The Hunt for a Ring: Gerard's story

For three nights we were staying in the Dusit Thani hotel right next to the Burj Khalifa. We had been to Dubai before so we knew that we can pay a little extra for an upgrade to get breakfast, happy hour drinks and dinner. I had also contacted them before hand to tell them the occasion. They were all top class and had scattered rose petals everywhere  built a swan towel and provided a complimentary box of chocolates.

We were still full of adrenaline and Fiona was desperate to begin the hunt for the ring so we began operation sparkle. Operation Sparkle was the code folder I made in my gmail account which contained all my research into diamonds. This included the design I wanted, tips on looking at diamonds through a microscope, the importance of the four Cs and where the best place to go were and what other people had recommended. http://www.truthaboutdiamonds.com and http://www.jamesallen.com/ were the inspiration and sources for all of this. Below was the design I had in mind!

Fiona had mentioned a lot over the past year what she wanted in a ring: two sapphires with the diamond centre. So this was what I based all my thoughts own. I actually preferred pear sapphires to make it look slick and lead into the diamond which is the design she ended up choosing.

The shop that was recommended on the web was Cara's in the gold and diamond park. Of course we were both nervous still as we knew no-one that had done this before but our concerns were alievieated when we saw how busy the shop actually was.

We were given our own booth and assistant who asked us what we were after. I explained the exact size and spec diamond I was after and he proceeded to get a massive photo album esque book containing nothing but diamonds. It was like dealing with cards as Fiona flicked through the different diamonds. They were in a credit card casing with the attributes for each diamond. I estimate the $ worth for that one album to be around 500K (it was a big book). The scariest thing was that was one album in an entire bookcase.

Fiona was flicking through all the diamonds and she was in here element. Clearly she was looking for the sparkle factor so the cut was more important to her than anything else. There was one diamond that stood out to the both of us  which none of the others matched and we were done. Well not quite.

Next up we had to choose the pair of sapphires. We were advised to choose them to be of equal size and shape as possible and their jewlers will shape accordingly. This did not take long. Fiona being Fiona insisted on a platinum band and then we were ready to negotiate and haggle!

This took a very long time. I asked for a calculator to slow down the negotiation so I could find it "easy to translate to GBP" but really the longer it goes on the more it plays in my favour as they have a vested interest to complete the sale and move onto the next customer. It really was a busy shop.

We narrowed and narrowed our differences and once we were within the "call" range I went for it and said the phrase lets shake on it for x. Deal done and once I paid the deposit we were told it would be ready in two days.

I was not 100% sure until we got out of the shop whether or not Fiona was definately happy and I was delighted to hear she was ecstatic. Operation sparkle was over and I had done it!

The Flight: Gerard's story

Our flight was not till 10pm the next day so I was working the next day. You can imagine that we got very little sleep that night as we were both very excited about the holiday, finding the ring and planning the big day.

The one thing which plagued my mind all day was not getting Stephen's permission. I tried calling several times that day but again could not get through. Eventually in the terminal I decided to call their home phone but I had to come up with a story as an excuse to speak to Stephen if Sheena were to answer.

Of course she did and I made up a story about looking at ipad prices and wanted his opinion. When I did answer I asked him to go into a separate room and asked him. If I am brutally honest I expected him to wind me up and ask me loads of questions about why he should give his blessing etc but he did not and sounded absolutely delighted. I asked him to keep it a secret until we got back but to feel free to speak to Sheena.

Now I could relax and look forward to my holiday. I wonderful surprise was that because the Abu Dhabi grand prix was on that weekend the flight was full and due to all those lovely air miles I built up with BA we were upgraded. A smooth flight with once again very little sleep and we were in Dubai. 7am but still wide awake.

The Proposal: Fiona's story

So Gerard came up with an idea to use my study leave in November to go to Dubai for a few days. With my first Master's essay looming I was reluctant to give up so much time. After talking endlessly with some girls from uni they convinced me that I could do it and so we booked up.

The night before we left I was sitting at home on my own - finishing off my dinner before beginning the task of packing. Gerard came back and called to me from the hallway that he had a surprise for me. He presented me with my coat that he had kept at his work for months! I began laughing as it was past the season for wearing it by now. He then asked me to close my eyes again but told me to stand up this time. When I opened my eyes he was down on one knee - a bunch of white roses in his hands and he popped the question! I was so shocked my first response was "Are you serious?" although I did say yes immediately after. We opened the champagne and searched online for ring designs to have an idea what to buy when we arrived in Dubai.

We kept the secret to ourselves for the next week and had a ball in Dubai, very excited to tell our family and friends when we returned. Gerard's research paid off as we made our way to the Gold and Diamond Park to a shop called Cara. The counters were crowded with customers but we were made welcome and spent a good couple of hours sitting chatting to the jewellery designer. He offered us a choice of diamonds within a similar price range and both of us spotted our one at once. We then had a long discussion about the design of the ring and picked the sapphire stones as well before Gerard began price negotiations with the jeweller. A few anxiety-ridden but enjoyable days later we returned to the shop to collect my ring.It was perfect -exactly as I had pictured and fit exactly. I couldn't wait to show it off!

The Proposal: Gerard's story

Better late than never. After the magic number 7 years I had always planned to propose to Fiona. Knowing Fiona so well I decided I would be safer for her to have a big choice in the ring but I wanted to be a bit different and have it built for us. Research told me that Dubai was a great place to do this both for cost and quality.

Now the problem I had was getting Fiona to commit to taking a holiday to Dubai during her course time. For so long she dithered and left me hanging on whether or not she would agree to a trip. Can you imagine the anguish I was going through? Finally after much negotiation she agreed to go on a 5 day trip in November. I was so happy and she had no idea what was coming.

I decided to propose the day before we were due to fly. This day was perhaps the most stressful day of my life. Not only did Stephen (father of bride to be) not answer his phone but I was dealing with several production issues with our trading systems which left me working very late. On top of this the tube was also operating with minor delays so by the time I got out into Camden I had missed my chance to buy a cheap ring from Argos as a place holder for the real thing.

I decided to improvise and head to M&S and buy some flowers. I had never bought Fiona flowers before as I think they are a big waste of money (they are just going to die within a couple of days) so I was in the shop for at least half an hour deciding on which ones to go for. I know there were several she does not like the smell of so I went for the safe option and grabbed some white roses and a bottle of champagne.

To make it seem more of a surprise I finally picked up her jacket that was in repair for a few months but had been too lazy to get it. I made her close her eyes and presented the jacket. After which I made her close her eyes and stand up. Then I got down on one knee with the flowers and champagne. Thankfully she said yes and the true reason for going to Dubai became obvious!