Two people in love, a ring, and a trip to Mexico.

Once upon a time - actually it was late November 2009. A couple of love birds - let's call them Brian and Erica - came into the store with the goal of creating an engagement ring for Erica. They wisely brought in some old gold and we were also able to incorporate several diamonds they had into the new design. The old gold took care of a good part of the cost of the new ring and we were able to use their diamonds to really light up the ring.

Here is photographic proof that creating a ring at Chimera is FUN! Look at the smiles on Brian and Erica to say nothing of the balding old guy on the right.

Once we had a general idea of what Erica wanted in a ring, we began to exchange a flurry of emails containing design ideas and images with the goal of having the ring complete before they left for Mexico just after Christmas. You can see the final design above, with the finished product in the two pictures below.

Erica's ring has 12 little stones surrounding the 1 ct center. We used two of her diamonds to accent the center and four more were channel set (two on each side of the ring). We also bezel set a small diamond on the front and back side of the ring for a little extra bling. (I call 'em headlights and taillights.) This ring sparkles in every direction.

More smiles from Mexico. Brian timed his proposal to Erica perfectly - it was on New Years Eve right before fireworks lit up the sky (nice touch, Brian). Ahhh, Life is Good: Mexico - fireworks - sunshine - and a sparkler for Erica's hand. It doesn't get much better than that.