these next two rings my dad actually made.  jewelry making was a hobby of his for a long time, he made this first one for my grandmother i believe, i think it's some kind of jade...the stone feels soft, not slippery, it's hard to explain.  i think my dad said it was undyed jade? i can't remember.

an in focus side. 

these could also do with a good polish.

she's a bigun.

it's ridiculous how much jewelry i actually have and how little i usually wear.  i can't believe how much more i could keep accruing too. i acknowledge i have an unnecessary desire for pretties. i should seek help.

thanks annie!
i know, i feel guilty about the wedding band sometimes. my hubby doesn't care, but i just feel like we kinda wasted the money on it, and i should wear it.  i used to get compliments on my engagement ring all the time and then once i put the band on people stopped commenting on it, i really think it detracts from the awesomeness of the center stone.  i like how the second shot caught the blue flare off of it. yay. 

Thanks for sharing Allison. Lovely opals, especially the first one (and the turtle).

BTW - on the polish of silver: you can always claim it's a Japanese custom... (I'm told tarnish is never removed from antique Japanese silver)

SV, thank you for sharing your photos... and, a little bit of family lore as well. I think the stories that come with our jewelry are always the most endearing part of owning the pieces. How wonderful that these pieces have such personal meaning for you. 

I am particularly inspired by the opals... I've been saving so that SOMEDAY I will have a black opal ring of my own. Unless I find something old, with its own stories, I'll have to make my own history with it though. 

BTW, I think your wedding band is lovely, and quite elegant when coupled with your ER. I'd have no problem wearing the two together... I don't believe that the band diminishes the look of your ER diamond at all. 

thank you everybody for your nice comments.  i'm especially proud of my opals, i just never see anything like them in jewelry stores and i love  love love them.
OMC, very interesting about the tarnish, i never heard that before.
my dad actually made both the jade rings, i have one more of his he made  but it's not as ornate as these so i left it out poor little guy. 
i have more pics to post, but my hubby tells me he's having trouble with the linux on the laptop that has the pics! hopefully he'll be able to retrieve the pics since i spent a couple hours resizing all of them.
i'll post more pics once i get my hands back on my laptop!

this is my 10-12mm 32" natural multicolor freshwater pearl necklace i gave myself as a wedding present last april when we got married. i get compliments on it all the time.
the hubs thought it was too long and didn't like it because he was biased against freshwater pearls, thinking it would look/be cheap. he has been been resoundingly overruled by public (and private) opinion. 

this is my tahitian set.  nathan gave me the necklace and earrings for x-mas our first year together.  since my birthday  is dec. 19th he basically gave me a sh*t ton of pearls all at once our first year together and must now scramble to think of nicer things to give me each year. 
he was in law school when we met and had taken out a HUGE student loan, which made him think he had lots of money.  silly boy, he's learning now about repaying loans, not as much fun as spending them.
the tahitian ring he gave me for x-mas + bday this last year.

the necklace, 14kwg and diamonds. i'm not sure how big the pearl is, maybe 9mm i think it's aaa grade.

ear shot.