My Ring, and the Amazing Jeweler who Made it
So I'm not 100% sure where to start... But I suppose it will be at the beginning, but I'll try to keep from droning. :) FH and I got engaged on the 27 April, 2012. It was a spontaneous proposal, so he didn't have a ring for me - a fact that I was somewhat pleased about. He wanted to get me a ring right away, and asked if I preferred diamonds, or a different stone. (His previous wife disliked diamonds.) I told him it didn't really matter, but then I told him about my grandma's ring. She'd left it to me when she passed away back in 2008, and to me it symbolized all the love that their 70 years of marriage had held. In addition, the center stone of the ring, which is a rather nice size, had been left to her in the form of her favorite aunt's wedding ring, which had been left to HER by HER grandmother. When I told FH how much it meant to me, he agreed that I didn't need another ring, at least until he saw it.
The ring's sentimental value to me was priceless. The ring's actual value was pretty high, nearly 5k. But as far as liking its looks? I'd grown accustomed to it, but never thought of it as particularly pretty. FH disliked it on sight, but agreed to honor it's tradition anyway. (The fact that I didn't need/want another diamond probably factored in with that decision, lol.) We discussed having mismatched rings - mine yellow gold, his white, looking nothing remotely alike. HELL NO. I was not having that. So we decided to re-set it. I spent months looking for a setting I liked, but I couldn't ever find one that would accommodate not only the center stone that had been in my family for generations, but the 16 smaller matched stones that went along with it.
It was my father's idea to have a custom ring done, and he said there was only one man who he could trust with his mother's ring. Kevin Schimke in Stockton, CA. Following his advice, we went directly to him, and with a little help from a few pictures I saw on the knot of rings I'd liked, we came up with a design that would incorporate not only all the stones, but the theme of our wedding. My ring looks like a twisted handfasting rope. :) The design process was REALLY interesting, and if you would like to read about my experience with it (with pictures he sent) then you can click through the following links to my personal journal where I wrote about it.
Selecting the design and why - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/85630.html (23 Feb, 2013)
Approving the wax design - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/87521.html
Creating the mold - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/88265.html
Casting - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/88360.html
Sanding and polishing - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/88955.html
Setting and plating - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/90293.html
The finished product - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/90533.html (18 April, 2013)
Anyways, as you can see, I was pretty excited about it, blogged and posted all over Facebook about it, and tagged his business all over the place. I mentioned it to him when I picked my ring up, and even showed him and his wife my journal on my phone when he asked about it. About a week after he asked if I would mind helping him promote his business, and I told him how we would be happy to, in any way we could. He asked if we would mind if he put us on his billboard, and in a monthly magazine that usually does an article on him. Said it would help him out a lot, and that it would be like an engagement gift to us. :)
Shock and awe does not even begin to describe how I felt about this.
Yesterday, the billboard went up. Fantastic. :) It's just about the coolest thing ever. Customer for life. Hands down. :) I just had to brag. How many people get an engagement announcement like this???
The ring's sentimental value to me was priceless. The ring's actual value was pretty high, nearly 5k. But as far as liking its looks? I'd grown accustomed to it, but never thought of it as particularly pretty. FH disliked it on sight, but agreed to honor it's tradition anyway. (The fact that I didn't need/want another diamond probably factored in with that decision, lol.) We discussed having mismatched rings - mine yellow gold, his white, looking nothing remotely alike. HELL NO. I was not having that. So we decided to re-set it. I spent months looking for a setting I liked, but I couldn't ever find one that would accommodate not only the center stone that had been in my family for generations, but the 16 smaller matched stones that went along with it.
It was my father's idea to have a custom ring done, and he said there was only one man who he could trust with his mother's ring. Kevin Schimke in Stockton, CA. Following his advice, we went directly to him, and with a little help from a few pictures I saw on the knot of rings I'd liked, we came up with a design that would incorporate not only all the stones, but the theme of our wedding. My ring looks like a twisted handfasting rope. :) The design process was REALLY interesting, and if you would like to read about my experience with it (with pictures he sent) then you can click through the following links to my personal journal where I wrote about it.
Selecting the design and why - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/85630.html (23 Feb, 2013)
Approving the wax design - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/87521.html
Creating the mold - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/88265.html
Casting - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/88360.html
Sanding and polishing - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/88955.html
Setting and plating - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/90293.html
The finished product - http://funnibunni80.livejournal.com/90533.html (18 April, 2013)
Anyways, as you can see, I was pretty excited about it, blogged and posted all over Facebook about it, and tagged his business all over the place. I mentioned it to him when I picked my ring up, and even showed him and his wife my journal on my phone when he asked about it. About a week after he asked if I would mind helping him promote his business, and I told him how we would be happy to, in any way we could. He asked if we would mind if he put us on his billboard, and in a monthly magazine that usually does an article on him. Said it would help him out a lot, and that it would be like an engagement gift to us. :)
Shock and awe does not even begin to describe how I felt about this.
Yesterday, the billboard went up. Fantastic. :) It's just about the coolest thing ever. Customer for life. Hands down. :) I just had to brag. How many people get an engagement announcement like this???