The tale of the two rings (a true story)
Please note: this is not fanfic. But I suppose it might make for a nice bedtime story? :)
Once not so long ago in a small country far away from everywhere else there was a man who wanted to surprise his long time friend with a proposal of marriage. He decided he had to get the ring before letting her know because he wanted to do it right and to do it right meant having a ring as part of the surprise.
Being quite observant he had noticed she preferred silver jewellery to gold, and had (somehow) discovered that silver itself isn't good for rings because it's too soft and bends out of shape. However, he found an alternative: white gold looks like silver, keeps its shape, and would be just perfect.
So he set out to find a white gold engagement ring, ideally with at least one diamond.
Unfortunately, while he saw a great many rings, they were all either out of his price range or looked so insubstantial that he didn't want to buy them.
After a bit more research (probably on the internet) he discovered that while diamonds are very expensive, cubic zirconia (i.e. man-made diamonds) are nearly as good and much cheaper, meaning he could get some better options. Re-enthused, he did some more searching and finally found one that said (or perhaps that should read bellowed) "engagement ring" to all who saw it and he eagerly purchased it, hiding it away for just the right moment.
Just the right moment came on the Saturday of Easter weekend. Dinner at a restaurant overlooking the harbour, going up onto the viewing platform on the roof to watch the sun set, and then down on his knees and produced the ring.
The ring was very sparkly (even as it was getting dark) and she was completely swept away by all the planning. And she said yes, which was of course the most important thing. The ring wasn't quite the style she would have chosen for herself, but that didn't matter - he had chosen it for her and it was pretty and she was going to wear it. She hadn't been expecting the proposal then and there, but it was a topic that had come up several times over many years, and now seemed the right time for them both. Everything was perfect.
Except...
The ring was slightly too small. She managed to get it on but in fact it was digging furrows in her finger. It needed to be re-sized. Not by much, just a little, but if she wanted to retain her finger long enough to wear the wedding band at the end of the year some little adjustment was necessary.
That was okay, though. No problem. She put it on a ribbon and wore it around her neck so it was with her, and planned to get it done as soon as possible.
Unfortunately events conspired against her. He had proposed right at the start of her two busiest weeks of the last 6 months. She was working long days, getting home late, and otherwise committed on the weekends. Every day her work colleagues demanded to know when she was going to get the ring sorted out, but it just wasn't happening.
Finally she found time and off she went.
The first jeweller she went to pointed out that the 'diamonds' were in fact cubic zirconia. A bit disappointing in that first moment, but on reflection she did vaguely recall her now-fiancé mentioning that and besides it was probably sensible: they are almost as good, and it means he's not blowing the budget (which will be needed later for other things like the ceremony & honeymoon...) on the first ring and anyway it's pretty and no-one else need know. Then there was a warning: the way the stones were set, it might not be possible to re-size without major reconstruction. Still, the jeweller thought it might not be so bad since it was only a very small increase. The next piece of news was a little more disturbing. "I can't see the gold mark" he said. "Nor one for silver. It might be either, but right now I can't tell." He seemed very nice and he would do the work on site, but it would take three weeks - he was always very busy and it never got much quicker than that.
Saddened and slightly disturbed, she moved on to the next jewellery shop. The shop attendant was very rude, proclaiming that if she could not prove that the ring was purchased at their store (which it could not have been, since her fiancé lives 9 hours drive away) then they would not do it.
The third jewellery shop said they could send it away to be done but it would take at least two weeks, and maybe more.
Disheartened, the woman took the ring back home, now not quite sure what to do.
That night her manager (who is also a good friend) rang up to find out how it was going. That day she had visited a jeweller who she had known for years (about 30 of them) who had assured her that it could be done in just a few days. The shop was closed on Sunday, but fortunately the manager had given the woman the day off on Monday, so she was able to make the 45 minute drive up to the shop with the friendly lady jeweller.
