Way back on Saturday, November the 15th 2008, Operation Secret Ring Shop was launched, whereby I concocted an intricate cover story to hide my tracks (from Chantelle naturally) and summon Claire to my side as we hit Canal Walk for the intense mission that would only end with me walking out of a jeweller’s store clutching that ever so important receipt telling me that I had just spent all the money that I have on the most perfect ring for my woman’s finger.
So basically it was “shop ’till we drop” – and that’s exactly what the two of us did.
You’ll be amazed at just how much you can learn in an afternoon’s worth of shopping and by the end of the day it was I who was impressing the salespeople left, right and centre with my seemingly vast knowledge on all matters engagement ring – I was talking facets, types, metals, designs, you name it! :)
As it was, our job was made just that little easier thanks to the fact that a couple of months prior I had already done the whole ring window shopping gig with Chantelle, sneakily recording her ring size and noting the design that a) looks good on her and b) she actually likes.
So armed with this invaluable information Claire and I began systematically hitting all the jewellery stores in the mall, discussing each ring we saw, ooh-ing and ah-ing over the various designs and in general just making Claire more and more convinced that it is time for another ring upgrade – Riley, you reading this?
The going was slow, particularly because I knew exactly what I wanted in my head and didn’t really want to settle for anything less. I knew that my target was a fairly flat, half eternity ring, silver in colour and with a nice enough sparkle to let you know that this is more than just a friendship ring – this is an engagement ring damn it! Immediately this excluded the baguette cut which instantly reminds me of that Star Trek guy with the visor thingie over his eyes (Gordy perhaps?), leaving me to pick from either the sparkly round or princess cuts.
In the end I don’t know how many stores we ended up visiting, bothering the salespeople and just generally looking suspicious and all-knowing, but I do know that the expedition had given Claire enough time to buy a beautifully crafted metal lattice band wristwatch and work me up quite the appetite (which we later sated at the always delicious Subway I might add).
And of course, the ring that I finally settled on was indeed the first ring that I had laid eyes on right at the beginning of our journey, the one that from the start had cried out ‘buy me, I’m the one’ in a bold, sparkly voice that I should never have ignored in the first place. So the saleslady was more than happy at my return and after a brief bit of extra show and tell, I had the receipt in my pocket and the ring in the safe, awaiting its resizing before its triumphant return to my hand and ultimately to my darling’s finger.
So thank you Claire for helping me pick out this most important and probably the most meaningful of gifts that I can ever have purchased for my angel. I just know that it was the perfect one! :)