my ring aspirations

[Buena Girl]

hi ladies,

So far, I had not posted what my e-ring aspirations are. I have a similar situation to fountainfairfax, and today posted a lot of my e-ring hopes/ dreams in her thread "my journey with my wabi-sabi stone" in Show Me The Ring. In case you would be interested my story, I have cut and pasted some of the info and copied it below, but if you already read it in her thread than you already know most of my story

:

First some background information -> fountainfax inherited an OMC or OEC diamond;
The following post was my response to her posts in her thread "my journey with my wabi-sabi stone"

 

[Buena Girl]

fountainfairfax-

I feel exactly what you are saying!!! I inherited an OMC from my grandmother. It's cut is superb and it flashes gorgeous rainbows, but I feel like I can see a little bit of color. I really need to get it appraised or something because I, too, am very curious as to what exactly it is that I've got. I have no idea if it has a carbon dot or any visible flaws. I had been afraid to know the answer (worried that I would obsess about it), so I haven't inspected it very closely yet.

Currently, it is in a platinum setting. I think platinum would do a world of difference for your diamond. If mine were set in yg, I think I would obsess even more about the color. I think that I've become a little bit of a color snob since discovering pscope. Lately, I'm really trying to improve on that and enjoy the diamond and not obsess that it isn't "pricescope perfect"

The stone really is gorgeous

, and I have a great sentimental attachment to it because it was a very romantic gift from my grandfather to my grandmother.

Anyway, all of this obsessing mostly took place in the last few months. Lately, I've really concentrated on seeing the best qualities in it when I look at it. And it has worked!! I have obsessed less, and realized how incredibly lucky I am to have a gorgeous, sentimental ring passed down to me by a loved one.

WOW, sorry this post is GIGANTIC!!! I just have one more tiny comment about settings...

My mom thinks I should have the stone reset. The current setting is lovely, but she feels the diamond could be "show-cased" better in a different setting. That's fine with me. It actually works out nicely because she is going to keep the setting and put a gemstone in it. We will both be able to wear a part of this sentimental ring from my grandmother!!!

I am not very good at determining what is an antique setting. I fell in love with the Tacori Hummingbird setting. Is that considered modern or antique? Anyway, that is what I want the OMC to be set into.

So basically, my main point in this oh-so-very-long post is that you should get whatever setting you fall in love with, regardless of whether it is antique or modern or whatever. Your gorgeous diamond, which by the way looks amazing

in the pictures you posted!, will look gorgeous in anything you put it in. I think it will look divine in vatche!

I feel like you just can't please all of the people all of the time. No matter how perfect you try to make something, there is always someone who may criticize it. So the most important thing is to get the setting you love, have your gorgeous sentimental diamond set into it, and tell anyone who criticizes it to go rain on someone else's parade!

 

[Buena Girl]

Date: 3/4/2005 10:39:25 PM
Author: fountainfairfax
Buena-
I can't believe how much of what you had to say echos my thoughts regarding my stone and my ongoing acceptance of it's unique beauty and the appreciation of the enormous sentimental value it holds for me. I think we're oec/omc soul sistas

I know!! When I was reading your posts, I was like, "Yes, yes, I know exactly how she feels!"

I think that our carat weights are probably similar, too. My mom thinks mine is around 2 carats, but I won't know for sure until I have it looked at. Our plan to take out the OMC and put a gemstone in the setting will probably happen closer to May. I would like to pay for that and give it to her for Mother's Day. I haven't looked into getting the OMC appraised yet. I thought it would probably make more sense to do that after I have the loose diamond. Do you think that would be the best way to do it?

As yet, I have not taken any pictures of the ring. I have been planning to, but the ring is with my mom and we haven't been able to pencil in a "photo shoot

" yet. I go a little overboard with digital photos, so I will probably spend at least an hour taking pictures of it from every angle, plus hand shots (on my mom's hand, because the ring fits her but is too small for my 7 1/2 ring size), and probably a few artsy pictures. I may be able to do it this weekend. I'll post a few if they look o.k.

