Saturday, December 5, 2009

Show and Tell: Ring Finger

Late last night I was inspired by a new series on this blog, called Show and Tell, where my readers can interact more. You are welcome to show and tell me in a comment, in fact I encourage it!
I thought I would kick off this test run, with wedding rings. I get a lot of questions about my unusual wedding ring, and it generally sparks a lot of interest in the real world, so I though it would be a great thing to share with you.
My ring was purchased in a most non-traditional manner. I wandered into an antique mall, loved it, and bought it for myself. (My husband had picked out and bought me a lovely engagement ring though!) I bought it about 2 weeks before our wedding, despite the fact that it was sterling silver, with Cubic Zirconia and glass "stones." I have been stopped at expos and antique stores so that it can be looked over. One appraiser casually guessed this ring to be costume jewelry form the late Edwardian period.
One of the CZ's fell out and a lovely lady at the antique mall showed me how to fix it, and gave me a real diamond to put in it! So now I have one real diamond in my ring, how fancy!

So dear readers, do share yours. Share you vintage or contemporary wedding band, engagement, or promise ring. If you are not getting married anytime soon, but love to window shop, post your dream ring. I would truly love to see it!

20 comments:

Twila Jean said...

Well it seems to appear, that you can not post images in the comments.

But you can post links to your images if they are on flickr or photobucket, or something like that. SO

Share links to your pictures!!! :)

Corinna said...

your ring is beautiful and i liek the story behind it.
i think it will take a few more years for me to get married and i haven't searched for my dream wedding ring yet..i'm afraid that might be a bad sign ^^

vanessa said...

Oh, your ring is absolutely gorgeous <3
Here's a link you might like: http://www.fireandice.com/home.php?cat=119
I <3 Fire and Ice (they have several stores in DC Metro and Baltimore), especially their (art deco) marcasite jewelry. Apparently marcasite was very popular in the 1920s...
Another store I like: Tiny Jewel Box in DC - they have some vintage pieces to include engagement rings.

Lisa said...

http://www.cominguprosesvintage.com/vintagelife/ring.jpg

I didn't find my ring until two years after we were married. I wanted an antique ring I could wear with the wedding band. Well 1910 era filigree rings aren't made to be worn with a band and so when I would find any I halfway liked they wouldn't fit with it, or were too worn, or overpriced or something. I quit looking. Then one day I casually glanced in a showcase at the antique mall I used to work at and spotted it. The dealer had just brought it in and had been having health problems and wasn't exactly thinking clearly so it was less than half of the value, plus I got 20% off. Someone wore it with a band for many years and wore a slight groove into it so my band fits perfect. I love everything about it, from the metal roses on the side to the way the stone is set (it makes it look bigger than it really is). I just wish I knew the history on it!

Lisa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Twila Jean said...

Lisa that ring is delightful11111

Sarah said...

I'm a fan of these styles (in gold):
http://www.emoissanite.com/antique_moissanite_jewelry.htm

art deco dame said...

Oh your and Lisa's are fantastic,unfortunately I dont have a vintage wedding ring or even a wedding ring for that matter.Had to pawn mine but I suppose that's ok since I hated that ring anyway,hubby owes me big time.

C said...

I LOVE your ring!

It isn't a wedding ring,it's more like a promise ring, but your post has inspired me to do my own post on the vintage-y ring that I received!

http://vintagelesbianproject.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-ring.html

Thanks!

Courtney said...

Well, I'm divorced. I still have the ring in case one of our daughters wants it later in life. It was only $45, with S&H. lol
http://www.concordecollection.com/jewelry/ItemDetail.asp?ISBN=DDR


The next time I get married, I want a vintage ring, not yellow gold, and preferably with a ruby. Which is great, cause that's what my boyfriend wants to find, too! :D

But, IF I were to get a newer ring, I want a Mark Schneider design. I love those rings. Of course, I'd still want a ruby. This my Favorite MS design.
http://www.markschneiderdesign.com/detail.asp?recid=7&ringname=Flora

Julie said...

how fun to see all the gorgeous rings on here! mine is edwardian as well. white gold with a diamond. i steered my fiance in the right direction, but he picked it out himself!

there's a photo of it at the bottom of this post.

Angel said...

That's a very nice ring.

I want something simple if possible if and when I get married, also either silver or white gold...

sarah said...

Oh these are fun to read! Mine is a reproduction of an Edwardian design from Marlene Harris. http://www.flickr.com/photos/44736885@N08/4163727352/

I was kind of a weird girl in that I didn't want a big stone, but I really wanted it to have filigree. We searched high and low until we found just the right one in the right price range. The funny part is that my husband ordered the ring about two weeks before he was planning to propose, but she was really slow getting it out and it arrived the day after the proposal! (woops!) He told me he almost didn't propose on that day because he was afraid I wouldn't say yes just because he didn't have the ring in hand! Silly boy!

Twila Jean said...

awe Sarah, the story about your ring is cute. and the ring itself is stunning! very nice.

Antiorder said...

I definitely want to share! We have a fun story to ours too...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/antiorder/2273198097/

My ring is vintage, from what period I am not sure... A jewelry maker appraised it to be from the first 30 years of the century, he presumed.

We bought it on ebay! Scrolling through, looking at different styles of rings with my Fiance, he was asking me what types I liked most. Then I saw it... and I flipped out! It was about 500 dollars, with real diamonds. It is made out of white gold. The only problem, it was a size 11. My finger? A size 5.

So we bought it. I called alllll around to find a reasonable jeweler to resize it. Finally I found Alchemy on Lovejoy (the Pearl, I know!) and the owner was amazing. The ring had actually been expanded from a 5 1/2 so it was just perfect. He appraised it at being worth approximately 1200 dollars!

It's not the value, but the exceptional find that I love. It is so different from most rings. I love how they fit together like a constellation. :)

Andi B. Goode said...

Ooh, I love your ring. It's so different! I don't plan on getting married but I do wear a Claddagh ring which I've been wearing for the past 7 or 8 years. My friends and I bought them together and I feel positively naked without it! They can be worn as a wedding ring, though.
-Andi x

BakeliteBebe said...

A little late, but here is a link to my ring and the backstory.

http://mintchocolateranch.blogspot.com/2009/12/ring-ring.html

vanessa said...

Oh, I love this post and all the replies :))
What great stories and beautiful rings! These are some of the most unique engagement rings I've seen... love it!

Kelly said...

oh my gosh, I LOVE your ring!!

The Thriftaholic (Leilani) said...

I'm really glad I came across your post... I bought a similar ring a year ago at the Chicago Antique Market. It too is sterling silver and has paste stones (a few of the smaller ones have sadly become green with age but the center stone is still sparkly). If you find out any more information about your ring I'd love to hear about it... I'm thinking both of our rings are from the Edwardian era/early 1920s.

A rather bad iphone pic of my ring here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thriftaholic/4284322770/

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