It was a sunny day, traffic wasn't too heavy, and the woman found a parking space just a few steps from the store. A great start. But that's where it went wrong. On close inspection the jeweller assured her that the ring was most definitely not gold, nor was it silver. Nor (and this, the woman found slightly alarming) was it stainless steel (which is apparently a fairly common metal for mens rings in particular because it doesn't scratch so much as other metals - who knew?!). The jeweller pointed out where the coating had worn away and (with the aid of a magnifying glass) where the metal was getting scratched just from being worn on a ribbon around the woman's neck. "This ring can't be re-sized" the jeweller declared "At least not by us nor any other quality jeweller - we don't know what it's made of, we don't know what will happen - I suggest you take it back for a refund."
Shocked, the woman rang her fiancé to tell him the news. And then he told her the truth - that he had bought it over the internet and so he wasn't actually sure that it was what was claimed.
"If I could get it resized, I'd wear it anyway." she told him. "It's the ring you chose, so it's special."
"Send it back and I'll get them to give me my money back." he replied. "But in the meantime you need another ring."
"I can wait until you sort this out." she offered, trying not to think about the people at work who were asking about it on a daily basis and failing but putting on a good front.
"No, I can tell the style wasn't really what you wanted." he told her. "You choose something and let me know and we'll sort it out."
So she went looking for another ring, still with the first ring around her neck. She went to several jewellery stores, including one where she had often admired the work on previous visits. But today nothing she saw looked right. It was all too chunky or too meagre, or (most often) far far too expensive and still didn't appeal in the slightest.
Almost ready to give up and go home, she found herself walking past a very small store, part of a chain that can be found all around the country. In her experience it was an expensive store and the shop staff were never pleasant and she wasn't intending to spend very much which always made them less pleasant. Still, she thought, perhaps it's worth just looking - at least so I don't end up wondering if I might have seen something.
Tired, and convinced this wasn't going to work out, she walked into the store to be faced with a blond woman (whose name badge proclaimed her to be Katerina) who smiled and asked her if she was having a nice day. The truthful answer was 'no, not really' but the woman bravely smiled and asked if she could look at some white gold engagement rings. Not necessarily to buy, just to look.
The first one she was shown was in completely the wrong price range (one zero too many!) and she started to back out, but Katerina guessed the problem and asked if she would like to see something in a different price range. Two minutes later they had found a ring which was nice enough and within the range, but it still didn't feel right. So they looked some more, and then the woman spotted the one that really looked right to her.
It wasn't exactly a traditional engagement setting, nor was it plain diamonds (and certainly not cubic zirconia - not that this particular shop is likely to even know what those are) but a combination of dark blue sapphires and diamonds. Beautiful, but almost certainly out of the price range. Asking only so she could convince herself to stop looking at it, she was told the price - and yes, it was well over the agreed budget. She looked again at the first ring trying to decide if she should just buy it or continue looking in other shops, but Katerina shook her head and said "no I don't think that one's for you, this is the one you like, let me see if it's on special before you make any decisions." And miraculously, it was. It was a mere $25 over the top of the agreed range rather than the hundreds of the listed price.
The woman asked her to hold it aside and went to call her fiancé to discuss the price. A short time later she returned and purchased the ring but...
...it was too small to wear home!
Knowing already that it was likely to be weeks, she filled out the paperwork and left the shop without a ring, but at least feeling that it was the right ring.
That was Monday afternoon.
Wednesday was a public holiday.
Thursday morning, 9 o'clock, her cellphone rang while she sat at her desk. Katerina was calling to say the ring was ready to be picked up. And there was no extra cost! Startled, the woman told her manager who immediately insisted that she leave work early to get to the store before it closed. "I want to see it on your finger!" she proclaimed.
And here it is.
The end.
post script - okay, so I wasn't taking detailed notes during all of this drama, but it's pretty much right. My fiancé was - and is - rather embarrassed by the whole thing but it's all working out okay. As large as that other ring was it was going to catch on everything, and I honestly couldn't see myself wearing it after the wedding. This one I'd be happy to wear all my life. I feel slightly embarrassed to have not worn the ring that he originally chose for me, but apparently it was not to be and he assures me he's okay with it so I guess all's well that ends well. :)
Once not so long ago in a small country far away from everywhere else there was a man who wanted to surprise his long time friend with a proposal of marriage. He decided he had to get the ring before letting her know because he wanted to do it right and to do it right meant having a ring as part of the surprise.
