Engagement Ring Antics  − 27 March, 2008

When my husband and I first decided to get married, we went out ring shopping. I didn’t want something terribly expensive, but something unique. I found the perfect setting in a designer collection at a local jeweler. It is a gold band with a center stone and a princess-cut diamond set at a “baseball-diamond” angle, rather than squarely, on either side. We were able to get a really good deal on the .90 carat center stone – also a princess-cut diamond set with it’s points set up and down as well. We got a “guarantee” on the ring, which I knew we really needed to, as I work a lot with my hands and I was worried I might somehow damage the ring. And I am glad we did, as it came in handy.
About a month before our wedding, I was gardening, and just happened to look down at my hand to see that the center stone was gone! Oh my gosh! I looked all over, combing through the soil, retracing my path that afternoon – no luck. Probably some crow had found the sparkly and was right now admiring it, high in a treetop nest.
So I immediately contacted the jeweler and brought the ring in. They immediately began to search for a diamond just like the one I had lost. A week passed with no luck. Another week passed, and I began to really worry that my ring was not going to be ready for the wedding. I ended up buying a cheapo CZ Tiffany-style ring to fill in if my own ring was not ready. Then September 11, 2001 happened, and that threw all of us in New Jersey into a state of fear, panic and depression. I really didn’t care about whether or not the diamond was replaced – I wanted the ring for my wedding for sentimental reasons – and after seeing the sparkle of my cheapo ring, I had the jeweler put a CZ in my engagement ring for the wedding, and just reimburse us for the value of the lost diamond. I figured we could find something comparable in the future, and we could use the extra money on our honeymoon.
So the pretty, sparkly engagement ring I wore on my wedding day was part “fake.”
We went on our honeymoon, and on one of our last days on board, they had a loose gemstone sale at the cruise ship’s jewelry store. There we both fell in love with a 2 carat trillion-shaped blue topaz. It was the exact same color as the Bermuda ocean and the ocean in Key West, where my husband actually proposed to me. We both felt it was rather fitting to have that stone replace the diamond I had lost while gardening. The stone cost nowhere near the price of the original diamond – so we were also able to enjoy the “extras” that the reimbursement money allowed us while on our honeymoon.
So my engagement ring is unique and non-traditional – a beautiful, vivid, trillion-cut blue topaz flanked by princess-cut diamonds in a yellow gold band. It’s very striking – you can’t help but notice it next to my gold-and-diamond wedding band – and it reminds me of the beautiful ocean in Key West and Bermuda every time I look at it.
I appreciate the beauty and sparkle of a diamond – but I wouldn’t trade one for my beautiful blue topaz, and I really like the idea of using “non-traditional” gemstones in engagement rings. It makes them as unique and colorful as the bride who wears them.