<p>Pizzagirl: you made me smile. Really, no snark. I do have a “simple” life, compared to some of our friends. We never brought an extra friend for our kids on vacation. When we ceased having a “baby” we stopped bringing a housekeeper in tow. </p>
<p>And lest anyone here has a problem with housekeepers, we pay our legal housekeeper 17 an hour.</p>
<p>@mcat2, read pricescope.com so your family is better informed before making a big purchase on diamond jewelry.</p>
<p>I have to admit I was quite surprised to hear what the ring my DS had made for his fiancee with the stones we gave him from the familynecklace appraised at. And the center solitare was “only” an H color, SI2 quality. Side pear stones were G color, VS1 quality) better than the center stone, which is the one from 1850). All DS had to pay for was the setting he designed with the jeweler, and the insurance on the ring. We even paid to ship it to him on my fedex account (once he insured the sucker).</p>
<p>Thanks! There is much for me to learn.</p>
<p>I actually did not know the term “blood diamond” until I read this thread.</p>
<p>I have heard in the past that the production and sale of diamonds was used to fund the wars in some countries. But I did not know the term “blood diamond”.</p>
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<p>Please. Plenty of talented “local” jewelers design beautiful pieces from quality materials that are one-of-a-kind and have personal meaning to their owners.</p>
<p>To me there is nothing special about owning something that says only “someone spent a lot of money on this.” It’s why I don’t care for a lot of Tiffany’s jewelry or status handbags. “Everyone” knows how much the gold twist bracelet or the Birkin satchel costs. They’re just things that we have been led to believe have superior value because of marketing and celebrity placement and the arms race of keeping up with the Joneses.</p>
<p>I have a lot of heirloom jewelry going back to the late-1800s. Most of it is stunning (although I can think of one ring from the '20s that is hideous–a two-sapphire ring my sister and I call “snake eyes”)–almost all of it has substantial sentimental value. One piece in particular, a domed cocktail ring with a large cushion-type diamond surrounded by multiple smaller stones and set in platinum, has been worn for special occasions by the women in my family since the 1870s. It was my great-great-grandmother’s and will someday be my daughter’s. I couldn’t care less if the center stone is a VS2 or a VHS or a V05. It is breathtaking, but more than anything it connects me to the women who have worn it in the past.</p>
<p>The one DS designed with the jeweler (an old family friend) was actually a trellis setting, with the pears on the side. The trellis component is kinda like that super expensive “lucida” ring posted a few posts back. I find that amusing. He wouldn’t.</p>
<p>I just noticed that Tiffany link lets you try the ring on different “skin tones”. I understand the intent but… It’s weird. Sorry. Intend was good but delivery is a little weird. </p>
<p>Please. The techniques used by artisans in the finest workrooms have little to do with marketing and celebrity placement. Look up the techniques used for decades by van cleef & arpels to create their invisible settings…exquisite quality and craftsmanship that is worth the very hefty price for those who appreciate the finest. I’m a jewelry snob, I guess. Sorry</p>
<p>I am a snob about certain things too. Jewelry is just so personal that I would never criticize someone’s choice to have a special ring made at a local jeweler for someone they loved. And some of them are more adept than you might think. I had an antique diamond pendant reset as a ring at a local jeweler that does a lot of custom work and they treated it with the care it deserved. They know what they’re doing.</p>
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<p>I designed my own ring with the help of a local jeweler (old friend of my partner’s).
It’s beautiful. It’s holding up just fine. I love it. </p>
<p>Maybe the stones are “inferior” (and if an “acceptable” stone is 40k, give me inferior stones any day!), but it is exactly what I wanted and I helped support a local business. That means way more to me than what a “jewelry snob” (your words) thinks. </p>
<p>It really never ceases to amaze me how much judgment people pass on others. Can’t people just be happy for other people? </p>
<p>Heck, a student just showed me her new wedding ring on Friday (she’s been married for a while, it’s an “upgraded” ring). Personally, I instantly thought it was huge, gaudy, and ugly but I responded with “Oh gosh! It’s so beautiful! You seem so happy with it.” My thoughts about it were completely irrelevant and I didn’t ask her any questions about it. Her happiness was far more important than the ring. </p>
<p><em>shrug</em></p>
<p>My current favorite wine is $10. Sometimes it’s even on sale for $7!
Should I pay five times as much just because I can afford it?
