Wow, what an adventure! It all came together Friday night when I surprised my wife of 20 years with the custom made, beautiful 5 ACA diamond anniversary ring. It would never have happened without this forum and all the fine input I received from both vendors and contributors. Here is the summary- pictures are posted separately. See my other posts entitled "my 5 diamonds..." for more details if you want.
It started out several months ago with me wanting to buy an anniversary "eternity" ring for my bride of 20 years. After searching the local stores and the internet I decided that that was not what I wanted afterall. I was looking for something with a bit more sparkle but did not want the diamonds to stick up too high. This led to more searching the internet and finding pricescope. I knew all about the 4-Cs etc. but did not realize the true importance of cut until reading all the great information here. I determined to place cut as my #1 priority followed by color, clarity, and caret. The size of the diamonds was determind by my budget. Design wise, I decided on a look of 5 graduated diamonds set close to the finger. The diamonds would be prong set close together like an eternity ring so they would have a great deal of sparkle. I could not find a setting that met my criteria so I worked with a local Jeweler and started designing one in platinum. Based upon the setting and my budget I chose the sizes of diamonds: 2-.21ct, 2-.3ct and 1-.49ct. Then the fun part of searching for the perfect stones! I finally settled on Whiteflash.com''s A Cut Above H&A diamonds. They were teriffic to work with (thanks Lesley!) and provided my with my dream diamonds for this ring.
The "Date": Friday we were to go out to a nice hotel and have dinner to celebrate our Anniversary. I had changed our plans to go out to a "Really" nice historic and very romantic hotel and made dinner reservations. A while ago I had bought her a beautiful, deep blue, vintage 1930''s silk bias gown. There are very few occasions to actually wear something like that but tonight was the night. I also bought her a beautuful antique looking CZ necklace and bridal CZ Tiara to go with the dress and evening. After strolling through the gardens and taking in all the beautiful views we went to our room to get ready for dinner. She was thrilled with the beautiful necklace and maybe a bit shy about the tiara. I told her she was my bride tonight and very special to me. We had a romantic dinner by candle light and then strolled throgh the gardens befor returning for dessert. During dessert I presented her with "one last gift". I had turned a little cup with a lid (woodworking is my hobby) and had placed the ring inside. When she took the little lid off she just stared. The candlelight danced off the facets and the ring looked like it was on fire inside. You don''t need to hear anymore but she was truly thrilled as was I. Thank you to all of you who gave your input and advice and made this special night happen.
It started out several months ago with me wanting to buy an anniversary "eternity" ring for my bride of 20 years. After searching the local stores and the internet I decided that that was not what I wanted afterall. I was looking for something with a bit more sparkle but did not want the diamonds to stick up too high. This led to more searching the internet and finding pricescope. I knew all about the 4-Cs etc. but did not realize the true importance of cut until reading all the great information here. I determined to place cut as my #1 priority followed by color, clarity, and caret. The size of the diamonds was determind by my budget. Design wise, I decided on a look of 5 graduated diamonds set close to the finger. The diamonds would be prong set close together like an eternity ring so they would have a great deal of sparkle. I could not find a setting that met my criteria so I worked with a local Jeweler and started designing one in platinum. Based upon the setting and my budget I chose the sizes of diamonds: 2-.21ct, 2-.3ct and 1-.49ct. Then the fun part of searching for the perfect stones! I finally settled on Whiteflash.com''s A Cut Above H&A diamonds. They were teriffic to work with (thanks Lesley!) and provided my with my dream diamonds for this ring.
The "Date": Friday we were to go out to a nice hotel and have dinner to celebrate our Anniversary. I had changed our plans to go out to a "Really" nice historic and very romantic hotel and made dinner reservations. A while ago I had bought her a beautiful, deep blue, vintage 1930''s silk bias gown. There are very few occasions to actually wear something like that but tonight was the night. I also bought her a beautuful antique looking CZ necklace and bridal CZ Tiara to go with the dress and evening. After strolling through the gardens and taking in all the beautiful views we went to our room to get ready for dinner. She was thrilled with the beautiful necklace and maybe a bit shy about the tiara. I told her she was my bride tonight and very special to me. We had a romantic dinner by candle light and then strolled throgh the gardens befor returning for dessert. During dessert I presented her with "one last gift". I had turned a little cup with a lid (woodworking is my hobby) and had placed the ring inside. When she took the little lid off she just stared. The candlelight danced off the facets and the ring looked like it was on fire inside. You don''t need to hear anymore but she was truly thrilled as was I. Thank you to all of you who gave your input and advice and made this special night happen.
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