Jun 16, 2010 Posted on Jun 16, 2010 in bling | 10 comments

(Golden) Birds of Feather…

I swear I’m not completely bling obsessed (shrugs) even though this is (hangs head) another post about jewelry. This is not a post about just any old jewelry though, this is the story of C’s super magical wedding ring, and the roundabout, but in the end, oh-so-simple way we ended up finding it. So pull up a chair and pop open a beer (or is it too early for that still?) Anyhoo I’m pretty sure it’s noon somewhere in the world…

Now you may remember that C declared pretty early on that she had always pictured a plain yellow gold band. After a bit of research, we determined that it’s super hard to find a really pretty, slightly vintage (or even just vintage looking) plain gold band. If you want a little bit of character and a hand-hewn quality, then it’s really tough. Or really expensive.

And so while we waited for my super fantastic daisy ring to arrive, we scoured etsy, ebay, everyvintagejewelrysiteimaginable and then some more places in search of the perfect ring. For a quick minute there I was winning a hundred year old Tiffany’s ring on ebay. Then a more saavy bidder swooped in (or had a computer do it for them- damn cowards) and outbid me by $1.99. Grrr! No really- I need to get on that auto-bidding business, but of course I digress…

The hunt continued.

We considered the suggestion that we use the inverse of my daisy ring for C’s ring. But we weren’t really committed to matching rings.  And we couldn’t decide who would get the inverse, because, um, we’re both yellow gold freaks. (told ya it was true love) So that was out.

And then one day I started thinking about what made me choose Adzia to make my daisy ring way back in the beginning. I know I blabbered on about how lovely and awesome and wonderful her correspondence was (and it was!) but what had made me choose her from among the many talented etsy jewelers who responded to my initial alchemy post?

Hmmm. A light went on somewhere in my fuzzy little bride brain as I realized that I must have liked, I mean really liked, something in her store. And so I simply followed my own link and there it was: a beautiful gold feather ring. It seemed like the perfect combo of yellow gold and beautiful detail. And C is crazy for birds. Like tattooed crazy. So I showed her the feather ring, and she was sold. And that was it.

And I’ve gotta say Adzia came through like a champ once again. First, my daisy ring arrived with a companion- a silver sample of the feather ring, because we had expressed concern that it might be too wide.  And it was. So then Adzia created a custom made narrow(er) gold feather band just for C! And it arrived a few days ago. And it’s fan-freakin-tastic!

Check it:

I LOVE that both our rings were created by the same super amazing artist but I can’t believe it took me so long to figure out that Adzia was the answer to our (second) ring dilemma. (hangs head again) Silly me!

Have you ever spent tons of time and energy hunting for something that was right under your nose?

Jun 5, 2010 Posted on Jun 5, 2010 in bling | 7 comments

Bright Bright Baubles

At Barney’s the other day I saw them. My perfect wedding earrings. Yup. I didn’t even know such a thing existed, but there they were. Cool, vintage, colorful and just wonderful. Kinda like these:

                     source

For the record these are not the exact ones that caught my eye at Barney’s (damn flash sites!) but some similar ones from the same todiefor jeweler, Larkspur and Hawk.

Anyhoo I noted the brand and hopped in the elevator. By the time I got to my car I had convinced myself that they could probably be my wedding treat to myself. I figured they were probably a few hundred bucks . Sure they’d be a splurge, but they were awesome.

Yeah. I looked them up. It never bodes well when something doesn’t even have a price listed… So I called Barney’s and was told they were around $1800! Say whaaaaa?

They are not diamonds people. They ARE hand-cut matched white topaz. And they are set in 22k gold. And they are beautiful little pieces of art. And they are still completely and totally out of my league. Yes, I am just whining because I can’t afford them. Not even a little bit.

Enter Etsy. Music Swells. I swoon. Or something like that.

It took a little searching but I found some nearly identical earrings on etsy. Well, better than identical actually. I found some awesome, colorful, tear-drop shaped vintage glass, super fantastic bling bling earrings to rock on our wedding day. On a dime too.

                     source

Pretty pretty right?

Screech. Only problem? As some of you may know I kinda have a thing for yellow gold. No really. You can read about it here and here. So these earrings would be damn near perfect if only they were yellow gold.

Kinda like this:

                     source

Why yes, those are MY wedding earrings newly plated in yellow gold and a freakin’ fantastic example of just how effing awesome etsy sellers BeyondtheRockz really are.

Seriously. Al & Caroline were super quick to respond, super nice and they plated my earrings for a mere $10! I could not be happier. So go check ‘em out, but promise not to buy everylastpieceofamazingvintageglass that they have squirreled away because I might want to do earrings for my bridesmaids hear?

What kind of jewelry are you wearing for your wedding day? Anyone else going for bright bright baubles?

May 21, 2010 Posted on May 21, 2010 in bling | 2 comments

My Wedding Ring Rocks!!

Sans Rocks.

Yup. Another uber creative title from yours truly. Oh! And I apologize for my light posting lately- the last few weeks have been super stressful and I’ve been suffering a pretty severe case (admittedly self-diagnosed) of waitingforitalltocometogether.

So I’m happy to report back that it’s all really happening people!

In a big way. And to start the party right how about I show you my absolutely stinking gorgeous wedding ring? You know- the one you all offered so much advice about here and here? Yeah the ring. It arrived yesterday and it’s ridiculously amazing!

So without further ado my wedding band:

Yes, in the end I went with my original inspiration/vision.  I decided that I liked the simplicity of a band sans diamonds (gasp!) and I am thrilled with the way it compliments my sparkly engagement ring! As for the paramount white/yellow OR yellow/white decision, I went with predominantly yellow gold because it’s my favorite and it just looked more unique to me.

I truly didn’t expect to LOVE my ring the way I do though. It’s an amazing little piece of art that I get to wear every day for the rest of my life (well starting in just under four months)! Squeal! And I could not be more impressed with the craftsmanship, the heft, the intricate detail. It is truly perfect and it’s so much more beautiful than I expected. A bajillion thanks and big hugs to Adzia for creating this little masterpiece! LOVE.

Is your wedding band a custom job? Are you as excited with the end product as you were with the inspiration? AND are any of you suffering from the dreaded waitingforitalltocometogether??

May 7, 2010 Posted on May 7, 2010 in bling | 2 comments

Yellow/White OR White/Yellow?

daisies that is…

Thank you all so much for your comments on my VERY important diamond decision. I was totally overwhelmed (in a good way) by all your thoughtful advice AND totally intrigued by one reader’s suggestion (over at WB) that we invert the yellow/white gold in the design so as to have yellow daisies. Yellow daisies sound pretty, non?

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Did I make a decision? Yes. The decision is NO Diamond. And with that question answered I quickly moved on to pondering this intrinsically intriguing inversion. I mean quick like lightening. I emailed Adzia about four minutes after reading puzzle’s comment to ask if she could invert the metals and send me a new CAD image. And because she’s awesome she did. And because you all are awesome I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this new diamond-less development.

So let’s get ready to rumble. It’s daisy decision time round two. Ding Ding!

In the left corner we have our original contender Yellow/WhiteDaisies:

In the right corner our newcomer White/YellowDaisies:

A quick side by side comparison:

So the all-important question today is: Yellow/WhiteDaisies OR White/YellowDaisies?

AND are you asking your friends/family/community for input on important wedding decisions or do you prefer to make decisions with only your partner (in crime)??

May 4, 2010 Posted on May 4, 2010 in bling | 10 comments

Diamond or No Diamond?