As I outlined about 18 months ago, my then-boyfriend (later – fiance, now – husband) visited a variety of jewelry stores (all together, eight) before settling on the one from which he would purchase my engagement ring.
He worked with them for several weeks to come up with the perfect ring. Here’s the process he went through.
First, he worked with the jeweler to choose the perfect center stone. Once that was decided upon, the jeweler chooses the other stones to match in color and clarity. My then-boyfriend knew that he wanted the ring to have 5 stones – 4 side stones totaling a carat and the 1.5 carat center stone. He was focused on cut, clarity and color.
After the stones were decided upon and my then-boyfriend signed off on them, they began the ring-designing process. Here’s how that went:
* Bring photos of other rings that he likes.
* The designer sketched out a few designs and he chose one that he liked.
* Designer creates a 3-D drawing of the ring in a CAD program, and presents to him.
* They discuss changes, and the designer makes them, and presents a second drawing.
* Once approved, they had a 3-D wax model of the ring made.
* Designer shows to him, he suggests further changes, and designer executes them.
* Once the proper design has been created in wax and agreed upon, the ring was made and set with the stones that he (my then-boyfriend) chose.
The process took several weeks – 8 or so, by my estimation, but I could be wrong.
He paid the remaining balance and then hung onto the ring for WEEKS – even bringing it to Mexico and back home, as he thought about proposing there, but ultimately decided not to – opting for a sweet, more intimate and personal proposal.
How he kept this secret, I’ll never know.
