#JOTW My (So Far) 2016 Bling!

[ac117]

I've recently gotten a few pieces and really wanted to share them with everyone! Get ready because I have a bunch of pics

In January, DH and I went to Italy to celebrate our anniversary and one thing that I really wanted as a memory was a typical artisanal Florentine ring! I didn't want to shop on Ponte Vecchio (rip-off bridge) so after some hard digging on Google found a few family owned shops that were recommended and off the beaten path. I tried on a few things that didn't just didn't sing to me and then finally found the one! Here is my beautiful 18YG hand crafted ring - what I love most is the intricate design - it screams Florence to me and is exactly what I was searching for!

 

[ac117]

Next up - I had a pair of 1.02 ctw studs that I got many years ago from my previous (pre-PS) jeweler. I wore them happily in complete oblivion until the PS itch started!! Then I would always look at them, think they were dirty and try to clean the inclusions out of them obviously that never happened and I needed a new pair! So for my upcoming birthday I went to IDJ and asked them for PS quality studs in my budget as close to 1ctw as possible. I knew my current budget didn't allow for the full carat, but I also didn't want to go TOO small in size right now.

I can't recommend IDJ enough!! Of course Yekutiel came through and out of a parcel of beautifullll H&A stones, he and Israel picked out a stunning pair for me. They are uncerted .90ctw E, SI (VERY eye clean) stones!! I can't say enough how much I LOVE them!! All I see is sparkle now. I also asked for pretty claw prongs and they delivered on that, too! So without further ado, here are my lovelies!! A few ear shots (close up for the detail and further out for size perspective) and of course I had to include one of them next to my wedding set to show that the color stands up to my E colored ER!

 

[ac117]

 

[ac117]

And last (for now) but certainly not least....or I could also say saving the best for last....hehehe
I finally received and can officially wear my amazing Tiffany Schlumberger 16 stone ring!!! The classic two tone! I love love love it and have been wearing it ALL the time!! I also love the way it looks with my ER but DH thinks it's "too much" - is there such a thing?! Lol! So I've been wearing it happily on my RH and just find myself staring!

Hope you all enjoy and thank you for letting me share!!

 

[telephone89]

You must have tiny ears, those studs look a great size on you! I would've thought larger.

 

[AprilBaby]

You are having a great year! Enjoy!

 

[JDDN]

So many beautiful pieces, all gorgeous!! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

How wonderful--can't wait to see what the rest of 2016 brings!

cheers--Sharon

 

[Laila619]

Wow, love them all!! That florentine band is so cool.

 

[Queenie60]

Beautiful bling - enjoy! Are your studs .90 each or .90 total carat weight? They look great and huge on your ears.

 

[ac117]

Thanks everyone!!!

Queenie60, they are .90 total so .45 each! I saw you mentioned on the studs thread that you're getting a pair from them at .90 each!!!! Now that's what I'm talking about!!! Exciting!!! I hope to get to that size but will probably upgrade gradually so I don't give DH a heart attack

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Love both bands, and of course, the new studs are gorgeous!!!

 

[marcy]

You are off to a great start for the year. You have quite a beautiful collection.

 

[Monnyjay]

Beautiful collection there, love the ring from Florence (one of my favourite places). You must admit the shops on the bridge are still good fun for a look! I agree with everyone else, your studs look bigger than what they are, lovely! Love the Slum ber zay too

 

[tyty333]

You are having a great year and it's just started!

Love to see some close up pics of your ring from Italy...it looks beautiful!

 

[ac117]

Thanks, DS and Marcy! I'm so glad I found PS - it's a great community and it made me realize that I should really focus on getting quality pieces!

 

[ac117]

Beautiful collection there, love the ring from Florence (one of my favourite places). You must admit the shops on the bridge are still good fun for a look! I agree with everyone else, your studs look bigger than what they are, lovely! Love the Slum ber zay too

Thanks so much for the kind words Monnyjay! The shops were definitely fun to look at and I loved trying everything on. I just felt like most of the stores had the same pieces as the shop before and I was looking for something a bit more unique! I also fully admit that I didn't dabble in the antique stores that looked more fun and had beautiful pieces to choose from because I wasn't confident enough that I wouldn't get swindled!

 

[ac117]

You are having a great year and it's just started!

Love to see some close up pics of your ring from Italy...it looks beautiful!

Thank you Tyty! I admittedly only posted crappy iPhone pics so I will try to take better ones later - it will also give me a reason to take it out to play! Btw, I absolutely love what you did with your pear! So sleek and fluid!

 

[Rockinruby]

Wow! Beautiful bands! Your earrings are so very pretty on you too! What a wonderful bling year you are having! Love your collection! Congrats & thanks for sharing!

 

[CravingDiamonds]

Impressive collection! Looks beautiful

 

[ac117]

Thanks Rockinruby and Cravingdiamonds (love your name btw!! )

And a HUGE THANK YOU to PS for featuring my bling! So awesome it actually made me blush

Tyty-I haven't forgotten about taking some closeups...one the feature also made me realize was how crappy and out of focus my picture was I'll try to take some (hopefully) better ones in the next couple of days!

 

[NICHLO]

Omg! We were in Italy last summer and while on ponte vecchio, I SO wanted a florentine ring. Problem is, the one I wanted was at a ridiculous price. Of course it was gorgeous, but we just couldn't pay the premium. I would have felt too guilty. I was thinking about getting one made here in the states but because Florence and Tusacany hold a special place in my heart, I really wanted it to be from there. And as I'm sure you are aware, some of them are just so intricate and beautiful. Maybe ask how you found a jewler of the beaten path and if they ,are it or had it there! Lucky, lucky you!

