Ring

[RaeAnn]

Seven years...three months...and 27 days we'd been together.... Five weeks, six days, and 22 1/2 hours since the original proposal.... After a looooong time of waiting, I have my e-ring!!!

The specs on the center stone:

Dirt Cheap Diamonds Signature Ideal, Round
1.025 ct
G
SI2
6.58x6.61x3.92
Ideal polish and symmetry
Pointed culet
Inert fluorescence
Depth 59.4%
Table 57%
Crown angle 33.8
Pavilion angle 40.7

My first impression of the stone was that it's a monster! I've seen 1ct stones under glass, but in this setting, it looks so much bigger. And it will take any excuse for light to throw off a sparkle--my favorites are our halogen track lighting (of course) and the can lights in the lobbies of office buildings, the thing just lights up with colors and sparks! It was a tough drive home last night, lol....

On with the pictures!

 

[RaeAnn]

Hey, what's that dust? This is the first picture I fell in love with--I can see the crystals with a loupe, but with any less magnification, I can't. And I can see those magnificent arrows (yes, I know, they're not perfect!) with my own eyes.

 

[RaeAnn]

Not too bad....

 

[RaeAnn]

And a helpful tip from Mara to another member is helping me post the rest of my formerly commonly named pictures! (apparently it's not working yet though...)
My picture-taking skills are not the best...yet. I'm working on it!

 

[RaeAnn]

Pleasework pleasework pleasework...

 

[RaeAnn]

I think I enhanced this picture so that it wasn't so dark, but (forgive the fuzziness), this is dim halogen lighting and not its best performance!

 

[Patty]

It's beautiful, RaeAnn and you have gotten great pictures of it!

 

[RaeAnn]

And this is the "formal" picture of the setting. We got the setting from Jim at DirtCheap, but this isn't one of the settings they normally carry on the website. It's platinum, hand-engraved (millgraining mostly), with 44 VVS1-SI1 F-H colored melee stones, good to very good cut (had it appraised yesterday by PGS here in Chicago), roughly 0.5 cttw. It sparkles from every direction, and this picture really doesn't do it justice!

I hope you've enjoyed the show, if I have about an hour I can tell the proposal story, but it took two days!

 

[dbgaap]

Yippee!!!!


Your ring is beeeyooooteeful! And the size looks big, as you say. Do you have small fingers?




I was waiting to see your ring since we've been on a similar time frame.




My e-ring is picked out & sitting someplace secret, waiting for me.




I'm happy you got such a lovely ring and thanks for the good advice about the collaboration process.


You said something like "If you have the opportunity to give input, you may be doing yourself a disservice not to use it" and you were SO right. Everything worked out really well.




Congratulations on your gorgeous ring, it seems it was well worth waiting for.


Have fun adjusting to your new rock!!

 

[RaeAnn]

Thanks Patty! I just LOVE it!

And thanks too dbgaap--I do have size 5 fingers, so the stone really does look big to me! I'm sure I'll adjust in time to the size, but I don't foresee shrinkage setting in any time soon. It took the stress off of the actual ring presentation because we know that we both love it and it was a great mission to accomplish together! I'm just relieved that we did it AFTER the proposal--it was already hard enough to wait the two and a half weeks between the order and the arrival (most of the time was because DF mailed a personal check....

), I can't imagine still having to wait for the proposal too! We had a 10-day return period after all, he couldn't have sat on it for too long!

I just can't get over how gorgeous the stone is, I've never seen anything like it. While optics makes sense to me (I'm an engineer by trade--it was required for the degree!), there's just something that's magical about this well-cut diamond.....

 

[Mara]

Beautiful!!!! The stone is superb. The arrows are very crisp which is excellent. Was it a Signature selection stone? I love the dark sparkle one...I adore when my rings do that in the dim lighting. So much fun!

Congratulations on the beautiful new ring!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

You diamond and the setting you picked out are both beautiful. Looks great on your hand!

Have you figured out what kind of wedding band you plan to match up with your eng. ring?

 

[RaeAnn]

Mara, it is one of DCD's Signature Ideals, we didn't look at anything else! Jim was really impressed with the cut of this stone, so it wasn't a tough decision once we got all the images we were looking for.

MichelleCarmen, as far as a wedding band, my DF isn't fond of the two-ring look, but I'm insisting on it. (He'd prefer one ring on each hand, but I'm too traditional for that) What I'm thinking of is about a 1.5mm custom band with either millgraining or teeny diamonds set in the top. I've seen one similar at our regular jeweler's, so I know I like the look! I don't want to add too much width, but I'd consider putting one on each side.

We're not even going to start talking about the wedding until May-June, so I guess that's a little out there in the distance yet!

 

[Nicrez]

What a LOVELY monster! I IS huge on your finger...*grrr* lucky little fingered people!

Honestly, that is not my setting type, but I culdn't stop staring at your pictures and drooling!! What an annetion getting ring! Enjoy it in good health and all the best on your upcoming marraige!

 

[dbgaap]

Keep us posted on the wedding ring decision. I'm starting to look at those now, too.




I will probably get my e-ring this summer. Yeah, at first I felt really disappointed becuase I am like a little kid waiting for my toy. (He already proposed, I already said yes and we're making plans re: houses to sell & buy, etc etc)




We are taking things in a very methodical fashion.




We both have kid(s) from previous marriages and one will have a graduation to celebrate soon. We plan to celebrate that graduation and THEN celebrate our engagement after the fuss has settled.




The disappointment faded away after we had a good heart-to-heart talk and agreed on our priorities.

 

[ClownFishFunk]

Stunning! Congratulations!

 

[Stephan]

Great diamond (0.7 TIC) and setting!
Congratulations!!!

 

[RaeAnn]

Nic, you crack me up!

Don't feel bad, I'm not a solitaire girl myself, but I can always appreciate how gorgeous they are in their "Hey, I'm a gorgeous diamond on display"-ness (and I mean that in the very best sense). I like the all-around sparkle factor of pave, I just can't help that.

I wanted to change the prongs on the setting (same with the Tacori that I wanted too) until I saw it....in person they just fit the setting and I wouldn't change them now!

St. John is one of my favorite places on the planet...Ram's Head Point is where I wanted to be proposed to last February (or that restaurant on the side of the hill over by the Wyndham Sugar Bay in St. T, or one of those beaches on the north side of St. J.....) , but alas, it wasn't in the cards yet--he proposed instead in the park across the street from our subdivision, under a cottonwood tree in the snow. What a great proposal you had!

Thanks ClownFish! Db, I'll defnitely post back when there's new additions to my finger. And Stephan--we hit the HCA almost our first thing, and when 4 Excellents came back, that certainly didn't hurt our opinion. Thanks for punching in the numbers again, I think the HCA panned out this time!

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Beautiful ring RaeAnn...Glad you had a good experience with Jim-Schultz..

 

[Shay37]

RaeAnn, that ring is to die for. Drooling. Just stunning. Congrats and best wishes to you and your fiance.

Shay