Being quite observant he had noticed she preferred silver jewellery to gold, and had (somehow) discovered that silver itself isn't good for rings because it's too soft and bends out of shape. However, he found an alternative: white gold looks like silver, keeps its shape, and would be just perfect.
So he set out to find a white gold engagement ring, ideally with at least one diamond.
Unfortunately, while he saw a great many rings, they were all either out of his price range or looked so insubstantial that he didn't want to buy them.
After a bit more research (probably on the internet) he discovered that while diamonds are very expensive, cubic zirconia (i.e. man-made diamonds) are nearly as good and much cheaper, meaning he could get some better options. Re-enthused, he did some more searching and finally found one that said (or perhaps that should read bellowed) "engagement ring" to all who saw it and he eagerly purchased it, hiding it away for just the right moment.
Just the right moment came on the Saturday of Easter weekend. Dinner at a restaurant overlooking the harbour, going up onto the viewing platform on the roof to watch the sun set, and then down on his knees and produced the ring.
The ring was very sparkly (even as it was getting dark) and she was completely swept away by all the planning. And she said yes, which was of course the most important thing. The ring wasn't quite the style she would have chosen for herself, but that didn't matter - he had chosen it for her and it was pretty and she was going to wear it. She hadn't been expecting the proposal then and there, but it was a topic that had come up several times over many years, and now seemed the right time for them both. Everything was perfect.
Except...
The ring was slightly too small. She managed to get it on but in fact it was digging furrows in her finger. It needed to be re-sized. Not by much, just a little, but if she wanted to retain her finger long enough to wear the wedding band at the end of the year some little adjustment was necessary.
That was okay, though. No problem. She put it on a ribbon and wore it around her neck so it was with her, and planned to get it done as soon as possible.
Unfortunately events conspired against her. He had proposed right at the start of her two busiest weeks of the last 6 months. She was working long days, getting home late, and otherwise committed on the weekends. Every day her work colleagues demanded to know when she was going to get the ring sorted out, but it just wasn't happening.
Finally she found time and off she went.
The first jeweller she went to pointed out that the 'diamonds' were in fact cubic zirconia. A bit disappointing in that first moment, but on reflection she did vaguely recall her now-fiancé mentioning that and besides it was probably sensible: they are almost as good, and it means he's not blowing the budget (which will be needed later for other things like the ceremony & honeymoon...) on the first ring and anyway it's pretty and no-one else need know. Then there was a warning: the way the stones were set, it might not be possible to re-size without major reconstruction. Still, the jeweller thought it might not be so bad since it was only a very small increase. The next piece of news was a little more disturbing. "I can't see the gold mark" he said. "Nor one for silver. It might be either, but right now I can't tell." He seemed very nice and he would do the work on site, but it would take three weeks - he was always very busy and it never got much quicker than that.
Saddened and slightly disturbed, she moved on to the next jewellery shop. The shop attendant was very rude, proclaiming that if she could not prove that the ring was purchased at their store (which it could not have been, since her fiancé lives 9 hours drive away) then they would not do it.
The third jewellery shop said they could send it away to be done but it would take at least two weeks, and maybe more.
Disheartened, the woman took the ring back home, now not quite sure what to do.
That night her manager (who is also a good friend) rang up to find out how it was going. That day she had visited a jeweller who she had known for years (about 30 of them) who had assured her that it could be done in just a few days. The shop was closed on Sunday, but fortunately the manager had given the woman the day off on Monday, so she was able to make the 45 minute drive up to the shop with the friendly lady jeweller.