A ring like this one, <a href=“Design Your Own Ring & Custom Jewelry ,Unique Engagement Rings and Wedding Bands”>Design Your Own Ring & Custom Jewelry ,Unique Engagement Rings and Wedding Bands;
that I designed and had made for me, would be more precious than one that was “perfect” and cost as much as my house, but was one of many, crafted by someone that would not even know where it ended up.</p>
<p>@EK, don’t keep your hidden gem wine a secret!</p>
<p>You should look on the wine thread, but it is renegade red, a budget offshoot of Sleight of Hand winery in Walla Walla…
<a href=“Seattle Post-Intelligencer”>Seattle Post-Intelligencer;
<p>Having a future DIL who does not want a blood diamond is ten times better than one who insists on having a costly diamond.</p>
<p>I recently read an article about a parent who is stressed out by her/his child’s upcoming marriage. Who would not like parents like this?! I personally do not care whether the other side contributes anything - as long as they do not ask us or our child to do something. Either side is free to do whatever they are willing and/or capable of helping without being judgmental about what the other side will do.</p>
<p>"I have a son and a daughter soon to be married. But I do not intend to show off by spending a lot of money on their wedding. Neither do I plan to send gifts to my in-laws which, I believe, is totally unnecessary. But my in-laws would never understand it and thus treat my children – especially my daughter – badly. Then my children would blame me for their misery. </p>
<p>These days, I often wake in the middle of the night, sweating in all sorts of nightmares. Despite these unfathomable fears, however, I cannot go against my wish and philosophy. So forgive me, my children, and so help me, God! "</p>
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<p>Actually, the issue of blood diamonds are one major concern of many political activisty friends, especially those who tend toward the progressive left such pro-peace/anti-war, human rights, labor rights, etc. </p>
<p>Since many do tend to overlap with the original hippies/neo-hippies, part of it may also be rejection of more mainstream upper/upper-middle class norms in areas of fashion, aspirations, gifts, and expectations of others in those areas. </p>
<p>My husband redesigned my engagement ring for our 25th anniversary. He had the jeweler rearrange the small diamonds from the engagement ring on a new band which was getting worn and in danger of losing stones, and added a diamond. It was very well done not poorly crafted at all. They even insisted I come in and choose the new diamond and have a good look at 3 possibilities in the microscope. Of course now I wish I had thought about the issue of blood diamonds, but I am not giving it back. It came out beautiful and is very personal. So yes, it is entirely possible to design your own and get a quality result.</p>
<p>Husband just informed me the new diamond is certified and not a blood diamond. He added, “Besides, I don’t think it’s likely a jeweler that underwrites the local NPR station would deal in blood diamonds.”</p>
<p>Tiffany charges a premium for their name. When it comes to solitaires, Blue Nile online is a good source to check out prices.</p>
<p>“Whenever I hear that someone “designed their own ring” and had it made at a local jeweler, I assume that it’s a poorly crafted piece with inferior stones.”</p>
<p>Seriously? There are quality local jewelers. You can take what they do in for independent appraisals. That seems needlessly concerned with brand names. </p>
<p>The fact that DS designed the ring for his fiancée with a longtime family friend who watched him grow up and used to carpool him to Sunday school, using diamonds from my family necklace which went back a generation further than we realized, and with input from his (son’s) future sister-in-law who knows her sister’s taste and cherished the opportunity to have input as the sister’s are very close, makes this joint venture a gift from the heart and a true family project. The value? Priceless . </p>
<p>My husband liked buying me jewelry, so I have a lot of different rings by different jewelers. The one, and only piece of jewelry that lost a significant stone was a saphire ring from Tiffany’s. They charge a lot for their name, but I don’t believe at all that is reflected in their craftsmanship.</p>
<p>Of my estate jewelry–again, some of it approaching 150 years old–the only stones that have ever been lost are seed pearls on bar pins or set into rings. I have no idea what technique the jewelers back then used to set diamonds in platinum, but they are not going anywhere (and yes, I have them checked every few years).</p>
<p>Not all of us are fortunate enough to have family jewelry to work with OR to have the means to pay a premium for brand-name pieces that signal social status and wealth. I know a couple who had infinity symbols tattooed on their ring fingers before they could afford simple bands. The bands cover up the tattoos when they are wearing them, but since they are both artists there are a lot of times they don’t. The tattoos are subtle and sweet–and most of all, symbolic to them.</p>