Yes, it finally happened
On Saturday 18th March 2006, I proposed to Jenny. She responded in the affirmative, and so now we are engaged! For those who are interested, I’ve included the details leading up to the event below – from my point of view, anyway. It was very hastily written just before leaving work, so expect it to be constantly rewritten as I start remembering various details here and there, and pick out my own spelling and grammar problems, as well as other nitpicky things.
This, friends, is the fruit of my labours. Towards the end of last year, I started shopping around for a diamond. Being a child of the information era, my search started and ended on the Internet. The rock itself came from the Diamond Exchange, recommended by Dillon, and was selected by me based on a very stringent set of criteria. Being a total geek (and a man), size didn’t matter as much as the specifications. For those not in the know, diamonds can generally be categorized by the four C’s (Carat, Colour, Clarity and Cut) After some lengthy deliberations, I settled on the following:
Carat: 0.52 ct
Colour: E
Clarity: VVS1
Cut: Ideal+ Hearts and Arrows
“Hearts and Arrows” just means that the diamond is perfectly symmetrical. There are a whole bunch of other specs that apply for Cut, like pavilion depth, table width, etc. etc. but suffice to say that the one I chose was a good cut. At the end of the day, it just means that the diamond will look “brighter”.
After I received the diamond, it was time to get it set. Going from another recommendation by Juan and Glenda, I went to see Ron Crisp with nothing more than a couple of printouts of some solitaire engagements rings that I looked up on the Internet. The Tiffany setting was probably the nicest clawed setting I could find (bezel = NO!!!), so I went with that, and chose a custom band ‘coz I didn’t like the angular look of the Tiffany one. The “shoulder” (how it starts out as a knife edge after the setting, but smoothing down to a round edge as it goes around) was suggested by Ron and it turned out really nice.
hey – so i finally checked out your blog. very cool indeed. well done on the engagement, mate! from a very close proximity (ie. LIVING with your fiancee) i can tell you first-hand how enamoured she is with the new acquisition – she’s foregoing all other hand jewellery so there’s only one thing to focus on… as if anyone would miss the bling bling sparkle!! good choice.