Accessories

Last year, I didn’t celebrate my birthday on the exact date because we had a thing planned the week after. We were supposed to make the drive to the city and the lockdown happened. I was unable to celebrate my birthday and I felt so bad about it while in quarantine.

Granted, I didn’t know that we’d be on lockdown for what looks like a year now. These days, the lockdown has eased but the state of things isn’t normal, I guess.

This is why I decided to celebrate my birthday with a small pile of goodies. No one knows when the pandemic ends so I might as well get the stuff I like while I still can. You know how I love that my birthday comes in three 3’s so I opted to gift myself three things:

A New Bag

I won’t reveal just yet but hellz yeah, I got me a new designer bag! Can you guess what it is? I can’t reveal yet because it’s still being shipped but once I get it, I’ll do a reveal!

Instax Mini Link Printer

This is one purchase that I was super excited about. My husband was supposed to get me this last year but the pandemic happened and it was hard to get products online. I finally got my hand on it and I got the one in the limited edition color Beige and Gold. This printer is so good, you guys!

Essentially, this printer prints images from your mobile phone. If you’re a fan of Fujifilm’s Instax line, you know how wasteful it can be to depend on the Instax camera alone. And at PHP300+ for a pack of 10 pcs, the Instax films are very, very pricey. With this printer, you’re no longer wasting the film!

 

Alone, the unit costs about PHP6K+++ but there are bundles on Shoppee and Lazada. I got mine through Shoppee just because they ship faster than Lazada (a consistent experience ha). I bought the bundle, which cost a little over PHP7K. I got the one with the photo album, border stickers, 20 pcs. pack Instax film, marker, and the case.

In hindsight, I wish I just bought the unit with the case but the color was not available in that bundle and I really don’t want to get the pink or white one. I also bought 3 packs of 20 pcs films + more photo albums to complement the printer.

Setting up is so easy but you gotta get the Instax app first. I plowed through 3 packs of films in under an hour guys. Should I do a review?

A Diana Ring

Yes, I finally got my very own “Diana” ring — essentially a sapphire ring with a halo of small diamonds. I’ve had this done in rose gold to complete the vintage look that I was going for. Love it!

So yes, there you go, the 3 pressies that I got for myself for my 38th birthday. So far, things are going great, how about you? How’s your 2021 so far?

Hello March!

It’s my birthday week, which means it’s time to shower myself with gifts. As you know, I didn’t celebrate my birthday last year because I was still in the first trimester of my pregnancy and was depressed about the weight gain. Little did I know that a week later, the entire country would be put on lockdown. Yikes.

So this year, I decided to make up for last year’s lack of festivities. I started with a ring in a setting that I’ve always wanted! I have a similar ring already but the main gem is a tanzanite. I want the ring to look as close to the original as possible so I just needed a sapphire.

I have a long love affair with fine jewelry as you might’ve guessed and one of my dream rings is Princess Diana’s engagement ring. It’s a massive, 12-carat Ceylon sapphire cradled in the most delicate diamond starburst setting.

I can’t afford the exact replica but I had a similar ring made recently. I’ve acquired the sapphire gem from a supplier specifically for this project.

Specs & Customization

The main gem is a 2 1/2 carat Thai sapphire in a clear, navy blue color. The quality is fantastic and the price point is *chef’s kiss* I had this made in rose gold because I want the piece to look as vintage-y as possible.

I also had this made by a specific jeweler because I’ve seen lots of starburst settings and hers is the one that’s what I loved the most. I wanted little prongs holding the gems and the starburst setting to be delicate yet prominent, exactly the way she had her setting made. I wanted the gem to be set higher than the diamond clusters to make it appear bigger.

Also, the basket that holds all the game was set higher on the band so that it sits flush with my wedding band, as seen below:

There’s no gap if I wear my plain band with the Diana ring but there’s a bit of a gap if I wear my diamond and sapphire wedding ring just because the larger gems are in the way.

Lead Time

The lead time was a month so it was a long wait. Also, I had to keep following up to speed up the process otherwise, the wait would’ve been much longer. This is why I’m not very thrilled at turnaround time and I’m not mentioning the jeweler.

The price point is okay, I had to shell out more because my gem is larger than her standard 7-8mm (mine’s 9mm).

When the piece came, it was wrapped in a fancy box and packed in a coordinated paper bag. Packaging’s so nice! Of course, the ring looked just as amazing as I imagined it.

The quality of the gold is nice, very thick setting. The band is great also, I didn’t feel like they scrimped on the gold. The diamonds are gorgeous, small, and sparkly. I have a diamond tester and they tested as diamonds. The sapphire itself is, of course, beautiful because I sourced it!

Overall, very happy with how this design turned out and I love that I finally have a proper Diana ring in my collection. I wear the ring all the time now. It’s definitely one of my favorites. This concludes my medley of ring projects for the entire year, hahaha!

