Finding the Perfect One (Part Two)

After not finding The Perfect One online or through a friend who's a jeweler, I decided I would hit up some consignment shops while home in Los Angeles a few weeks back. I'd seen some online consignment shops by googling "Estated Wedding Bands" or "Estate Rings." Stores like Sylvia's Antiques, Antique Jewelry Mall, Lang Antique & Estate Jewelry, and many others popped up but none had anything I liked within my price range (reminder: it's $300 for my ring and $100 for Mr. CB's).

My first inkling was to go to a store called The Paper Bag Princess in Los Angeles which has consignment wedding dresses, shoes, clutches, jewelry. You could get outfitted for your whole wedding right there. But, before I ventured in there, I stopped by a consignment shop in San Luis Obispo (while visiting a friend). It was called Hamilton Estate Jewelry.

The cool thing about this shop is that they price the items when they come in. So, say a ring came in at some point in the '80s when the price of platinum was low. No matter that the price of platinum is high now, the ring still costs what it did 20 years ago.

I found a ring there that was about the same width of my engagement ring. It was platinum, one-fifteenth of a carat in full, round cut G-color diamonds. Price? $490 plus tax.

I liked it, but the fact that it was the same width as my engagement ring made it a little bulky. I'm pretty petite and need a thin band.

I didn't find anything I liked at Paper Bag Princess but they referred me to a store called Wanna Buy A Watch? on Melrose. Prior to their separate locations, these stores had been a part of a group of estate jewelry sellers in one building called the Antiquarius Center. That building burned down, scattering the vendors all over Los Angeles.

At Wanna Buy A Watch? they have some gorgeous bands. I actually fell in love with quite a few.

18K White Gold Engraved Ring ($395)

Platinum and diamond eternity band ($1,495)

Platinum Hand Engraved Ring ($675)

Diamond and Sapphire ($1,175)

Platinum and Diamond Micro Pave ($1,125)

They have tons of bands I could drool over all day. Yet, most of them seemed out of reach.

Did you get your ring from a consignment shop or website? If so, which store or website did you buy it from?

Finding the Perfect One

I have to be honest. Our ring budget is small. Veeeerrrry small. Like $400 for both of us. Luckily, Mr. CB was feeling generous one day and told me I could have $300 and he'd take $100. Well, to be honest, $300 doesn't get you very much at all in the land of diamond and platinum.

I like to think I'm very resourceful. I find bargains on everything I can, and that includes my wedding band. My first thought was to find a jeweler to make the ring. Luckily, I had a friend of a friend who happened to be a very talented jeweler: Katrina Lapenne. She doesn't necessarily make wedding jewelry, but she makes some very cool stuff and I had faith in her that she could make a great wedding band.

We chatted about my budget and what I was looking for and I started sending her inspiration photos. I also sent her pics of my engagement ring so she could try to create something that matched.

The first ring I loved was Ms. Perfume's first ring. Even though Ms. Perfume didn't love it.

(source)

The next ring I found that I adored was by Anne Sportun. She designs "experimental jewelry" so if you're looking for something unconventional, check out her designs. I found the ring below on a site called Persimmon, Handpicked Objects.

Since the above ring is over $1,500, I thought I'd look for something without diamonds. Apparently, that isn't the answer either. Check out this beautiful, diamond-less $2,845 ring I found on Clay Pot.

(source)

Finally, I came across this untraditional eternity band on Sundance. It's the Stardust Diamond Ring. It's just under $1000 which means, it's still way out of my budget.

(source)

After e-mailing back and forth with Katrina, the jewelry designer I knew, we couldn't move forward. What I wanted was too specialized. It would take too much time for the price I could pay. She offered to buy me a ring off a wholesaler site (since she's a business) but I never found anything I really liked. I really wanted something unique (surprise, surprise), so I moved along.

Were the wedding bands you wanted way out of your budget? How were you resourceful in getting what you wanted?

Engage-A-Versary

Oh, how quickly it flies by. I can't believe one year ago, on April 28th, 2008, we were lallygagging around Capri, Italy, soaking up life and (duhn, Duhn, DUHN) getting engaged. In honor of that fine date, I felt like I should share something with you.

Ms. D'orsay inspired me to try to take pro pics of my engagement ring. That said, Ms. D'orsay also taught me that I am nowhere as talented as her at taking photos, nor as talented as some of the readers who have tried this!

Here goes (Note: I only have two. As I said, I wasn't as talented and most of them came out blurry...):


Have you tried taking close-ups of your ring? Any tips?

The Engagement Ring and Its Past

Mr. Cowboy Boot and his family haven't always been on the best of terms (no one's fault, in particular). Tumultuous teenage years can often send children and their parents in unwieldy directions. I know mine did. But, I also happen to come from a family that is overly-communicative (read: two psychologist parents), therefore most of our problems (read: my teenage angst) were solved by the time I left for college. Mr. CB and his family, however, had a harder go of it.

That is, until recently.

FIL Cowboy Boots' Dog, Lily 

When we lived in New York City, we went up to his parent's house to get away from the grime and grit that Manhattan can be. They live in the rolling countryside of the Finger Lakes region. It's amazing, quite frankly. The more and more we visited, the more I could feel the walls break down and warmer feelings come through. It wasn't so much that either party had shifted their views or that deep, problem-fixing conversations were taking place, but that, with a fourth party in the relationship (me), the dynamic was changing. It was no longer only a relationship between them and their son. They were getting to know me and us, as the Cowboy Boots together, and that took vulnerability on all of our parts. But, with time, it's opened up the door a little for emotion, risks, talking about things, and becoming closer.

The FIL Cowboy Boots' Home

The peace-making moment was this: FMIL Cowboy Boot gave her son (Mr. CB) her mother's engagement ring to give to me. Mr. CB's parent's are divorced and the FMIL Cowboy Boot I mention here is his step-mom. A lot of families pass jewelry down the line, creating heirlooms, which I love. For FMIL CB, this was more difficult than for most. Her mom passed away when she was six. This platinum-and-diamond ring has much more value to her than probably most of the jewelry in her jewelry box. And not because of the metal.

The Engagement Ring

The ring arrived one day via FedEx (Mr. CB didn't have it when he proposed) and I waited until we were together that evening to open it up. The ring that arrived wasn't exactly what I was expecting with curly-cues and thin, fragile details--it was art deco-yet simple and elegant,and  originally from Brooklyn (our old stomping grounds). I slipped it on (okay, after three re-sizings) and, even though it wasn't the e-ring I had in mind, it has major symbolism, and aesthetically, I love its classic simplicity.

(Ignore my silly face)

Along with the ring came a very caring card from FMIL Cowboy Boot. To give us something so near and dear to her was a symbol of how much she cares about their relationship (which is now all of our relationship). It makes me proud to wear an heirloom that would have many stories to tell if it could talk--stories of hard times, good times, lonely times and loving times. It's a daily reminder that life is not easy, but it's a whole lot easier with a few words and a little generosity.

Does anything in your wedding have back story?