Mother's Ring?

[Anonymous]

I've been extremely fortunate to have been blessed with a really wonderful soon-to-be MIL and I want to do something really special for her. She's the type of mom that makes everyone feel loved and welcome (most of the time..she's human hehe). Since she's going to be my mom too, I would love to have a mother's ring made for her to give her as a gift at our wedding. She's been SO helpful (in a good way!) and I want to show her how thankful I am to have her in my life/that I am happy to have her as "mom". I have a bio mother, but for a number of reasons she's just not a real presence in my life..and when she is, I'M the mom in our relationship. Eh, enough of that tangent.

Anyhow, I'm going to talk to her daughter (FSIL), but I thought about having my FI's birthstone, his sister's, her husband's and mine. Would that be too strange? I don't expect FSIL/FBIL to contribute at ALL but I would feel strange not including his stone since I want to include mine.

Is the idea just too weird? I really want to do it but I don't know if it's too "out there" or not. I think FMIL would LOVE it. I think FI and FSIL will love it too. I just am not sure how excited FBIL would be about it.

If it does sound like a good idea, does anyone want to help me by suggesting some good vendors? I'm looking to spend around $500 at most, unless it can't be done for that price.

Thanks!!

ETA: If it is too weird, what about a pendant or ring with just FI's and my stones? I'm March and he's June. I'm not sure what FSIL/FBIL's are yet.

 

[S&I]

Wow, I'm March and my hubby is June!

I did something similar for my mom's wedding gift. I had Daniel M make a custom DBTY bracelet with my birthstone, my sister's birthstone, my mom's birthstone, and my dad's birthstone. My mom and I are both March, and my dad and sister are both November, so I just had them alternating.

For my MIL's wedding gift, I gave her one of Daniel M's rainbow bezel necklaces with an 8mm garnet and I had him make a bezel ring to match. Red is her favorite color, and she loves matching jewelry sets. Just last week, she had a double mastectomy, so I gave her the matching rainbow bezel earrings, since I noticed that Dan started selling those too.

I think your ideas are great, especially if you know that your FMIL loves jewelry. Depending on what style of ring you're thinking about making, it may be hard to incorporate the entire extended family's birthstones. Do you know what type of ring you want to make? Are you going with the traditional pearl for your FI's birthstone, or the modern alexandrite?

 

[Anonymous]

Well don't I feel foolish... Our wedding is in June...FI's birthday is in JULY! So he's ruby...and all three of the other birthdays are in March! So I'm looking at maybe a ruby center w/aqua halo. Would that work?

 

[S&I]

That would be quite a unique ring! But I'm not sure if you can find a ruby to fit in your budget? How big of a center stone would you want for the ring? For some reason, I was thinking that you'd have exactly 1 stone for each member of the family.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought so too, but once I realized that THREE of us have the same stone and only one of his, I don't see how it can possibly look right with one for each person. I think I'd end up having to go w/a heat treated or lab created ruby, but I don't know if that's a great idea. I also have a ruby oval that's in a pendant that I could possibly contribute to the project, but I don't know how nice it is b/c it's more of a cranberry color. Hmmmm...

 

[Anonymous]

Ok so I think I'm leaning more towards a 4 stone journey pendant with the top three stones being aquamarine for the three March birthdays and the bottom stone a ruby. Now I just need to find a reputable (but also reasonably priced) vendor to work with. I love sparkly things!

 

[Largosmom]

What a nice gesture. I googled aquamarine journey pendant to get an idea of what it might look like.

I think the nice thing about a journey pendant is that you can use the idea and translate it any way you like...you need not be limited to birthstones...any stone that has some quality or association with the family can be used. Sunny yellow for a sunny personality, blue for the color of eyes...you see what I mean.

You could also do a stone for each wedding instead of each birth--hers, the sibling's and yours instead of four stones you would have three--or you can add a pair of stones for her and her husband to add more color. You could add stones in the future for grandchildren perhaps.

A journey is just that...a journey, right? How you choose to mark it is up to you. Some of these ideas also would work for a bracelet, but I'd ask to see what she is most likely to wear.