As far as putting the OMC into a Tacori setting, that is a big ol' boy soon question mark. Technically, I have left the final decision up to b/f. It comes down to this: Recently, I accidentally fell in love with a particular Tacori setting, and I have firmly decided that the OMC will be put into that setting or one similar. However, I have let b/f know that he can make the decision as to whether my OMC will be my e-ring or a right hand ring.

If he would prefer to purchase a diamond and put it into a setting so that I will be totally surprised and it would come 100% from him, that sounds great to me. I will then purchase the Tacori setting, and make my OMC into a right hand ring. Or, he can (on the sly) get my OMC put into a Tacori setting, as long as it is from the Hummingbird collection. I would be ecstatic with almost any of those settings. BTW, have you seen the ones you like that are sapphire settings in person -> GORGEOUS

. For me, THE setting would be the one that is the bezel. It's so odd, because I never thought I would be a bezel lover, but it was love at first sight when I accidentally saw that setting at a jewelry store. But honestly, I would be really happy with whatever he chooses.

The tricky part is that I would still like a little element of surprise, so I don't want him to tell me what he chooses to do. I want to find out at the moment he proposes. However, I have to fess up that I did have a salesperson write down the item number for the bezel Tacori ring on a business card from the jewelry store. B/f wasn't with me. When I saw him later that night, I gave him the card and told him he may find the information useful.

Deep down in my heart, I really hope he chooses to have my OMC set and give it to me as my e-ring. Here's the main reasons: 1. I would feel horrible if he spent a huge sum of money on an engagemet ring diamond large enough to try to "balance out" me having @ a 2 carat right hand ring when he could be saving money for things like the honeymoon or a house. 2. If he only had to buy a setting, I would think he would be able to purchase it sooner. 3. I am really starting to get excited about wearing my OMC, and it would be extra special to me if it was my e-ring.

YIKES, this is a very long post and it's all about me

Sorry for the mini-hijack of your thread!!! I hadn't posted any personal info yet about my e-ring aspirations, and I guess I got a little carried away

I'll post it in the LIW area, too, in case anyone might be interested.

 

[Buena Girl]

I hope that wasn''t too confusing

It was so much easier to cut and paste from fountainfairfax thread instead of retyping everything!!!

 

[Buena Girl]

Here is the best picture I could find of the setting that I LOVE.

It really doesn''t do it justice, though. The setting was AMAZING in person. This picture just looks all metal to me.

 

[Buena Girl]

I didn''t know if I should post any of this so early on in the e-ring process. I am sure boy soon will be many, many months away for me.......

 

[MelissaSue]

Buena - THat is wonderful for you and an OMC would look FABULOUS in that tacori setting. I think you should use it for your e-ring, mostly because of your point about having a 2 carat RHR - could make it VERY difficult for your e-ring to compete!! Unless of course your BF wants to get you and even BIGGER e-ring, which in that case.. let him!! lol..

In my case, we really have no money, so if FI were to have bought me my diamond it would have been VERY small. probably somewhere around .5 ct or smaller, and I bet if we didn''t have a stone to be set, I never would have taken as much time to learn about jewlery and stuff and I''d have ended up with a maul store one, just like all the rest of my friends are. And, I''m sure I would have loved it.. but now I can''t imagine it any other way. When he first knew that we had a diamond (My mother has always REALLY wanted them to be used in our engagement rings... so i never really thought of it as a choice as much), he didn''t seem THRILLED about the idea, but he felt better with the three stone option, because then at least he''d be purchasing diamonds for me. Its funny, because we "discussed" for MONTHS what size side stones to get in the ring. He really wanted them to be a 1/2 carat each, and i felt that was both too big and expensive... i wanted something smaller. Turns out when I fell in love with the setting, the .30 each diamonds came with the setting, so that was pretty much settled (Except for when my sister tried to tell him to get them made bigger.. she is SOO bad!). But the moral of the story is, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my ring and I know that i''d never have gotten to have something this beautiful if I didn''t have the inherited stone..

 

[Buena Girl]

Date: 3/5/2005 9:45:24 AM
Author: MelissaSue
Buena - THat is wonderful for you and an OMC would look FABULOUS in that tacori setting. I think you should use it for your e-ring, mostly because of your point about having a 2 carat RHR - could make it VERY difficult for your e-ring to compete!! Unless of course your BF wants to get you and even BIGGER e-ring, which in that case.. let him!! lol..

teeheee... That would be some major blingage if I had 2+ carat center stones on each hand!!!

