Etsy Monday: Chocolate Diamonds

'Tis the season for hot chocolate!  It is also the season for proposals.  I read somewhere that one third of all marriage proposals happen over the holidays.  There never seem to be any sources cited for this, so I cannot completely confirm it.  I definitely think it is plausible though.

Getting back to the hot chocolate...

Here are some chocolate diamond rings from Etsy in varying price ranges.  If you are curious about learning more about chocolate diamonds, please refer to this GIA article on "Fancy" diamonds.

Rich Chocolate Diamonds Ring - $38

(The designer of the Rich Chocolate ring has many other similar rings with different stones.  Perfect for stacking!) 

Radiant Cut Chocolate Diamond Ring - $1,585

Chocolate Diamond Ring with Rose Gold and White Gold Twisted Shank - $4,074

Blue Box Update: Tiffany's Launches Leather Line

The big news this month is that Tiffany & Co. has launched a leather goods line!  This begs the question:  Would you rather have a $16,000 ring or a $16,000 handbag? (Post your answer in the comments!)

Laurelton Top Handbag - $16,500

Tiffany Embrace Ring, 1 ct - $11,100+

So, what is your pick?

Upgrading: Do or Don't?

Do you plan to upgrade your ring on your 10th anniversary or some other milestone?  Are you already picking out side stones for your solitaire engagement ring?

According to Glamour Magazine (October 2010), 81% of readers say DON'T upgrade your engagement ring.  The main reason: to avoid hurting your guys feelings.



Speaking of Glamour and engagement rings... here is a great article from March 2010 about Five Handmade Engagement Rings for under $500!

Etsy Monday: Shiba Inu Proposal

One of my facebook followers (and an Etsy seller) posted this youtube video of a proposal last week.   Watch to see the cute puppy that was an added bonus to the proposal!

I love how the dog is playing with the ring before he proposes!  Good thing the diamond was bezel set so he couldn't do too much damage!

Half-Bezel Set Engagement Ring

Rings: Pandora's Other Gems

I love pave diamond rings.  They are usually intricate and dazzling without being too ostentatious.  They are, after all, just a series of small diamonds, arranged in a pattern or shape designed to sparkle.  We saw pave diamond rings regain popularity from Bella Swan's engagement ring in Eclipse.  I recently found a similar ring, predating Bella's, that has me quite excited.  I love the clean lines and the signet ring shape.  Not to mention it is from Pandora's line called "Love Pod."  This ring could be perfect for many different occasions: promise ring, engagement ring, or a right-hand ring. Simple, beautiful and stunning. (And available in yellow gold as well!)

Pandora

How do you feel about pave rings?  Would you ever buy a right-hand ring for yourself?

Rings: Ali Fedotowsky

According to E! Online, Ali's ring is a 3.03 carat asscher-cut diamond ring, with 184 round brilliant diamonds in the platinum setting.  The ring is valued at $50,000!!

Look here for pictures!

Rings: Check Your Prongs

In honor of Texasebeth on BlogHer, I'd like to remind you to check the setting on your engagement ring or heirloom ring.

Prong settings often loosen over time on their own, but will loosen faster if you aren't careful.  Has your ring started to snag clothing when it didn't before?  That is one of the first signs of a problem.  The best approach to ring maintenance is to be proactive.

1.) Insure your ring and be knowledgeable about what your insurance covers.  Some insurers don't cover flawed settings or accidental loss.

2.) Take your ring to the jeweler every 6 months to get it checked (usually they will clean it for you too - bonus!).

3.) Periodically tap the top of your stone with your finger nail.  Tap in the center and then all around the edge to see if the stone moves at all.

4.) Pinch the back side of the band and wiggle/roll the band between your fingers.  Then, with only that ring on your hand, shake your hand in a waving-hello motion.  If you hear the stone moving during either of these exercises, your prongs are loose.

Diamonds: Amazon vs. Blue Nile

When really bored, after I have caught up on Post Secret, Best-of-Craigslist, and a few of my other favorites, I sometimes find my way to Blue Nile or Amazon.com checking out diamonds.  Why?  Well, you always want what you can't have.

I decided to do a little quantitative analysis between the two sites.  It would be extremely difficult to find two diamonds with all of the same characteristics, so I focused on round diamonds and the main four characteristics: carat, cut, clarity and color (varying, very good, VS1, H).  I looked at diamonds from both websites that met these characteristics.  If the site had multiple of each increment, I selected the diamond with the lowest cost. Below are my results.  As you can see, Amazon was a little bit cheaper 'til it got to the heavy hitter, the 2.0 ct, when it was substantially cheaper.  Worthy of note, Amazon's selection was smaller than Blue Nile's, at least for these increments.

	Amazon	Blue Nile
0.5 ct	$1,340	$1,345
1.0 ct	$5,395	$5,815
1.5 ct	$11,245	$11,780
2.0 ct	$20,535	$27,230

Eye Candy: Blue Nile

From time to time I find myself browsing diamonds at Blue Nile or Amazon.  I am currently working on a post comparing the two, but I had to show you one of my new favorite finds on Blue Nile first!

Blue Nile has started to post pictures of completed rings, showing in detail the diamond characteristics and how much the ring cost!  In addition they also show what diamonds have been recently purchased and create a graphis displaying the most popular characteristics.  Check out the rings and diamonds!

Eclipse Review: Bella's Engagement Ring

I am a little slow, or maybe I have just been too busy this summer, but today I finally got around to seeing the third movie in the Twilight Series. In this movie, Edward proposes to Bella with his grandmother's ring.

The ring, as reported by InStyle, was designed by Stephanie Meyer.

Last we saw Edward and Bella at the end of The Twilight Saga: New Moon, our favorite brooding vampire had just popped the question to his mortal lady love. But the antique engagement ring that writer Stephenie Meyerdescribes as a delicate piece with an oval face “set with slanting rows of glittering round stones” doesn’t appear untilThe Twilight Saga: Eclipse, so we talked to the prop team to get all the details. To bring Meyer’s vision to life, prop master Grant Swain started by researching engagement rings from the Victorian era, called in several samples and enlisted four different jewelers to create prototypes of the bauble. But Meyer wasn’t satisfied with any of the options, so she drew a rough sketch herself and Swain sent it to Portland-based jeweler Rick Thurber, who’d created the Cullen family crest jewelry worn by Edward and his clan. Thurber mocked up a computerized 3-D drawing of his vision and sent it to Swain and Meyer for approval. Once he’d been given the go-ahead, Thurber used the illustration to laser cut a wax model, cast the band and setting and set the face with delicate pave diamonds (cubic zirconians were preferred but there wasn’t enough time to order them!). The ring was then rushed from Portland to the Vancouver set of Eclipse, arriving just hours before filming began on the pivotal scene. Talk about a ring with history!

A jewelry company in Utah has tried to imitate the ring. I don't think it comes anywhere near as beautiful as Bella's ring. Judge for yourself.

Tiffany & Co. Engagement Ring Finder

Have an iPhone? You are in for a very small free treat. Tiffany & Co. has created an application called the Engagement Ring Finder.

Key Features:

Ring Sizer - Allows you to place a ring on your phone and use a scale bar to help determine the owner's ring size.

Collection of Tiffany's Rings - What appears to be all of Tiffany's engagement rings are available for browsing. The size of the diamond set in each ring can be altered incrementally to give you an idea of what different size stones would look like, although there is no promise that the ring pictures are to scale!

Download that app to your iPhone here!