April 22, 2009

lord of the rings

golem here is without her precious. boo.

captain fantastic and i went to the jeweler's yesterday to pick out his wedding band and to discuss options to modify the band that came with my engagement ring. after deciding what to do and determining that my engagement ring needed to be re-sized so it wouldn't fly off my hand amidst wild gesticulation, i had to surrender the precious to the jeweler...for THREE WEEKS. are you kidding me? i woke up this morning ringless, feeling like this whole getting-married thing was just a big, wonderful dream. sigh.

now. i realize that the ring is just a symbol. i am still less than 2 months away (!) from marrying the most wonderful guy on the planet. we love each other, and that's what matters. but i miss my symbol! it's pretty and spahhhkly and broadcasts my joy to the world. it also verifies that i am, in fact, not 14 years old. i appreciate that part. a lot.

i digress. i'm unsure of the changes that the jeweler suggested yesterday, and i'd like some input. the original set-up looks vaguely this:
(except the bands are thinner, there are round diamonds set in it on the outsides of the four baguettes, and the center diamond is in a 4-prong setting that makes it look kinda square...but this was the that closest google search offered)

i greatly dislike how the four baguettes line up when the rings are together. i want to replace the two baguettes on the wedding band with four round diamonds. then maybe if i'm real good, the captain might gift me a matching band for a ring guard on a future anniversary. you follow?

issue #2 is that the engagement diamond's setting is larger, so the two bands don't lie flush. solutions include a) "jogging" the band out so it curves around the diamond b) raising the main diamond's setting up so the band fits under it c) removing those two diamonds in the center so that there is a blank spot that will slide under the main diamond's setting. still with me? i don't like "jogging" bands and fear that raising the diamond would cause me to smack it on things even more than i already do, so we decided on option c. the jeweler will remove the two diamonds in the center and replace each baguette with two round diamonds, so the band will have three round diamonds on either side of a blank spot. i tried to draw a picture for you, but photoshop is my archfrigginnemesis, so you'll just have to close your eyes and imagine. is this a good idea? will i regret that the band looks funny by itself? should we have gone with raising the engagement diamond? am i overthinking this?

i plan to wear these rings for the rest of my life, so i'd like to be happy with them. suggestions?

5 comments:

Courtney said...

Your ring looks beautiful and even better the way it is describes versus the picture!

PREFACE: I am kinda obsessed with wearing my wedding band alone already.

So . . . I say do something that will let you love your band alone. I don't mind the baguettes aligned, but I understand things just not feeling right. I wouldn't "jog" because then I would not wear the band alone. I would always feel like it was not straight! I would consider setting the stone higher. Will you really notice the difference in height? So I'm greedy, but I would hate to lose the diamonds in the center on the band!

josh@jmalahy.com said...

Sorry, nothing to add on the ring debate. I had to say that I nearly spit hot coffee all over my laptop when I read the line "photoshop is my archfrigginnemesis." Also, as a general rule, I try to refrain from wild gesticulation whenever possible...but that's just me.

Blue Jean Gourmet said...

I agree with Courtney--I always try to give myself as many options as possible, especially when thinking long term (see: "as long as we both shall live.")

So you probably want to love your band enough that you would wear it alone--I know a lot of women who chose to do this on various occasions or for various reasons. Personally, I have a stacked ring and it's all soldered together, lots of tiny stones. 'cause we didn't really do the whole engagement/wedding thing. but if Iowa keeps it up, we might just get hitched...I am dying to register for stuff.

emaleigh said...

I'm glad there is another bride who is being somewhat picky about their wedding band.

Future and I picked our out roughly 3 weeks ago. The first band that we bought and brought home just wasn't 'right'. I loved the diamonds, they were gorgeous. It was a prong setting of about 9 diamonds. Problem: it curved around my engagement diamond and I wanted to be able to wear the band by itself. The curved band just didn't look right.

So... band 1 went back to the store.

Band two, let's say that I actually wearing it right now {while at home} because I'm just THAT obsessed with it. It was 'the' one. It's a straight band with 5 prong-set diamonds across. Something that I can wear by itself if I ever needed/wanted to.

My advice: don't "jog" the band around it. Get something you can wear by itself. But that's just me. I haven't second-guesses my second band since I got it.

Get something you LOVE, as you WILL be wearing them the rest of your life. :)

maribeth said...

hey, i tagged you on my blog!