Seriously though, if b/f decides to purchase an e-ring 100% himself, I'm pretty sure it would be somewhere in the 0.75 to 1.25 carat range. Most likely, just under 1 carat, and he would probably buy a square cut stone. I know he has said that he really likes the princess solitaire rings and the radiant solitaire ring that some of my friends have gotten. But he also likes the way my RB studs sparkle, so he could possibly get that instead. He is just starting to save up for the ring purchase, so if he goes with this plan, it could be quite a while before he purchases a ring. Plus, it's possible he may have "size issues". He might feel sad about giving me a diamond half the size of what I would be wearing on my right hand. If he decides to purchase a stone closer to 2 carats, I could be waiting a REALLY long time!!!

I'm still leaning towards hoping he gets the OMC put into a setting and then maybe buy me a right hand ring later in life like for a 5 or 10 year anniversary

And BTW, you have a gorgeous

ring MS!!!!!!!

 

[denverkat]

oooh, the tacori bezel- that''s my ultimate dream e-ring! (And I only want to put a 1-ct in it- your stone would be to-die-for in that). Even if I thought "egad, what a god-awful ring" when I saw the picture, I put it on at the store randomly one day and it was love.... Unfortunately, the bf does not share my affinity for it. It''s probably the fact that when I tried it on, I immediately stacked eternity bands around it, I think the overwhelming $''s made him queasy! Anyway, glad to know somebody else loves it too!

Kat

 

[Buena Girl]

Date: 3/5/2005 2

3:16 PM
Author: denverkat
oooh, the tacori bezel- that''s my ultimate dream e-ring! (And I only want to put a 1-ct in it- your stone would be to-die-for in that). Even if I thought ''egad, what a god-awful ring'' when I saw the picture, I put it on at the store randomly one day and it was love.... Unfortunately, the bf does not share my affinity for it. It''s probably the fact that when I tried it on, I immediately stacked eternity bands around it, I think the overwhelming $''s made him queasy! Anyway, glad to know somebody else loves it too!

Kat

Oh wow, I bet the ring looked INCREDIBLE flanked with eternity bands!!! I hope your b/f decides to get it all for you

 

[fountainfairfax]

Buena-

uughh..that eternal question of how much involvement do we have and how do we keep from going crazy when it all gets left up to him???? In the cases of you, MelissaSue and I, when you have an inherited stone with all this sentimental value it really does go one of two ways 1) the bf is terribly relieved that the pressure for the "main" stone is off but then there is no excuse to not get that baby set and to propose girl soon!!! (my guy''s dilema) or 2) the bf feels that some of his thunder and the priviledge of finding the diamond perfect for his girl may be lost (MelissaSue''s fiance''s initial concern.)....we can''t win!

In my situation, this inherited stone is our only opportunity for a little bling...my bf can survive on less $$ and material goods than anyone I have ever met- he is only interested in the e-ring situation because it is important to me. If left up to him we would marry with little fanfare, just a personal celebration of our commitment, and two plain gold bands as symbols that we chose each other. But since it is important to me, he is involved to the extent that his current situation allows- he looks at settings with me on-line, voices opinions, plays the "what color do you think my stone is?" game and then bites his nails because right now there is no extra money on his end even for just the setting. Of course in my "greed" and desire to have it NOW, I could easily just pay for the whole thing myself!!! If I just stay out of everything and wait until he has the $$ it will be a lot closer to our planned Oct 06 elopement than I wanted...damn the cost of living in NY!!

