Hardware

When DJ and I started talking about biting the bullet one night on a vacation in the fall of 2008, I woke up the next morning and googled wedding rings. You’re laughing, right? Because I was laughing at myself. What a girl. Yeesh.

Let me preface this by saying that I’m not a girly girl. I’m not delicate, I swear, I sweat, and occasionally pass gas (shut it DJ). So I was surprised an indication of intention lead me straight to an internet search for pretty shiny things.

Long before I met DJ I knew I wanted to be involved with choosing my engagement ring. I’m an opinionated person. I wanted to have a say in the symbol that would tie me to my betrothed. Sidenote: my dad loves the word betrothed. What a weirdo. At the end of every phone conversation he always reminds me to tell my BETROTHED hello for him. ::eye roll:::

I also knew a few things about what I wanted for this symbol. Something sturdy, with a band that protected the stone. A ring that can withstand me talking with my hands and slapping the palm of my hand onto the table to make a point. Something unique; no patent ring for me, thank you. Nothing too delicate, bedazzled or ornate. Simple, plain and quality over quantity.

I told you I am opinionated.

Being a girl who likes old stuff, I also googled antique rings. And Oh. My. Gosh. I stumbled across antiqueengagementrings.com/ . Here’s the caveat; most of their stuff is reproductions of antique pieces. I know this, but I still couldn’t stop drooling over their rings. Things like this and this and this caught my eye and were bookmarked.

ohh symmetry...

Look at the detail work on the band!

Baguettes! Not just for dipping artichoke dip in!

You’ll note that I was drawn to square shapes, primarily the Asscher cut. Now I have to admit, I’d seen the Asscher before. My friend Shawna’s ring is an Asscher and I remember admiring it when they got engaged. She's got a fabulous sense of style that I really admire.

Then in mid-March, after our vacation to Hawaii and after our tax returns were in, I oh so casually mentioned to DJ that I know he gets busy during the upcoming little league baseball season, and did he know that a ring can sometimes take months to come in, and you know, no pressure, but I just thought maybe he should know. And that I wanted a year to plan a wedding, but you know no pressure.

In addition to opinionated, I’m subtle too.

We went ring shopping on St. Patrick’s day with the deal that we’d pick out the diamond shape and ring setting together, but that the diamond quality and band material would be up to him; with a reminder of the quality over quantity. We’d also agreed that if we were going to drop serious moolah hardware, we wanted it to be to a downtown, Main Street merchant. Talk about Local Yokels, but seriously, I didn’t want it to come from a chain store in the mall.

So we started on west Main Street at, I kid you not, The Jewelry Studio. Impressive name, right?

And although they had some very ornate Tacori rings, in addition to a bunch of other designer’s stuff, we both were drawn to the rather plain rings in the case around the corner. The salesman came over, and I asked if I could try on the Asscher cut in the case.

Now here’s the part where I tell you I have little smokey sausages for fingers. No, really. My fingers are short, squat, and generally farm-wife-ish. I could never be a piano player. Check that, I have no musical ability whatsoever, so not just my lack of finger length eliminates me from piano stardom, but you get my drift.

My fingers! In a bag!!! Short, stubby, plump and delicious when in a crock pot!

And would you believe it; the Asscher cut ring with the small round diamonds set into the platinum band in the case at The Jewelry Studio fit my little smokies! Shock! And we both loved it. And the ring shape was so comfortable! We were so excited, and the salesman finally mentioned that he was glad we liked it, as he was the designer of this particular case. Score!

After marveling at our luck, we thanked the designer salesman and moved on to the three remaining stores on Main Street. After about two hours, it was apparent that nothing was going to top the ring back at the first store, and I told DJ that was it. We went back by to see it again, and I told the designer-salesman it was up to him and DJ from this point out. I wanted that ring, without the little round diamonds on it.

You might note that we picked out an engagement ring on March 17. And didn’t get engaged until August 21. More on how I lost my mind during those five months later, but suffice to say, I was such a girl.

How long did it take anyone out there to pick out a ring? If you’re not engaged or married yet, and maybe still haven’t met Mr. Right, do you have a dream ring bookmarked somewhere? Don’t you think it’s ridiculous that we found my perfect ring at a place so boringly named? (but seriously, they do GREAT work!)