Ohhh, sparklies!
We went and looked at engagement rings today. We narrowed it to three, and then two.
The are purty!
The one is a round diamond with a pretty band much like www.antiqueengagementrings.com page one, eighth one down. Not the same sized diamond (hello! I'm not that much of a pretty pretty princess) - but that is the style. The diamond really stands out and it is such a striking ring!
The second one is an interesting setting for the diamond where the stone is held in the brackets in such a way that it looks square. But it is actually round. (You can actually see some rings on that site that do this - in particular third page, sixth one down and the last one on that page. Not the same ring styles at all, but that is the vibe of how the diamond is held.) The one I'm considering is the "square" centre stone with *thinks* three diamonds on either side along the band. Compared to the first one it has a more contemporary or less classic feel with the square vibe on the diamond. This is great as I love the square cuts but they are not as sparkly as the radient cuts. Win win!
Is very very exciting!
I have to blog about 47th Ave (diamond district) and all that insanity. Quick story is that it is very intimidating as guys are standing on the street yelling "Diamonds! You want Diamond?? Buy them here! I Sell you DIAMONDS!!" as you try and walk along. I think "yeah, dude, this is going to make me come in your store??" [/rolleyes]
The two first stores on the street look like some mega-discount warehouse with windows up two stories, bright flashing lights, and a feeling like we should be buying a full set of bamboo rice steamers for dollar ninety-nine, and cheapola party streamers. Bargain Diamonds! in neon in the window.
*gah*
We almost lost our nerve. Then there were all these little hole in the wall type places with guys who look like the guys who show up as extras to the calls for "scuzzy dudes" - er, no diamonds from you thank you.
Then we start finding the "stall" shops. This is a big open area inside a building with all these booths. Fifty and upwards in each one. Couple floors. We wander through and the sales people at each individually rented booth are asking if we want anything - as we look at one stall dripping with diamonds, and the next with cheesy yucky garish gold baubbles and so on. Dear god! Why don't we just head on down to Tiffany's and pay double -but at least we'd know what we're getting into??? It felt like a flea market for jewels. I pulled this one guy's address out of my purse. The guy I had found online. I had seen his rings on the website. They were pretty. I had looked him up online - people said good things about him. I had though I just wanted to look around a bit - but now I wasn't sure about all this.
"We'll find him - see how that goes, and then we can leave if we want!"
We worked out a code phrase for "I want to leave NOW!" and headed into the address I had marked.
It took two passes around the specific 'flea market' to find my dude. The one from the internet. He smiled. He didn't lean over and try and eat our faces - er sorry - I mean hard sell us a bunch of crap. He was a really really nice guy. We were there for about an hour and half. It was really really neat. We looked at rings, he talked about the different styles we were drawn to and suggested some other rings to look at and try. He then did something we wouldn't have tried to even suggest - he pulled out a loose diamond for us to look at. He suggested this would go well in any of the setting we were considering. And as it was a diamond better than the ones in the rings already, we're getting that one.
Is very interesting!
We went for a walk then and talked about the rings. We came back and looked at the three we were considering, asked our questions, and then realised we were starting to short circuit. We were able to narrow to two.. but beyond that we didn't know. So tomorrow the dude is going to do something for us. He's going to pull the centre stones from the two rings we're considering, put the diamond in, and let us see! How cool is that?!
So we left to sleep on it (and go for a wonderful dinner at Gotham Bar and Grill - fancy pants restaurant despite the casual name... thank goodness Jim told me it wasn't a jeans affair *wink*).
As well, we ended up walking over four miles today. Good exercise, good food, good diamonds... good day!
And I got Jim some new pretty placemats with napkins, some big candles for the dinner table, a very nice bottle of red wine, and a gift certificate for Amazon. He got me the "combo" valentines/birthday gift of the laptop and the special edition of the soundtrack to Amadeus.
I will post more in the next day. Is time for bed!
The are purty!
The one is a round diamond with a pretty band much like www.antiqueengagementrings.com page one, eighth one down. Not the same sized diamond (hello! I'm not that much of a pretty pretty princess) - but that is the style. The diamond really stands out and it is such a striking ring!
The second one is an interesting setting for the diamond where the stone is held in the brackets in such a way that it looks square. But it is actually round. (You can actually see some rings on that site that do this - in particular third page, sixth one down and the last one on that page. Not the same ring styles at all, but that is the vibe of how the diamond is held.) The one I'm considering is the "square" centre stone with *thinks* three diamonds on either side along the band. Compared to the first one it has a more contemporary or less classic feel with the square vibe on the diamond. This is great as I love the square cuts but they are not as sparkly as the radient cuts. Win win!
