The Bling Is Back

Today was a very special day. It was the day I was able to give my wife, long live The Queen, a wedding ring...again.

I know. I know. I can hear some of you now asking yourselves and muttering at the screen "Preacher K., what do you mean again?"

It's a long story. I starts with a ring that looks just like this:

The Queen and I found what we thought was a beautiful engagement and wedding band set, six diamonds in a platinum setting. I remember clearly commenting when we bought it that the center diamond looked like a flashlight. The jewelry store where we purchased was a small family owned shop run by a grandmother and her grandson. The grandmother gave us a fair price on the set. We were happy.

After the honeymoon, the recently crowned Queen took the ring back to the shop for an appraisal for insurance purposes. This time, the grandson was present when The Queen was dealing with the grandmother. According to The Queen, grandson blew a gasket when he found out how much grandma sold the ring to us for. He took the ring into the back of the shop for "the appraisal".

The Queen didn't pay his behavior too much thought at the time. However, after that, the diamonds never had the same clarity and brilliance they had had before. The Queen immediately began to suspect that the stones had been swapped; however, we could never think of a way to prove it.

So, for almost seven years, The Queen walked around with a wedding ring set that she never really was sure about. Until August of last year. The Queen's mystery illness had an interesting side effect in that it made her highly sensitive to certain metals. It turned out that platinum was one such metal. The Queen couldn't wear her ring without having a reaction. So, we began to search for a suitable replacement. In the process of that search, we learned that there was evidence that the prongs in the setting on the original rings had been bent as if the work had been done hastily. Another jeweler confirmed that the diamonds in the ring were not much better than industrial grade.

It REALLY stinks to have your suspicions confirmed.

Anyway, we found a new setting in yellow gold that we liked. While we were there, we asked to see what a 1 carat diamond would look like in the setting. One was brought out. It was gorgeous in the setting. We asked how much? A price was mentioned which was approximately $1000 less than the going rate of the reported stone's quality. The Queen and I put it on layaway on the spot.

It took a little longer than expected, but the layaway was due to be paid off last week. With the snow and ice storm that blew through, we were not able to pay it off until today. I took an early, long lunch and made a dash for the jewelry store hoping to have the ring back before The Queen woke up. Unfortunately, I found out later that she woke up just minutes after I left for the jewelry store.

So, when I got back, I smiled and presented her with the little black box that held this:

Please pardon my poor photograpy.

The Queen's response: "SQUUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!"