My Blue Spinel

This past weekend I went to the jewelry store where Leland got my engagement and wedding rings. A very good friend of mine has been bugging me for a long time to get my ring insured, and I figured three years was long enough to wait.

When I stopped in I told them I wanted my ring cleaned and also needed a written appraisal.

"Oh, by the way," I said, "my center stone feels a little loose. Can you check the prongs to make sure it is ok?"

The woman then took out the little eye magnifying thing and started looking at it.

"The prongs are fine but the reason your stone is loose is because it's broken," she said.

I immediately started feeling sick to my stomach. The stone on my wedding ring was broken, and like I just told you, I don't have it insured. The woman could tell I was freaking out so she went and got Tom, the store owner, to talk to me.

When Leland got my engagement ring, Tom broke the first stone when he was sizing the ring. So then he got a new stone super fast. Because of all of the drama surrounding my stone, my ring has become a sort of celebrity in the jewelry store. Everyone knows the story of my blue spinel stone. The spinel I broke was hand picked by Tom in Sri Lanka. I love my stone. I love having an obscure stone that very few people know about. I love how different the spinel looks in different lighting. I love everything about my ring.



I was having a mild panic attack when Tom was talking to me, telling me that the break is so bad that it won't fit correctly in my setting if he cuts it. He said the only thing I can do is get a new stone.

With my head in my hands and tears running down my face I said with a deep breath, "Ok, can you give me a rough estimate on a new stone?"

"Oh, I'll give you a new stone. I stand behind my stones so I'll replace it for you," Tom said.

That's right folks! My jeweler is so wonderful that he is getting a new spinel for my wedding ring for me FOR FREE.

I almost peed my pants when I heard those words come out of his mouth. Then he said he would give me my old stone back and even cut it to fit a different setting for me. Though I am still upset that my original stone is broken, it is so much easier to deal with knowing that I won't have to wait til I save enough money to buy a new one. And I get to keep the old one.