

They had a 0.90 F SI1 in their inventory that would fit the current setting. The setting was always intended to hold a garnet for our 10-year-old daughter at some point, so we wanted something very inexpensive that would be lovely and fun for a short window of time. I will set next year’s anniversary upgrade in platinum.

I will take some comparison pictures soon regarding the F oval and this F round. I’ve never had a MRB. Only the oval, and old cuts. More on that later, I think it’s a physics lesson!

I’m thinking 1.4ish final upgrade size in 2020, but maybe bumping up past the 1.5 mark if finances allow at that time.

Hehe, you're doing the opposite of me, getting a higher coloured CBI that's smaller and then upgrading in size through a very beautiful setting (lovely idea to pass it on for your daughter). I'm getting the largest sized, lower coloured CBI I could want in my dream setting and then if I want I'll upgrade up in colour... Sometimes I think I'm at risk of doing that first upgrade quite quickly like you have... we'll see!

Congratulations on your upgrade, it's beautiful!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Hehe, you're doing the opposite of me, getting a higher coloured CBI that's smaller and then upgrading in size through a very beautiful setting (lovely idea to pass it on for your daughter). I'm getting the largest sized, lower coloured CBI I could want in my dream setting and then if I want I'll upgrade up in colour... Sometimes I think I'm at risk of doing that first upgrade quite quickly like you have... we'll see!

Congratulations on your upgrade, it's beautiful!

Hmm I wonder if people will notice your diamond getting whiter over time!

 

[Lykame]

Hmm I wonder if people will notice your diamond getting whiter over time!

Yes interesting! I'm not sure. I am very colour sensitive so I would definitely notice, but it's a CBI so it will face up super bright - I don't think anyone else would notice. Luckily with a super ideal I'm much more colour tolerant than I thought I was (I had set out to get no less than a G and I'm getting a J!).

 

[KristinTech]

It looks amazing!
(I was going to buy that stone, but you beat me to it(I ummed and ahhed for too long) so now have a .9 h cbi on the way)

@krusty900 I look forward to seeing your pictures! The 0.90 size is great! I was surprised at the visual bump I got, going from 0.80 up to 0.90.

 

[KristinTech]

Hehe, you're doing the opposite of me, getting a higher coloured CBI that's smaller and then upgrading in size through a very beautiful setting (lovely idea to pass it on for your daughter). I'm getting the largest sized, lower coloured CBI I could want in my dream setting and then if I want I'll upgrade up in colour... Sometimes I think I'm at risk of doing that first upgrade quite quickly like you have... we'll see!

Congratulations on your upgrade, it's beautiful!

@Lykame - I had the same initial idea as you. I joked that my F colored oval was the culprit in all this, but it is true. I don’t think I would have gone whiter than the H if I didn’t already have a built-in comparison.

If I were investing in a dream setting, I’d definitely be going your route! I’m leaning toward a Tiffany repro for this one and eventually resetting the oval into a three-stone with half-moon or pear sides. Still not sure on that, it won’t happen for years!