Wedding day pearls: it was a difficult decision...

[olmander]

My son got married in September. A week before the wedding we spent a couple of hours with my future daughter-in-law to choose a necklace for her wedding outfit. She is not a pearl girl at all - if something, black pearls do matter as somthing trendy, the rest not. We tried all sorts of pendants and necklaces (gold, silver, enamel) and finally I still imposed on her a very thick twisted pearl choker, made of many small oval FW pearls - nothing special, just trendy and a very good luster. Imposed - because her fiance (my son... sigh...) was strongly opposed against ANY pearls.

What do you think happenned? It was a total eyecatcher, especially on a tanned skin. Nobody passed by without 'wow'. And, surprisingly, not only it was approved by all the poshy friends but the next brides to be are already looking for the same

Do I deserve a prize for recruting new pearl fans? Yes!
Do I have an elegant daughter-in-law? Yes!


Olga

 

[nlerner]

Well done Olga!

Lots of luck to the young couple and to the whole family!

 

[pattye]

Three cheers for you, Olga!

She is a glowing bride; wishing much future happiness to your family on such a wonderful occasion!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Gorgeous! (Why on earth would your son oppose pearls? Pearl overload at home? Ha ha...)

The photo makes me curious about something: what is the custom in your country regarding wedding rings and engagement rings? Your DIL's left hand is bare; in the USA it would have both rings.

 

[Sueki]

Wow ! Olga,
The wisdom and good taste of an older generation......
A beautiful bride, and even more stunning with those pearls !

Handsome groom, too....

My best wishes to them both for a long and happy marriage.

 

[olmander]

The photo makes me curious about something: what is the custom in your country regarding wedding rings and engagement rings? Your DIL's left hand is bare; in the USA it would have both rings.

That's a good question...

I think the tradition with engagement rings is altogether not very pronounced: many youngsters consider it to be not practical because anyway in a couple of months there will be a wedding ring. At least my son has negotiated it into engagement earings(!)

As for the wedding rings, there is a lot of fantasy invested in it, they are not just traditional plain rings but often designers' rings with fancy elements, small diamonds etc. If one is a Protestant or an Orthodox, it is on the right hand, if Catholic - on the left.

Before the war it was common that a plain golden ring was first an engagemnet ring (left hand) and later a wedding ring (right hand). Although widows also wear them on the left hand. Very confusing...

 

[Pearly Shell]

What a beautiful couple! And the choker is stunning!

Congratulations to you and your family.

 

[GemGeek]

I can't imagine how she could look better -- what a charming ensemble! Congratulations on being a successful MIL.

 

[Heidi]

Beautiful bride - the pearls suit her just perfectly.

Plus: How awesome that you have gone out and created some pearl converts!!

That's a good question...

I think the tradition with engagement rings is altogether not very pronounced: many youngsters consider it to be not practical because anyway in a couple of months there will be a wedding ring. At least my son has negotiated it into engagement earings(!)

As for the wedding rings, there is a lot of fantasy invested in it, they are not just traditional plain rings but often designers' rings with fancy elements, small diamonds etc. If one is a Protestant or an Orthodox, it is on the right hand, if Catholic - on the left.

Before the war it was common that a plain golden ring was first an engagemnet ring (left hand) and later a wedding ring (right hand). Although widows also wear them on the left hand. Very confusing...

I like the idea of engagement earrings! They are wearable even if you are using your hands a lot. Plus no trying to fit something under a glove or otherwise worrying about the life of the setting.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

That's a good question...

I think the tradition with engagement rings is altogether not very pronounced: many youngsters consider it to be not practical because anyway in a couple of months there will be a wedding ring. At least my son has negotiated it into engagement earings(!)

As for the wedding rings, there is a lot of fantasy invested in it, they are not just traditional plain rings but often designers' rings with fancy elements, small diamonds etc. If one is a Protestant or an Orthodox, it is on the right hand, if Catholic - on the left.

Before the war it was common that a plain golden ring was first an engagemnet ring (left hand) and later a wedding ring (right hand). Although widows also wear them on the left hand. Very confusing...

That is fascinating!

I personally think young people here spend way too much on engagement rings. It used to be that a 1/2 carat diamond was standard; now it seems most women expect at least 1 carat and preferably 1.5 or more. And this expenditure comes at a time of life when the money is needed to pay off school loans, save for a house, etc.