Laura

 

[marymm]

I think it is lovely you want to give your MIL such a thoughtful gift at the time of your wedding. That said, it has been my personal experience that a mother's ring or journey pendant or whatever is traditionally given by all the children (or from the mother's spouse). You are thinking of having stones representing not only your husband and you, but also your SIL and BIL --- but only you two are giving it, and at the time of your wedding. I myself would feel odd if one of my siblings and his/her spouse-to-be bought a mother's piece of jewelry for my mom but with stones for all of us kids and our spouses, and yet we weren't consulted or asked to contribute or really any part of the mother's gift. IMHO, I would either save the mother's journey pendant idea for a group gift from all four of you in the future, or change the concept of the journey pendant to something representing you and your husband (maybe your two birthstones plus the birthstone for June your wedding month, and two diamonds to alternate between the 3 stones?) This is just my 2 cents -- if you and your fiance feel it is appropriate in your family situation, then it's all good. (But now I am wondering what you are doing for your FIL if there is one?)

 

[Anonymous]

I think it is lovely you want to give your MIL such a thoughtful gift at the time of your wedding. That said, it has been my personal experience that a mother's ring or journey pendant or whatever is traditionally given by all the children (or from the mother's spouse). You are thinking of having stones representing not only your husband and you, but also your SIL and BIL --- but only you two are giving it, and at the time of your wedding. I myself would feel odd if one of my siblings and his/her spouse-to-be bought a mother's piece of jewelry for my mom but with stones for all of us kids and our spouses, and yet we weren't consulted or asked to contribute or really any part of the mother's gift. IMHO, I would either save the mother's journey pendant idea for a group gift from all four of you in the future, or change the concept of the journey pendant to something representing you and your husband (maybe your two birthstones plus the birthstone for June your wedding month, and two diamonds to alternate between the 3 stones?) This is just my 2 cents -- if you and your fiance feel it is appropriate in your family situation, then it's all good. (But now I am wondering what you are doing for your FIL if there is one?)

Thank you for the different perspectives! I'd definitely be including FSIL's family in the consultation side of things, but I want to make it very clear to them that we want to handle the financial side of the purchase. The reason for this is that they're a single income family with three young boys and they're already going to have enough expenses associated with the wedding (FSIL is actually going to be my MOH, need to get her something too).

I hope that makes sense! I am still really torn and new in the process so I am bouncing around a LOT, looking for ideas. It helps that the birthstones even including everyone are still just two different stones. The latest idea is to kind of get away from "cookie cutter" pendants and go with something more unique like a pendant with a ruby and an aqua in an organic type setting like a few that I've seen here. I'd honestly love to pick stones and have something made specifically for her.

 

[Anonymous]

Sooo...How expensive are JKT pieces? I'm in LOVE with http://www.juliakaytaylor.com/necklaces/vn1.jpg.

 

[SB621]

I hate to say this, but it is not money with JKT that you should worry about, but time. She is currently booked out till Fall of 2011.

The pendant you posted she might have already pre-made, though not in ruby and aqua, that she can send to you asap- just check her etsy site.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Sarah! I did send her an email and saw that she's booked until Aug of 2011. The wedding is in June, so while I'd love to have it in time I am willing to do some kind of a "I have something very special coming, but it won't be finished until X date" thing. Her work is just LOVELY!

 

[Indylady]

Aqua's are generally much more pale, and have a lower RI (less sparkly) than rubies, so I'd balance the two carefully.

Personally is go for a single bigger, precision cut aqua. Then, I'd accent it with a smaller, beautiful ruby. Maybe a simple pendant, with a small ruby accent and a larger aqua underneath. For a ring, either an interesting floral, off center design, or a bypass ring.

 

[diva rose]

Aqua's are generally much more pale, and have a lower RI (less sparkly) than rubies, so I'd balance the two carefully.

Personally is go for a single bigger, precision cut aqua. Then, I'd accent it with a smaller, beautiful ruby. Maybe a simple pendant, with a small ruby accent and a larger aqua underneath. For a ring, either an interesting floral, off center design, or a bypass ring.

Sounds lovely - I second this idea.

 

[Anonymous]

Aqua's are generally much more pale, and have a lower RI (less sparkly) than rubies, so I'd balance the two carefully.

Personally is go for a single bigger, precision cut aqua. Then, I'd accent it with a smaller, beautiful ruby. Maybe a simple pendant, with a small ruby accent and a larger aqua underneath. For a ring, either an interesting floral, off center design, or a bypass ring.

I do like this idea. Would you happen to know anyone besides JKT that might be able to create something similar? I'm so stuck on her work and can't get that "tree" style pendant out of my mind. I thought about going with a little deeper blue (like a blue topaz or spinel) instead of aquamarine if I was to stick with that style of several smaller stones for the same reason that you suggested using a larger aqua.