I didn''t mean to get off track with your situation but I guess I did want to illustrate that for many of us there are a variety of situations leading up to "THE RING". Your inherited stone offers the opportunity for the "boy-soon" time schedule to change to "girl-soon" if he so chooses, it allows for a larger stone than may have been previously possibly, it allows more $$ for settings & home-purchases and weddings..it allows you to have a stone that means so much to you on many different levels but it removes a bit of the tradition and decision making that is usually left entirely up to our guys....some men are ok with that, some feel slighted...I think you did the right thing by giving him the card with the style #of the tacori on it..but the difficult part is that now comes the waiting!!!! After May, when you have the stone removed from the setting and appraised would you consider just handing it to him & saying "the ball is in your court, if you should ever want to use this here it is...if not I guess I''ll use it for something else later..." Is it possible that if you use it as your rhr before you get engaged that it would really freak him out??? I know that if I get my stone set in a rhr that there will be no e-ring in my future but that isn''t the case with you...I would just be afraid that your bf might get discouraged at having to surpass that stone and it could delay the engagement process to the point where you lose your mind!!!

I''m now so excited to see how this turns out for each of us- MelissaSue''s great story provides us both with the hope of a happy engagement with our omcs!!!!

 

[Buena Girl]

Here''s the picture collage I posted in fountainfairfax''s thread. I have some more shots of the ring that I may post soon.

 

[Buena Girl]

Here is a picture of some of the rainbows that occur when direct sunlight shines on the ring.

 

[MelissaSue]

buena - That RING IS BEAUTIFUL!!! The stone looks AMAZING. How come my ring doesn''t make rainbows like that??

 

[Buena Girl]

I''m hoping these close up pictures will be good enough for seeing the characteristics of the stone. Anything anyone could tell me about it would be greatly appreciated (I am clueless about this stuff unless I know what I am supposed to be looking for.). Do you see inclusions or chips or scratches? What do you think of the cut? color?

 

[Buena Girl]

pictures:

 

[Buena Girl]

One more giant picture...

 

[Buena Girl]

Last set of pictures. Sorry they are so HUGE! I was hoping that if I posted large pictures, than they would look clearer.

This set has the pictures where I thought the diamond looked especially yellow. What do you think?

 

[Buena Girl]

It seems like it looks the most yellow when I look at the profile and when I am outdoors with natural sunlight. Conversely, it looks amazing with indoor lighting. I guess this means it has no blue fluorescence? Do you think it possibly has yellow fluorescence?

 

[Buena Girl]

Date: 3/6/2005 11:42:58 AM
Author: fountainfairfax
Buena-

After May, when you have the stone removed from the setting and appraised would you consider just handing it to him & saying ''the ball is in your court, if you should ever want to use this here it is...if not I guess I''ll use it for something else later...'' Is it possible that if you use it as your rhr before you get engaged that it would really freak him out??? I know that if I get my stone set in a rhr that there will be no e-ring in my future but that isn''t the case with you...I would just be afraid that your bf might get discouraged at having to surpass that stone and it could delay the engagement process to the point where you lose your mind!!!

I''m now so excited to see how this turns out for each of us- MelissaSue''s great story provides us both with the hope of a happy engagement with our omcs!!!!

My plan is to have one of my relatives hold onto it. If I had it, I know that I would constantly peek to see if it is still in its box or not. And he has already seen it and knows that he can have it set as an e-ring if he chooses to. B/f is cool with my relative, so he should have no problem going to that person and getting the stone from them. I want him to make the decision on his own and not tell me if he decides to set my stone or if he decides to get something else. I think that will add a little suspense and surprise

So I supose I''ll have to wait until he proposes until I know if I need to set the OMC myself. We''ll see...If the waiting is really long, I may just about lose my mind

and I''ll have to rethink the whole thing!!

Can''t wait to see your gorgeous stone set!!! Keep us posted on your situation, too.

 

[Buena Girl]

Date: 3/6/2005 10:54:20 PM
Author: MelissaSue
buena - That RING IS BEAUTIFUL!!! The stone looks AMAZING. How come my ring doesn''t make rainbows like that??

thanks!!!

When I took this picture, I was by the window sill with the windowshade most of the way closed, and letting like a ray of direct sunlight on it. Try it on yours and see if it does the same!

 

[fountainfairfax]

OMG!!!!!!!!

Buena- I am so envious!!!!! That beauty blows the socks off wabi-sabi and actually looks like a cross between an omc/oec and a wonderful modern cut! It is going to appraise so incredibly well and the color appears to be wonderfully white! you also have a far more symetrical cut than I do- poor wabi-sabi is a little lop-sided

Your BF would be CRAZY to not take advantage of that wonderful rock!!! and I have to say that I love the setting it''s in- your Grandma had WONDERFUL taste!

