the search for my precious

i spent the christmas holiday with the boy and while i was out there we did a little shopping: engagement ring shopping!

going in, i was convinced that i wanted a three-stone ring, preferably a round center stone with pear side stones. that was always the style that caught my attention whenever i would glance over engagement rings. in fact, my promise ring he gave me is kind of similar to that as well.

[source: michael c. fina]

to some purists [like the boy and a couple of my friends] it seemed weird that i wanted to tag along on the trip. sure we’d be looking at rings but it wasn’t like i’d be picking mine out. the final decision is still very much the boy’s and i’ll be surprised with whatever he chooses for me. to be honest, the proposal means much more to me than the ring. besides, i needed to be formally sized, as my beloved promise ring had become a bit of a parlor trick [i can now remove it from my finger using the thumb and pinky on the same hand its on!] and this would also be a good way to see which styles work best on my hand.

we went to the somerset collection in troy to browse through the surprisingly paltry offerings of jewelry stores. seriously, there were only three! one of which was tiffany [we did not shop there]. which was fine with me to tell you the truth. you’re spending more on the name then the actual ring! but considering how pretentious it is to call a mall a “collection,” [dude, it’s a mall. let’s call it what it is] i would have figured there would have been more jewelry stores there. cheese and crackers; there are two sides to that mall!

anywho, our first stop was to bailey, banks & biddle where we obviously were not a priority. at all. seriously, we were in there for about five minutes before an associate even acknowledged us, only to point out where the engagement rings were before disappearing to help another customer. we stood there for a moment debating whether or not we should leave but ended up going ahead and browse through the rings. after what seemed like an awkwardly long time to be staring at jewelry through the cases, another friendlier associate finally helped us. she took the time to chat and answer whatever questions we had and was quick to pull out every ring i requested.

a quick aside, i will say that even though the second associate was much nicer and helpful, she wouldn’t have been enough to get us to make a purchase at the store had we been in the market to actually buy a ring. i just can’t get behind poor customer service like that. i don’t understand why that happens in major stores like that. i get better service at my local target! and i’m only spending a fraction of the price!

rogers and holland was our second and last stop. they were right downstairs from bad, badder & baddest and let me tell you the difference in attitudes. we walked in and were immediately greeted by an associate that not only showed us where the engagement rings were but also pulled out chairs so we could sit down! and we have a winner!

it turned out that letting me tag along was a great idea. that three-stone ring i had been eyeing? tried one on and it didn’t wow me at all. in fact, i felt very underwhelmed. so i asked to try on one of the antique settings, which had been a secret dark horse, and just like that, we had a new ring style. i just love the way it looks. from far away it looks very simple but when you see it up close, it’s so wonderfully intricate in detail and i love that. we were both very surprised by my change in mind but i could tell he liked the antique settings better too.

[source: tiffany]

we were also able to see how the diamond’s carat size would look in relation to my hand and considering that i’m not the most delicate person in the world, i’ll need something with a relatively low profile as i go banging through life. the last thing i want to do is have a ring i don’t feel comfortable wearing at all. that would just be a waste of money and time.

i will say that it was pretty exciting though to sit there and admire rings on my hand. i spent a lot of time doing that, my hand in my lap, my hand on his lap, my hand in the air, etc. you would have thought i was a contortionist. plus, have you seen those things? they’re sparkly and big and so much more substantial than my promise ring. i mean my dear promise ring looked particularly dinky after modeling the behemoths for a few minutes. we did find one we both liked, one that the boy probably would have bought on the spot had i not reminded him that it wasn’t time yet [he made me promise him that i’d make sure he didn’t walk out of there with a ring]. the whole experience was a bit surreal. looking at rings made it a bit more real in my head.

so now we’re on the clock in terms of engagement and marriage. it’s a bit surreal in the sense that this thing i’ve wanted for so long is finally starting to happen. it’s like my bluff is finally being called. but i’m still excited and looking forward to that day. it’s now only a matter of time.