Weddingbee Blog

When Mr. Lion and I first started talking about getting engaged, I made it known early on that there was a family stone. You see, my mom inherited some jewelry from her grandmother, who was married to a wealthy physician in Russia. When they immigrated to America, they maintained their social status. Their daughter (my grandmother) ended up marrying my grandfather, who was the son of poor Jewish immigrants. The whole thing just sounded terribly romantic to me (well, the simple version does, at least). My great-grandmother passed down pearls, costume jewelry, and one lone aquamarine screwback drop earring.

We don’t know what happened to the other one, but one was all I needed! I’m a big fan of the ocean, and I’m a March baby, so aquamarines have always been my fave. As a little girl, I used to lay the earring across the top of my ring finger just to see how it would look as a ring. We had no idea how many carats it was or how much it was worth. We didn’t even know how old it was (though the jeweler Mr. Lion worked with was able to estimate that it was from the 1920s, based on the design of the earring). All I knew was that I’d had my heart set on it for ages. I told Mama Lioness, who agreed I could have it if Sister Lioness could have the pearls someday (such a fair ruler). So, Mr. Lion knew where to turn for the stone. But what about the setting?

I told Mr. Lion that I wanted a tulip setting. Tulips are my favorite flowers, so what better to complement my favorite stone? I could have sworn that this was a real thing and that I hadn’t just made it up. I later found out that Mr. Lion pretty much designed the setting himself since the jeweler had never heard of it! So maybe I did make it up. Maybe this image was stuck in my subconscious from decades ago:

Source: Disney via Magical Screencaps (10 bonus points if you can name that film!)

Mr. Lion didn’t know he had it in him, but he ended up designing quite the unique setting. On the day Mr. Lion proposed, I was thrilled to see the stone I had been eyeing for so long, but I was blown away by the setting. It’s one of a kind, and the reason why it’s one of a kind makes it even better!

Without further ado, RING PORN, a la Anne Ruthmann’s tutorial, recently described by Miss Elephant and Miss Hippo!

{all personal photos}

What’s your favorite part of your ring? The setting, the stone, or the story?