I think you are doing the perfect thing by leaving it with a relative and letting him make all the decisions- that element of suprise is so cool!!!! and I do think you will be less likely to drive yourself crazy! now comes the tortureous boy soon vs girl soon wait...just think of all the wonderful things to come and it will be so worth it!!!

Jenn

ps: I hope the relative is in some way able to light a fire under bf''s a** so you don''t have to wait too long!

 

[fountainfairfax]

Buena-

I also meant to add that I think you should get it appraised ASAP, in the setting, so my, ooops I mean Your

, curiosity regarding the specs is taken care of and that so you can get that beauty insured pronto!!! Once removed from the setting insuring it is a nightmare, as I''m now finding out, and any fear you may have of it being shuttled between the relative, your bf and the jeweler will be calmed....

 

[Buena Girl]

Jenn-
I really appreciate your comments!! I read in some people’s posts where they can look at pictures of someone else’s ring and can determine things about cutlets, pavilion angles, shank, noticeable inclusions, bowties, windows, etc.etc., and it all kind of goes zoom right over my head. I have no idea how to figure those things out when looking at pictures of diamonds. So you think the symmetry looks good then?

I honestly do not think the color rating will be all that good. To me, the stone looks very yellow from the side/profile. That last set of pictures I posted are all profile views and outdoor pictures. And I think I read somewhere that they grade the color of the stone from the bottom/underneath side. But, it can look good on the top (most important view) when there’s indoor lighting. However, it looks very yellow when I am outdoors with natural sunlight. I thought this was a little odd. I thought diamonds were supposed to look better with natural sunlight?

Thank you for the advice on getting it appraised!!! Believe me, I really would like to get it appraised ASAP, but I am worried about the setting. Would they have to take the diamond out of the basket(?) in order to grade it? When we were at the jewelers, they said that when we have a gemstone set into the ring that they would have to remove the basket and make a new one. They said it was for structural reasons. The setting is 40+ years old, and the ring was worn nearly everyday for a large percentage of those years. I don’t know if this recommendation is because a different stone would be set into it, or if the prongs are in poor shape? If they took the OMC out to grade it, I don’t know if they would put it back into the same setting??

And thank you for the wonderful compliment about my grandmother!! It made my day!!!!!!!
p.s. My relative is very laid back, so I doubt any fires will be lighted. And thank you for posting about the stone being shuttled back and forth!! I hadn’t really thought about how that would work out yet. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to post them. Oh, and if you get a stone insured while it is in a ring, is it still insured if you remove the stone from it’s setting?

p.p.s. If you didn’t see it yet, I just posted something in your thread.

 

[icekid]

well, i''m no help as far as color and inclusions, but it looks absolutely beautiful and white to me!! i love it!

 

[fountainfairfax]

Buena- it''s fun how this is turning into our own little discussion, I''m really enjoying it!!!!

I do think having your pictures posted here on our "Are We There Yet?" thread is not getting your ring & stone the attention it deserves! I bet you will get an amazing amount of response in "Show me the ring" with a title of "please share your opinions on my omc/oec stone" or something like that...you have so many great pictures with amazing detail that need to be shared....then all of the experts will come out to play and we''ll get to read some great feeback regarding cut, color, shape, cutlet-or lack there of-yours is so small or closed compared to mine- which is a good thing. (like how I keep saying "we''ll" I feel like I have a vested interest in your stone

) Thanks for sharing this whole process with me.

I can say that stone looks so more professionally cut than mine and from the photos it appears much more white- I think that because these stones pick up the colors of everything around them even outdoors they reflect more color than we see in modern diamonds. Do you have a cz stone you could compare it to..next to my cz the color of my stone looks to be in the j range so I''m not expecting good news in the regard to color for mine...some of what I see on the largest photo could be inclusions but it could also be dirt or fingerprints..maybe the experts can help?

I think its so exciting when something so amazing gets passed down and gets a whole new chapter to add to its history...someone should write either an article or a book regarding the life of gems or jewelry- I really need to speak to my Uncle to learn everything he knew about the stone before he gave it to my Aunt (as it was his mother''s)....

