Leftovers
THE LAST TIME I went to Florida to see my grandmother was also one of the last times I saw her alive. I don't count the time I saw her with my mother the week I went to Milwaukee for seriouspenguin's wedding; she wasn't really ... there anymore.
Anyway, that last time, she allowed me pick out some things of my grandfather's that I wanted (two of his pocket knives) and gave me the two pieces of jewelry that hadn't already been claimed by other female relatives -- she wasn't being stingy for once, she'd given me all of my great-gran's costume jewelry years before, and a lovely Russian mourning pin/necklace in onyx that I'd wanted since I was small. One of the pieces was an opal ring. It was a very 80s Old Woman setting: two oval opals set in a 10k yellow gold leaf pattern with two offset half carat diamond chips, not unlike the ring on the left in this picture. She wore it all the time, so the prongs for the diamonds had worn down enough that I was worried they'd fall out.
I like opals a lot. And opals like me a lot. Opals and pearls like skin oils and they seem to really like my skin. The few times I did wear the ring, the opals would turn from a dull milky white to a stunning green, orange, and pink fire within hours.
Problem is: I won't wear yellow gold or diamonds. So I had this almost broken ring, which was too big and didn't suit me at all. It had long been my plan to get it reset, but to what?
Finally, last week, I took the ring into this jeweler whose work I've admired a good deal (pescana where we saw the jade rings and you almost bought that one ring for your niece), I told him what I wanted. He thought I was a bit nuts when I said that I didn't want the gold or the diamonds, he could have them, and to set the opals in silver or white gold. We looked at pictures and had a long discussion with the actual craftsman.
The Result
The stone on the left is always green, the one on the right burns with a deep, luminous orange fire. They're just warming up.
All for the low, low price of 10 USD. I totally win at Shiny! today.
Anyway, that last time, she allowed me pick out some things of my grandfather's that I wanted (two of his pocket knives) and gave me the two pieces of jewelry that hadn't already been claimed by other female relatives -- she wasn't being stingy for once, she'd given me all of my great-gran's costume jewelry years before, and a lovely Russian mourning pin/necklace in onyx that I'd wanted since I was small. One of the pieces was an opal ring. It was a very 80s Old Woman setting: two oval opals set in a 10k yellow gold leaf pattern with two offset half carat diamond chips, not unlike the ring on the left in this picture. She wore it all the time, so the prongs for the diamonds had worn down enough that I was worried they'd fall out.
I like opals a lot. And opals like me a lot. Opals and pearls like skin oils and they seem to really like my skin. The few times I did wear the ring, the opals would turn from a dull milky white to a stunning green, orange, and pink fire within hours.
Problem is: I won't wear yellow gold or diamonds. So I had this almost broken ring, which was too big and didn't suit me at all. It had long been my plan to get it reset, but to what?
Finally, last week, I took the ring into this jeweler whose work I've admired a good deal (pescana where we saw the jade rings and you almost bought that one ring for your niece), I told him what I wanted. He thought I was a bit nuts when I said that I didn't want the gold or the diamonds, he could have them, and to set the opals in silver or white gold. We looked at pictures and had a long discussion with the actual craftsman.
The Result
The stone on the left is always green, the one on the right burns with a deep, luminous orange fire. They're just warming up.
All for the low, low price of 10 USD. I totally win at Shiny! today.