 

[CRDKeshi]

acano117, your Florentine ring is v,ery lovely. I will be in Florence in late April ... are rings this style hard to find? Any tips on looking for a similar ring, or shop addresses you might share? Thanks, and I hope you enjoy your beautiful ring!

 

[ac117]

Thanks, NICHLO! I totally felt the same way! So happy I found one

acano117, your Florentine ring is v,ery lovely. I will be in Florence in late April ... are rings this style hard to find? Any tips on looking for a similar ring, or shop addresses you might share? Thanks, and I hope you enjoy your beautiful ring!

Hi CRDKeshi and thank you! I found that a lot of rings on Ponte Vecchio were the same, mass produced styles with little intricacy or little weight to them. After a lot of searching, I found a couple of gems!

The first is where I bought my ring from - Falai Gioielli (address is Via Por Santa Maria, 28/R). Lovely family owned jewelry shop, very lovely people - they took out everything and were very patient. I fell in love with the ring I selected, which was in the window but it was too small. They had other lovely pieces, but I kept going back to this one. I asked if it could be sized and she told me that it wouldn't be ideal since the pattern goes all the way around. DH and I talked and I decided I didn't care if the piece was "perfect" since it technically isn't "perfect" anyway since it's handcrafted! She spoke to her brother the goldsmith who said he would take a look and he thankfully was able to resize it for me and made it look really nice so you can't even tell! They had one other very similar ring (see photo below, mine is on the right).

Another is Oro Due (address is Via Lambertesca 12/R). Also family owned, wonderful woman in the front (can't remember her name), small store and the workshop is literally right in the back where you could see the father working (so cool!). I'm attaching a couple of pictures of the two rings I liked from them which were solid 18K gold (not flimsy, I tried bending them and they didn't give) and very reasonable (about $350ish). I didn't go with them because they were a bit too small on my finger.

Then I found what I thought was super amazing - the old casa del orafo (goldsmith's house) - an historic building which is filled with all small goldsmith workshops where you could see them at work. Unfortunately, many of them no longer exist but few remain. However, it's tough because not all of them sell to the public and many speak very little English. We had limited time to knock on every door (multiple floors) but there was one and they were very nice and patient. When you first walk into the building it's the first door on your left. They just didn't have what I was looking for but they had very lovely stuff. It's close to the Ponte Vecchio above Buca del Orafo which was closed so you might have to ask around to find it.

 

[CRDKeshi]

Acano117, thank you ever so much for your kind and thorough reply ... I'm DELIGHTED with the information! Your ring just caught my heart I'm usually on the pearl side, my first love ... but I've been looking for a gold ring for a while now, and this is wonderful. Thank you again!!!

 

[PintoBean]

Ermagherd the scrolly rings from oro due! now THAT'S my jam!

my MIL's family is from Bedonia, and they have a family home there still. We've been talking about doing a trip to Italy in 2017 where we do independent sight seeing first, then get together in Bedonia for 3-4 days of family fun. If we go to Florence before hitting up Bedonia, I hope I can leave with a beautiful souvenir like your ring!!!

 

[pinkgem2522]

Beautiful bling!

 

[ac117]

No problem CRDKeshi! Happy to help!!

Thanks all for the compliments!!

Ermagherd the scrolly rings from oro due! now THAT'S my jam!

my MIL's family is from Bedonia, and they have a family home there still. We've been talking about doing a trip to Italy in 2017 where we do independent sight seeing first, then get together in Bedonia for 3-4 days of family fun. If we go to Florence before hitting up Bedonia, I hope I can leave with a beautiful souvenir like your ring!!!

YES YES YES!!! Do it!! [my turn to enable ]

 

[CRDKeshi]

I woke up in the wee hours of the morning, still dark outside ... wondering if I could find a ring like this, and have the jeweler set my own diamond on it Not a huge diamond, around .7 carats, but very high quality. Hubby bought it for me at the diamond cutters in Amsterdam, and it's just in a simple 18K swirl setting, that kind of hides the beauty of the diamond ...

 

[CRDKeshi]

ac117, I just wanted to THANK you! We just returned from our trip to the Mediterranean, foggy headed and jet lagged ... the trip was wonderful, sigh Scheduled our only "shopping" day without the grandson and family for Florence, Italy, and went in search of some of the stores you listed for me. Got sidetracked along the way by luxurious silk and cashmere scarves ))))) and a few statues and churches LOL, but eventually managed to find Falai Gioelli, only to find the door closed, lights off and a sign saying they'd reopen at 3:00; sadly that would leave only a very short time to shop before we had to meet our transport back to the ship. A man can to the door, opened it and again said 3:00, and when we said we'd come all the way from the US on recommendation, he opened the door, turned on the lights, and welcomed us in !!! Brought out a number of rings to look at, used his cell phone for a bit, and a woman came in carrying lunch. She took over, was incredibly warm and welcoming, and showed us more and more and more. The goldsmith was not in, as it was a slow day and they'd closed the workshop early. There was one filigree ring that fit me perfectly (not an easy challenge LOL), but I just didn't like it quite as much as some of the others, so we decided to "think on it". With a sigh of disappointment, we left the shop ... and turned around to take one more look in the window. Right back into the shop we went, and got out 6 pair of earrings. After a bit of delightful "try on" fun, my husband bought me the most amazing Florentine gold earrings, completely handmade right in the shop! It was so hard to choose; on the tray there was another pair I liked better, with burgundy rose gold Roses set into yellow leaves, SIGH ... but we all agreed they just didn't show up on me as well. The pair I got is all intricate yellow and green gold leaves with various textures and finishes, tiny white gold textured seed pods and pink gold stems through the center, set on sturdy omega backs ... just incredible. We also left with measurements and a plan for the future, for a ring, using my own diamond, bezel set into the center of one of their Florentine rings ... something to look forward to THANK YOU again!!!