I’ll never forget going to pick out my engagement ring with Wayne. Neither of us really knew what we were doing, but I have to give Wayne credit. He actually researched what the “Four C’s” was all about so he could talk the diamond lingo.
I, on the other hand, was clueless. Carats? Clarity? Color? What the heck was that all about? Just pick a pretty ring and be done with it.
The saleslady brought out all kinds of settings for us to choose from. I picked all the modest diamonds. Basically they weren’t much more than chips. Wayne kept picking what were to me extremely large stones.
They really weren’t. Especially not by the standards many of today’s brides have. They were all about a half a carat, but to me they seemed enormous. (I don’t wear much jewelry anyway so that was part of the problem. I wasn’t used to seeing anything glistening on my finger.)
The saleslady, seeing Wayne was a willing spender, coerced me into trying some of the larger carats on. Reluctantly I did.
But they were either too big (for my taste) or not good enough clarity and color for Wayne.
I spent what felt like an eternity trying on other cuts and styles (like clusters and even non-traditional gems like sapphires and rubies). I tried on plain bands, bands with designs, thick bands, and thin. But nothing was quite right.
Until we found a band that had four chips on either side of the diamond-less mount.
“I love that! Don’t you like that one, Court?” Wayne said enthusiastically. I thought maybe he was tired at that point and just wanted me to agree on something, anything. But when I really studied his face I could tell he was genuinely excited about that ring.
I took a closer look. I had to admit it was very pretty. Except, while it was tasteful and far from ostentatious, wasn’t it also a bit fancy? At least for me. At the same time, it sure was pretty…
“It is nice, but–”
“Look at this diamond,” the saleslady said. “It’s like it was made for that ring.”
She popped in a stone weighing in at just under half a carat. Wow. It was beautiful.
After verifying the diamond’s rating, Wayne announced, “We’ll take it!”
I would have been happy just having Wayne asking me to be his wife and plopping a plain old gold band on my hand, but I have to admit I love there was a diamond ring accompanying the proposal. (Especially since the darn proposal was such a long time coming!)
Question to Readers
Did you help pick your ring? What does it look like?
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