 

[Mervione]

Here in Sweden, half a carat is considered to be a rock by most people. Offtopic but thought it might be interesting.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

That is amazing Mervione!

Ah, well, size inflation affects pearls too. How often have we not said that bigger is better?

 

[olmander]

It's an interesting topic. Here in the Netherlands also the size in carats means much less than the quality of diamonds. I was told recently in one of large jewelry stores in Amsterdam that there is a clear distinction between customers: Americans tend to buy by size, even if the quality is low; the Chinese tend to buy small stones but with the top quality parameters; etc. The Dutch also mostly wear small stones, as far as I can see.

 

[Mervione]

I`m not an expert, but I think that if you don?t carry a loupe on you all the time you don?t really need top quality. I think SI quality can be just fine for example, depending on where the inclusions are. And you can?t really see the difference between D and E colour unless you are trained I?ve heard...

 

[dkan 168]

I`m not an expert, but I think that if you don?t carry a loupe on you all the time you don?t really need top quality. I think SI quality can be just fine for example, depending on where the inclusions are. And you can?t really see the difference between D and E colour unless you are trained I?ve heard...

Speaking from personal experience, I can only tell the difference between E and H coloured stones when they are placed side by side and in good light.

I had difficulty locating the inclusion using 10x loupe in a E VS1 1.19ct emerald cut (40th birthday present to myself), even when it was pointed out to me where to look

DK

 

[dkan 168]

I personally think young people here spend way too much on engagement rings. It used to be that a 1/2 carat diamond was standard; now it seems most women expect at least 1 carat and preferably 1.5 or more. And this expenditure comes at a time of life when the money is needed to pay off school loans, save for a house, etc.

A work colleague is boosting about spending 6k GBP to hire a castle for a day, plus extras for horse-drawn carridge for her big day

Yet, the diamond on her engagement ring is not particularly big or sparky.

I would have opted for a bigger and better ring and have a cheaper bash myself

Each to their own at the end of the day


Congratulations Olga! Your daughter-in-law looks radiant in that photo

DK

 

[Mervione]

I think it all depends on what type of person you are, if you are picky with details then it might be a good idea to get really high quality. Lots of Swedes are really picky when it comes to the diamonds on ther wedding ring (the Swedish wedding ring looks like the American/English engagement ring and the Swedish engagement ring looks like a typical wedding band usually) but size aren?t as important. Maybe it?s because here it?s considered to be a bad thing to get things like big diamonds, expensive cars and so on so they get really good quality instead even if it might be just as expensive as a bigger diamond.

Personally, I think a nice ring is more important than a nice dress (Or having the party in a castle!) because you?re going to wear the ring every day for the rest of your life (Hopefully...) but you only wear the dress once. If you look at it that way, then that ring with the big diamond isn?t that expensive if you divide it with the number of days you might have left to live...

Oh, and DK, it sounds like a lovely present!

 

[Mervione]

Btw, Ollimander, where?s her ring? I just looked at the photo again and I can?t see it...

 

[dkan 168]

Personally, I think a nice ring is more important than a nice dress (Or having the party in a castle!) because you?re going to wear the ring every day for the rest of your life (Hopefully...) but you only wear the dress once. If you look at it that way, then that ring with the big diamond isn?t that expensive if you divide it with the number of days you might have left to live...

Oh, and DK, it sounds like a lovely present!

Back to that "cost per wear" justification again

Yes it was a lovely present, however, it was a bitter sweet one The money was supposed to be for a big holiday with my ex-husband, however, we reached the point of no return by the time my 5-year saving plan matured Hence I bought myself a present instead. His old wedding ring was melted down and formed part of the ring to remind me of our happier times

Sorry Olga, off topic, and apology for hijacking your thread!

DK

 

[olmander]

I`m not an expert, but I think that if you don?t carry a loupe on you all the time you don?t really need top quality. I think SI quality can be just fine for example, depending on where the inclusions are. And you can?t really see the difference between D and E colour unless you are trained I?ve heard...

It may be true about the subtle difference between next lying grades. But from my personal experience, a small TW/VVS is a world more impressive that an even bigger W/SI. It is not about grades, it's about the whole thing together. The sensation of looking at the TW/VVS1 in a proper light is quite something, which I did not expect before.