As for appraisals, I have been told that very accurate results can be done with mounted stones, especially since yours is in a neutral-colored metal. I wouldn''t take the chance of removing it now- have the whole thing appraised & insured as-is...maybe the experts here on ps can give us (there I go again

) advice regarding insurance.

I can''t wait to see what everyone has to say about your ring and that stone..I think you''re going to be responsible for a lot of new searches for old cut diamonds!

Jenn

 

[stretch4]

Hey Jenn and Buena Girl!!

Just thought I would try and answer some of your questions

The easiest way to get specs on the stone is obviously to take it out of the setting and bring it to an appraiser. You can get a stone appraised while it is in the ring, but the grading of the color, clarity, carat, cut will obviously be quite estimated. You guys are right that a diamond is graded with the table face down to determine its color. So in a ring, it would much more difficult to determine a specific color...You might end up with "It''s probably a G-H" etc.

As for taking the stone out of the head and then back in, it would depend on the condition of the prongs. It would much easier since you are putting back in the same exact stone...More problems occur when you remove one stone and want to put another one in. But hopefully your jeweler would be able to tell you the probability of saving the head, etc...

Also, stones don''t look that great in direct sunlight. Indirect sunlight, like under a shady tree, etc will make your stone look much better!!

Okies, well, that is all that I can think of right now! Hope it helps a bit

Oh, P.S. I think both of your stones are gorgeous!!

 

[fatafelice]

OOOOOHHHHH, Sparkly....

I love those rainbows!

 

[Buena Girl]

Thank you so much everyone for all of the input!! I have a few more diamond characteristc questions that I will be posting in the Rocky Talky area, so if you see a thread started by me, skip it

It will probably have the same pictures as this one.

 

[Buena Girl]

ONE HUGE STEP FORWARD: My b/f and I went to the Robbins Delaware Diamonds store and they were EXCELLENT!!! Exactly the perfect atmosphere for b/f to feel comfortable. I loved their store layout and they had scopes (large, bulky professional looking ones) for us to look at loose diamonds. Fabulous selection of settings, too!

B/f finally decided for sure that he would like to 100% purchase my e-ring, so he is going to buy a loose RB and a less expensive setting. We first looked at all of the settings, and then I tried on the ones that he and I both liked. He wrote down the info for about 6 or 7 rings. They were Simon G, Tacori, Peter Storm, and Scott Kay. Some of the less ornate rings by those designers. Less bling but so beautiful and elegant!!

He seemed to really be leaning towards one of the Simon G settings, so I am not sure, but I think it might be the one!!

I will be thrilled with any of them, plus I have plans to design a setting for my OEC/OMC, so I tried not to give very much input on the setting. I want the e-ring to be exactly what he likes, since I will be able to have total control later when I get the custom setting. My "perfect e-ring" would probably be my stone in a custom setting, but I''d much rather have an e-ring setting that my b/f picked out and that I really like. It feels more special to me that way. Plus, it means I should eventually get a "perfect right hand ring"!

The downside is that the budget is a bit tight for a designer setting and a loose diamond. We looked at a range of stones, and it looks like for an ideal RB around 1 carat (maybe even 1.25?), we''ll have to go with G or H or I color, and eye-clean SI1. The eye-clean SI1 at first really scared me, but the woman who helped us was very knowledgeable and very happy to bring out eye-clean stones. And actually, they looked pretty darn good to me!!! Although, it could have been the store lighting, but she let us look at some through the scope and she said we could look at it in different light, too.

Heheheee, they even asked me to leave the room for a little while to discuss a couple of things! Here''s how it stands now: I have no idea if b/f purchased a setting, but I seriously doubt it b/c that takes a while and some bit of paperwork. I think he has a pretty good idea of what he would buy, though. He definitely did not buy a stone yet, b/c he told me that he gave his email address to her and she will email him about some other loose stones. I asked if he could take it from here, and he said no because he may have a few more questions like what can we give up in one area to can get something better in another area (i.e. size for color, and that sort of thing).

It hasn''t all sunk it yet, but right now I am starting to feel a little excited and hopeful that P-day (proposal day) will definitely happen sometime before the end of the year. Yay!!