It was a sunny day, traffic wasn't too heavy, and the woman found a parking space just a few steps from the store. A great start. But that's where it went wrong. On close inspection the jeweller assured her that the ring was most definitely not gold, nor was it silver. Nor (and this, the woman found slightly alarming) was it stainless steel (which is apparently a fairly common metal for mens rings in particular because it doesn't scratch so much as other metals - who knew?!). The jeweller pointed out where the coating had worn away and (with the aid of a magnifying glass) where the metal was getting scratched just from being worn on a ribbon around the woman's neck. "This ring can't be re-sized" the jeweller declared "At least not by us nor any other quality jeweller - we don't know what it's made of, we don't know what will happen - I suggest you take it back for a refund."
Shocked, the woman rang her fiancé to tell him the news. And then he told her the truth - that he had bought it over the internet and so he wasn't actually sure that it was what was claimed.
"If I could get it resized, I'd wear it anyway." she told him. "It's the ring you chose, so it's special."
"Send it back and I'll get them to give me my money back." he replied. "But in the meantime you need another ring."
"I can wait until you sort this out." she offered, trying not to think about the people at work who were asking about it on a daily basis and failing but putting on a good front.
"No, I can tell the style wasn't really what you wanted." he told her. "You choose something and let me know and we'll sort it out."
So she went looking for another ring, still with the first ring around her neck. She went to several jewellery stores, including one where she had often admired the work on previous visits. But today nothing she saw looked right. It was all too chunky or too meagre, or (most often) far far too expensive and still didn't appeal in the slightest.
Almost ready to give up and go home, she found herself walking past a very small store, part of a chain that can be found all around the country. In her experience it was an expensive store and the shop staff were never pleasant and she wasn't intending to spend very much which always made them less pleasant. Still, she thought, perhaps it's worth just looking - at least so I don't end up wondering if I might have seen something.
Tired, and convinced this wasn't going to work out, she walked into the store to be faced with a blond woman (whose name badge proclaimed her to be Katerina) who smiled and asked her if she was having a nice day. The truthful answer was 'no, not really' but the woman bravely smiled and asked if she could look at some white gold engagement rings. Not necessarily to buy, just to look.
The first one she was shown was in completely the wrong price range (one zero too many!) and she started to back out, but Katerina guessed the problem and asked if she would like to see something in a different price range. Two minutes later they had found a ring which was nice enough and within the range, but it still didn't feel right. So they looked some more, and then the woman spotted the one that really looked right to her.
It wasn't exactly a traditional engagement setting, nor was it plain diamonds (and certainly not cubic zirconia - not that this particular shop is likely to even know what those are) but a combination of dark blue sapphires and diamonds. Beautiful, but almost certainly out of the price range. Asking only so she could convince herself to stop looking at it, she was told the price - and yes, it was well over the agreed budget. She looked again at the first ring trying to decide if she should just buy it or continue looking in other shops, but Katerina shook her head and said "no I don't think that one's for you, this is the one you like, let me see if it's on special before you make any decisions." And miraculously, it was. It was a mere $25 over the top of the agreed range rather than the hundreds of the listed price.
The woman asked her to hold it aside and went to call her fiancé to discuss the price. A short time later she returned and purchased the ring but...
...it was too small to wear home!
Knowing already that it was likely to be weeks, she filled out the paperwork and left the shop without a ring, but at least feeling that it was the right ring.
That was Monday afternoon.
Wednesday was a public holiday.
Thursday morning, 9 o'clock, her cellphone rang while she sat at her desk. Katerina was calling to say the ring was ready to be picked up. And there was no extra cost! Startled, the woman told her manager who immediately insisted that she leave work early to get to the store before it closed. "I want to see it on your finger!" she proclaimed.
And here it is.
The end.
post script - okay, so I wasn't taking detailed notes during all of this drama, but it's pretty much right. My fiancé was - and is - rather embarrassed by the whole thing but it's all working out okay. As large as that other ring was it was going to catch on everything, and I honestly couldn't see myself wearing it after the wedding. This one I'd be happy to wear all my life. I feel slightly embarrassed to have not worn the ring that he originally chose for me, but apparently it was not to be and he assures me he's okay with it so I guess all's well that ends well. :)