WEDDING RING DO-OVER (Vote for #23)

Autumn 2012

A couple years ago, when things were financially tight for our family (understatement? Um, yeah), I made the decision to sell my wedding ring. Not an easy decision to make, but easier than you might expect when you have a few kids and one on the way and all sorts of other circumstances that seem to lurk like giant monsters around dark corners ready to gobble you up like the world’s tastiest appetizer.

Selling my ring brought to light a couple of things:

*Diamonds, for a consumer looking to re-sell, are pretty much worthless. We pay a tremendous of cash (or borrow a tremendous amount of credit) for these gorgeous shiny rocks (that may or may not have been dug from the earth in humane environments) with the expectation that we can always get our money back out of them should we want to. *enter canned laughter here*

*Precious metals are more valuable than we’d thought.

We were lucky. We shopped around a little, and found a local jeweler who gave us a fair price for my ring. Nowhere near what we paid for it, but still, all things considered (including our somewhat desperate situation), we did pretty well. Was it hard to sell it, emotionally? You bet. Worth it? Absolutely? Do I miss the pretty thing my husband gave me on our wedding day? Immensely. But I’ve never regretted doing it, not for one second.

The Hubster and I have spent a lot of time talking and thinking about replacing my wedding ring. We were dang kids when we bought the first one, and pretty much dove in for the shiniest, sparkliest thing the jeweler could throw our way, price-tag be damned. This time, for our Wedding Ring Do-Over, we wanted to do things a little differently.

(1) I knew immediately that I didn’t want a natural diamond, regardless of whether or not it was humanely mined by an environmentally sound mining firm. Honestly, I’m not sure one exists other than maybe on paper. Lab created diamonds are ridiculously close to the real thing for a fraction of the cost, and frankly, after seeing what the re-sale value of diamonds are (not that I’m anticipating having to sell my next ring), I’m not interested in blowing a wad of cash on a rock that only has perceived value when it’s beneath the glass in a jewelry store.

(2) We both knew we wanted it to be special, and simple – preferably something T came up with himself.

(3) We would pay cash for the ring. Even though my previous ring had long since been paid off, it had still been a debt we were saddled with for a long time. Debt’s a bitch, people. I can’t stress that enough, and when I look at Wedding Ring #2, the last thing I want to think is Did we remember to send our payment in on time???

So here’s the long and short of it. Using Diamond Nexus Labs custom ring design, the Hubster designed this gorgeous ring for me. The band is a twig and a Shrilugh leaf (ohmysqueeeeee), with a single diamond. It’s GORGEOUS! Feel free to fill the comments with accolades over how fantastic a job he did designing it. But what’s really exciting, is Diamond Nexus has put the ring into their design contest. If we get enough votes, we’ll get my ring for FREE!!

I would totally be freaking out. FREAKING OUT, people.

Anyway, if you feel compelled, please head on over there, and vote for #23. It takes 30 seconds, max. If his design wins, I’ll be throwing a big-@$$ party here at Life Between The Pages, because OH MY GOSH, that would definitely be a thing to celebrate!!

Thanks a gazillion,

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