Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh!” he whispered.”Yes, Piglet?”"Nothing” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”– A. A. Milne
I’ve been married twenty-seven years today. To the same person.
Back on our twenty-fifth, I had a small drama involving my engagement ring. We were on a research trip in Point Reyes, California, checking out the setting for Just Breathe. The place we were staying had an old-fashioned gas stove that had to be lit with a match, and it tended to flare up with a whoosh, causing a well-worn engagement ring to fall apart when you yank your hand back to avoid getting burned. Long story short–I needed my marquis-cut solitaire to be re-set. Drew at Gilbert Thomes Jewelry created an original design with my diamond and a pair of earrings. To me, it looks as beautiful and enduring as a strong marriage.
Now, I can’t tell you how to stay married forever, but I can tell you how to keep the ring clean. If you once invested in one of those “ultrasonic” jewelry cleaners, or if you’ve bought a special secret solution “guaranteed” to clean your rings while you sleep, you’ll be relieved to know, you’re not alone. We’ve all made that mistake. And our rings are still dull and crusty underneath, and we’d all love to see them sparkle like new again.
It’s not hard, trust me. Here’s the Harry Winston method for cleaning a diamond. Make a solution of 3 parts water to 1 part ammonia. I have to do this really fast 1) Immerse the diamond in the solution. 2) Using an old toothbrush, clean the diamond in between the prongs and stone. 3) Rinse and then dry with a lint-free cloth.
[Note: Use this ammonia solution to clean diamond rings set in platinum or gold only — avoid using on sapphires or emeralds.]
Shine on!
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June 27, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Wendy Roberts
Congrats on your anniversary! How wonderful.
My own story involving my engagement stone happened last year. I was catching warm up balls for my son’s baseball team and back in my car hours later noticed the 1 c emerald cut diamond was missing. I searched the field well into the night and searched my car for days. After giving up and filing the insurance claim I discovered the stone inside one of the fingers of my baseball glove. Unfortunately, a corner was chipped right off of it and it still had to be replaced. They did a great job re-setting the new stone but I so wish it was still the old one *sigh*
June 28, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Holly Kennedy
Oh, Susan, I ADORE your Piglet and Pooh piece.
So apt. So… perfect.
Congratulations! You and Jay both deserve huge high fives, especially in this day and age where so many marriages tank early.
P.S. I now have ring envy! It’s gorgeous
June 29, 2007 at 12:01 pm
april
I love Classic Pooh. Our nursery will be Classic Pooh and so is my bathroom. We have little accents in every other room from pot holders to stuffed animals to blankets to flannel sheets.
Congratulations on your wedding anniversary and the hint to clean my rings! I rarely clean mine so when they sparkle, it’s always surprising. It has been repaired after an unfortunate accident with a weak bookshelf collapsing and my hand being caught in the middle. Luckily, I found the diamond and the ring (and my hand!) were all fine.
As for engagements, I’m not very romantic, but the boy is. He did up nice at the Lincoln Memorial at night and then a nice restaurant to celebrate in the city. He gets extra credit for explaining that it couldn’t be done at my favorite monument because it was closed at the time.
June 29, 2007 at 12:39 pm
susanwiggs
April, I’m so glad you’re doing classic Pooh in the nursery. Such gentle, wise, simple books.
Your ring was broken by a falling bookcase. There has to be a metaphor in there somewhere.
July 2, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Terri Farrell
Congrats on your wedding anniversary!
As for ring cleaning, I use a similar method but instead of amonia,
I use rubbing acholol. Mix a small amount of RA with warm water.
Drop in your ring, remove it , take it out and clean with toothbrush,
rinse off in cold water and then dry it.
It comes out looking like new and sparkles galore.
My husband I celebrated our 20th anniversary in May.
My original wedding ring got thrown away by accident.
Fifteen days after we were married, I wound up in the hospital with pnumonia. I gave my ring to my husband to hold for safe keeping.
But, my hubby didn’t want to scrath it so, he decided to wrap it in
a napkin and put it into his pocket. Then when he got home he would
put it away. . . .Only problem, he didn’t .
Instead, a few days later, he decided to do his laundry and checked
the pockets to make sure there was nothing in them. When he found
the napkin he threw it away not remembering about the ring.
It wasn’t till two weeks later when I was home from the hospital
that we discovered what had happened. My hubby felt terrible.
And I was in total shock!
Three months later, I was surprised by my husband with a romantic
dinner at our favorite resteraunt. Normally we wouldn’t order desert
after a big meal. But, this time my husband insisted.
Well, when the desert came it was the bigest sundie I’d ever seen.
And there sitting on top of the sundie (instead of nuts and a cherry)
was a beautiful wedding set.
A note was written on the lace paper coaster underneath that
simply said: “I am so very, very sorry. I love you.”.
I realized right then and there we were going to be just fine .
July 2, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Just fine « The View From Here
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