perfect after 17.5 years

my husband's nickname for me is Mrs Fussy. because i am. honestly.

here's the story behind this gorgeousness and how it came to be.

in 1989, my beloved presented me with a lovely engagement ring. the setting was very nice, but i really wanted to wear the ring next to my wedding ring on the same finger, and the design wouldn't permit it. so we had the diamond put into a standard claw setting.

i am a bit of a klutz, and hit my hands hard on things. as a result, the claws kept coming loose from the setting, meaning the diamond might be lost at any moment. after having this ring fixed 3 times, i took it off my clumsy hand and put it where i thought it would be safe until we could afford to put it in a sturdier setting.

and then our house was burgled. only two things were taken: this ring and a computer my husband had been given for a work assignment.

it was bad, people. took a long time to feel like i could even leave the house again. but we did have insurance, and with the money, hub went and bought an even prettier diamond [if that could be possible]. this time, we were stubborn and chose what we thought would be the most durable, unbreakable setting. something a lot like this one. done by richard booth, a very posh jeweler in yorkdale.

when i went to have the ring re-appraised [our insurance company makes us do this every 3 years], a little surprise awaited me in the appraisal. "Diamond is chipped". WHUTTTT??? leave it to me to whack my hand so hard, exactly on the unprotected spot in the setting, that i chipped the diamond. unbelievable. i hadn't seen the chip [i don't see fine detail very well], but now that i knew it was there, i found easily it with a fingernail.

vainly, i'd also been bothered by the yellowness of the setting, since i don't wear any yellow gold any more. white metal, that's it. so now with the excuse of a damaged diamond, i started to dream of getting it reset, once and for all, after the diamond was recut.

then i took silversmithing classes from Sarah at The Devil's Workshop and began to admire her work with gemstones and gold. i signed up for her lost wax class next, hoping to remake the setting on my own under her expert guidance, and soon realized that i was in way over my head. instead, i asked Sarah if she would make the ring for me and she agreed.

sarah handled the recutting of the diamond for me, carved an exquisite wax model of the setting exactly as i wanted it, cast the wax in 18k palladium white gold [palladium is the alloy that makes it as white as possible] and had the diamond set magnificently.



it fits perfectly with my anniversary band and i absolutely adore it. possibly my favorite thing is how the diamond sits low in the setting and the bottom of the diamond shows in the little opening above my finger. if she'll have me, no one else will ever do any jewelery work for me besides Sarah Wan. go look at her gallery of finished objects. she is an extraordinary treasure and i'm so glad to have met her. she's also really good people.

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p.s. feeling much better today. the cold seems to have vanished overnight [which is very weird] and i'm just a bit tired now.