As I’ve mentioned a blog ago, I’ve decided to update my wedding set because I’ve come across issues with the e-ring’s setting – among other thangs. The first two of the rings were already done and you can check out the deets here. My half-eternity ring has also gone through a transformation but it was a different project because the resetting did take more work.

Here’s how my old eternity ring looked like.

 

My issues with the ring are quite minimal although they did bother me a bit. For one thing, the ring no longer fits so it has to be resized. Also, the gems are very tiny.

Money was tight during the wedding preps and I gotta admit, we didn’t spend as much money on the wedding bands as we should’ve. If I could do things differently, I would do more research and compared rates as opposed to sticking to the same jeweler who did our e-ring. I love my set, don’t get me wrong, but I wish we spent more time looking for alternatives so I don’t have to re-set the rings at all.

Here is the inspiration behind the design:

Here is my recreated eternity ring:

Now for the details: the sapphires used were 4x3mm midnight blue sapphire ovals. These sapphires were part of my stocks and since they’re not getting the love they deserve, I decided to use them instead.

The diamonds are 2mm in size, white VS clarity. The gems are cradled by claw-style prongs. My plan is to wear the ring only when I’m out and about because the prongs are very sharp and I don’t want to scratch the kids with these.

The ring was re-set by Palamuti Jewelry Couture. All I did was shipped the ring together with the sapphires and the jeweler did the rest. They also provided the diamonds for the eternity ring. The process itself is very seamless and organized – something that I appreciate.

It took several weeks to complete the project mostly because that’s their average lead time + it’s the holiday season. The timeline did work in my favor because I had several ring projects before this one and I wasn’t pissing myself silly waiting for a ring. I had several new ones to keep my mind off the waiting, is what I’m trying to say!

I had this one made in rose gold just because I only had one rose gold in my collection and sadly, the main gem has popped out. I’ll turn that one into a tanzanite eye-candy real soon. I just need to complete all my projects before moving forward with new ones.

Here is the new wedding ring worn with my plain wedding band. They look SO GOOD together guys. I am ecstatic!

My next project is a Diana ring, which is a sapphire oval in a starburst setting (diamond halo). At the moment, the ring is being made and I am beside myself with excitement.

 

2021 is going great for me so far, what about you?

Instead of investing in a bag this year, I decided to grow my jewelry collection, starting with my nearest and dearest: the wedding set.

I haven’t worn my wedding set for the past 3 to 4 years. My ring size has grown considerably and after pregnancy, fuggedaboutit. So yeah, my rings were gathering dust in my jewelry box until my cousin and I started talking about jewelry.

The reason why I wasn’t resizing my set is that I wanted to preserve their original setting. But the thing is, I am no longer enjoying my set because they no longer fit me. On top of that, my engagement ring’s delicate prongs are so loose, the diamond started moving around. I was terrified of wearing my e-ring, the gem might pop out!

The Update

Long story short, I finally decided to update my set. I have three rings in the set and each one has its own issues.

Engagement Ring: The e-ring has loose prongs, delicate structure, and a small size. The plan was to create a more durable structure + thicker prongs to cradle the diamond. Has to be done in yellow gold as well because I don’t want to maintain the white gold plating anymore.

Plain Wedding Band: My plain wedding band has to be resized and then done in yellow gold to match the e-ring and the other wedding band (will be done in Rose Gold).

I have commissioned two jewelers for the project. The e-ring and plain wedding band were done by The Family Band, an IG-based jewelry store while the eternity ring was created by Palamuti Jewelry Couture – another IG-based jeweler. Between the two, the former is newer and the latter is very popular among my clients.

My e-ring and wedding band were completed first. I loved the super quick turnaround time. Both rings were done and shipped in less than 2 days.

Review

I love the more durable construction. The band and prongs of the e-ring are thicker so they are less likely to sustain damage from everyday wear and tear.

I thought I’d hate the look of 14K gold on me because my skin tone suits 18K gold better but not so bad at all. I’m currently wearing my plain wedding band with a 5-diamond ring that the hubs gifted me several anniversaries ago. On my right hand is my rainbow sapphire eternity ring, which I got as a push gift for our second son.

Overall, I am loving my refreshed wedding band and e-ring. The e-ring, I won’t wear as much because I’m taking care of the kids most times. But the plain band is getting a lot of wear these days! I highly recommend The Family Band and I have plans of getting one of their signature ring, which is aptly named, the family band, hahaha!

As for the eternity ring, this project will take a while to complete because of several delays. Not the jeweler’s fault but my own!

I had issues sourcing the diamonds. My initial plan was to source champagne diamonds for the ring. Unfortunately, there were delivery problems with the supplier. Eventually, I had no choice but to cancel the order and pretty much wasted two weeks waiting for the champagne diamonds to arrive.

I decided to get the diamonds na lang from the jeweler. They will use white diamonds, to my utter disappointment, but better than nothing.

I’ll write a review soon!