Is very very exciting!
I have to blog about 47th Ave (diamond district) and all that insanity. Quick story is that it is very intimidating as guys are standing on the street yelling "Diamonds! You want Diamond?? Buy them here! I Sell you DIAMONDS!!" as you try and walk along. I think "yeah, dude, this is going to make me come in your store??" [/rolleyes]
The two first stores on the street look like some mega-discount warehouse with windows up two stories, bright flashing lights, and a feeling like we should be buying a full set of bamboo rice steamers for dollar ninety-nine, and cheapola party streamers. Bargain Diamonds! in neon in the window.
*gah*
We almost lost our nerve. Then there were all these little hole in the wall type places with guys who look like the guys who show up as extras to the calls for "scuzzy dudes" - er, no diamonds from you thank you.
Then we start finding the "stall" shops. This is a big open area inside a building with all these booths. Fifty and upwards in each one. Couple floors. We wander through and the sales people at each individually rented booth are asking if we want anything - as we look at one stall dripping with diamonds, and the next with cheesy yucky garish gold baubbles and so on. Dear god! Why don't we just head on down to Tiffany's and pay double -but at least we'd know what we're getting into??? It felt like a flea market for jewels. I pulled this one guy's address out of my purse. The guy I had found online. I had seen his rings on the website. They were pretty. I had looked him up online - people said good things about him. I had though I just wanted to look around a bit - but now I wasn't sure about all this.
"We'll find him - see how that goes, and then we can leave if we want!"
We worked out a code phrase for "I want to leave NOW!" and headed into the address I had marked.
It took two passes around the specific 'flea market' to find my dude. The one from the internet. He smiled. He didn't lean over and try and eat our faces - er sorry - I mean hard sell us a bunch of crap. He was a really really nice guy. We were there for about an hour and half. It was really really neat. We looked at rings, he talked about the different styles we were drawn to and suggested some other rings to look at and try. He then did something we wouldn't have tried to even suggest - he pulled out a loose diamond for us to look at. He suggested this would go well in any of the setting we were considering. And as it was a diamond better than the ones in the rings already, we're getting that one.
Is very interesting!
We went for a walk then and talked about the rings. We came back and looked at the three we were considering, asked our questions, and then realised we were starting to short circuit. We were able to narrow to two.. but beyond that we didn't know. So tomorrow the dude is going to do something for us. He's going to pull the centre stones from the two rings we're considering, put the diamond in, and let us see! How cool is that?!
So we left to sleep on it (and go for a wonderful dinner at Gotham Bar and Grill - fancy pants restaurant despite the casual name... thank goodness Jim told me it wasn't a jeans affair *wink*).
As well, we ended up walking over four miles today. Good exercise, good food, good diamonds... good day!
And I got Jim some new pretty placemats with napkins, some big candles for the dinner table, a very nice bottle of red wine, and a gift certificate for Amazon. He got me the "combo" valentines/birthday gift of the laptop and the special edition of the soundtrack to Amadeus.
I will post more in the next day. Is time for bed!
posted by jenn at 11:58 p.m.
3 Comments:
oooh, shiny - I love shiny, sparkily things....focus! Who knew that shopping for an engagement ring could be so, so, incredibly complicated, choosing a ring is hard enough, but wow - this is far outside my schema...Jim is an incredibly smart man, I mean seriously, who would want to go through all of that alone?? I somehow thought the process would be far more streamlined, like a diamond warehouse sorted by cut, colour, price and a checkout at the end *hee hee*
I love the style you are looking at...totally you!!
lol
Cali
I wasn't at all sure I wanted a diamond, and if I did get one I wanted a very small one. When we found THE JEWELER, they showed us a loose diamond that was in our (very low) price range, twice as big as I wanted, and GORGEOUS. It is currently on my finger.
Sappy Valentine story: Last night I wore my engagement and wedding rings as well as my great-grandmother's eternity wedding band. During dinner (sushi!) I made Will guess which one was my favorite. He guessed my engagement ring. I explained that my wedding band is the only one I'd wear by itself. He said, so that's why they tell you to wear that one closest to your heart. It was so corny!
That all sounds so confusing and gruelling!! Yikes... but yay for finding the right one!
Callie
Post a Comment
<< Home