Why i love my l’amour crisscut diamond - from a girl who works in the industry.

07/30/2018

By Kasey Bubb, Marketing & Merchandising Manager at Diamonds Direct Jacksonville

Being a girl who has worked in the diamond industry for just over 3 years, I am constantly asked about my engagement ring. I get asked questions like “How did you trust him to choose it?” and “Is it from the store you work at?” The most common question and sometimes assumption – after they find out that I picked the ring myself, is if I custom made it. Then… there seems to always be a disappointed and rather smug look on their faces when I say “No, I just saw it one day and said that’s the one I want!”

It makes me laugh when people assume the guy (or girl) proposing HAS to pick out the engagement ring and make it a huge surprise. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good surprise proposal, but I also favor a buying process where the person wearing the ring forever gets to be involved to some degree in selection. It just makes more sense! Or maybe I’m biased because working in a diamond store, I see the amount of exchanges we do after the girl doesn’t like the ring… Just saying! Since numbers speak louder than words, here’s a fun statistic for you. According to The Knot 2017 Jewelry and Engagement Study, 1 in 3 couples shop for an engagement ring together!

Now back to my story… I started working at Global Diamonds (now Diamonds Direct Jacksonville) in 2014 and met the love of my life Alex in college in 2016. We decided we wanted to get engaged about mid-2017, but I had been trying to select my engagement ring for years! Back then, I always thought how in the heck am I going to pick one?! I truly thought and still think that every diamond shape is special and beautiful in its own way. I know I sound like a crazy mom that doesn’t want to pick a favorite child, but really… it’s like that. After years of deliberation (literally), I decided that the emerald cut was my favorite diamond shape and would be the best fit for my personal style. I just loved the clean lines and the way the diamond shape emits a “flash” of sparkle when the light hits it just right.

In 2017, Global Diamonds was acquired by Diamonds Direct, a leader in the North American fine jewelry industry, and we were able to bring in multiple new designer lines that we hadn’t carried before – one of which was the L’Amour Crisscut line by Christopher Designs. I had heard of the Crisscut and seen it in advertisements, but had yet to lay eyes on one in person… Now this is the part where I tell you when you find the perfect ring for you, it really is love at first sight! I was infatuated by the bright sparkle that Crisscut diamonds put off. It is so similar to the emerald cut in the way it emits light, but it is a shallower cut so the Crisscut faces up much larger than a generic emerald cut.

1 carat emerald cut diamond (top) next to a 1 carat Crisscut diamond in a halo (bottom)

Lucky for me, Alex knew that I would not only want to but have to pick my own engagement ring. His only request was that when, where, and how I got the ring would be a total surprise. And of course, I respected this request. For a few months, I played with the Crisscut rings in our cases. I always got excited when a new shipment would come in and would inspect each ring and try them on my hand, and send Alex pictures. Some Crisscuts are more elongated and some are more symmetrical. Some come in a split shank style and some have bigger accent diamonds than others. There really are so many variations in this one single style of engagement ring. I thought picking my diamond shape was hard, but picking the ring style can be equally hard! I debated just custom making my ring, but I decided to hold off. I was in no rush to get engaged, just starting to think about it.

By then, everyone else who worked in the store knew that I adored the Crisscut rings, so when we got a big shipment in for one of our designer showcases, our inventory specialist Sage came running through the showroom to show me! Then there it was, in all its glory, the PERFECT ring for me! The elongation was just right and the diamonds in the halo were slightly smaller than the ones on the shank, which framed the center diamond perfectly. The diamond was E color and SI2 clarity meaning it’s completely colorless and has no eye visible imperfections. The diamond was literally like a glimmering piece of glass. I felt like Cinderella arriving to the ball as she slips on the perfect fitting slipper. I know I know… It sounds SO dramatic, but once I tried it on I thought, “I think this ring was made for me!” I was all smiles as I walked around and got the opinions of my colleagues. Everyone laughed at me when I said “I want to make sure I love looking at it all day long before I tell Alex I found the one.”

Kasey’s ring – a 1.0 carat E-SI2 Crisscut diamond with 0.81 carats in accent diamonds

His reaction was right in line with mine. He said that ring looks like it was made for your hand And then he said what’s the price, but that’s beside the point… The point is that this process was so simple for me! I didn’t have to customize my engagement ring to have the perfect ring. Christopher Designs makes stunning creations from cut to dimensions, to prong styles and under gallery details. They made the perfect ring for me, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Alex came in about a week later and paid for the ring. He hid it from me for about 6 months and on New Years Eve at 11:00 p.m. aboard the Carnival Sunshine, he asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I was actually surprised, and the ring was even more beautiful than I remembered it!

I’m so lucky that I got the best of both worlds for my proposal. I thank Alex for being such a loving and supportive fiancé. I thank Diamonds Direct for offering one of the largest selections in the industry, making it easy for me and any bride-to-be to pick the perfect ring. And lastly, I thank Christopher Slowinski of Christopher Designs for pouring love and passion into his designs. I grow more and more in love with my ring every day! The brilliant sparkle of my Crisscut is second to none, in my opinion that is. I’ve had no problems with stones coming loose because it is so well made. There is never enough I can say to express my admiration of my ring and everything it represents. If you’re looking for detailed guide on to how to buy an engagement ring, you can check out Christopher Designs engagement ring guide here.