My quest began back in late January... when two strapping lads decided to finally take the plunge and buy a ring... it wasn't decided when we'd pop the question, nor was it decided how... but we knew eventually we'd pop the question, and... everyone knows buying in bulk = buying power!

Little did we know... there's no such thing as buying power when it comes to jewelry.  You should have seen the face on the <insert brand name here> sales person when I asked, "can I get a group discount if i buy more than 1 ring?"  I tried this tactic several times, because I am Chinese and don’t want to pay MSRP laaaa… but yes, they all colluded against me and denied me. 

Being Chinese, I did some research and I found I was not alone with this thinking.  Anyhow, all I can say is if you've went diamond shopping before; you KNOW for a fact that you will be paying a HEFTY premium for these crap ass diamonds offered by <insert brand name here>.

Anyhow, word of mouth and direct recommendation from my brother, I went to visit this wholesale jeweler (msg me if you want to know where).  At first, I was very skeptical, but I paid them a visit during my lunch hour at work since they were within walking distance.  I thought I knew about diamonds before from all my intraaaaweeeb research, but I was wrong… anyhow thankfully this guy was more than willing to explain stuff if you are willing to learn. 

It is all in the eye of the beholder:  If you are shopping for a diamond, first things first, you need to decide on a budget.  The rule is usually 3 months’ salary as a budget… but this is assuming you are working in the USA where you don’t get taxed to shit.  So… maybe it is more like 5-6 months’ salary.  Anyhow, I can’t tell you how much to spend, you aren’t marrying me, nor can I tell you what your future fiancée will like or dislike, but she will probably like anything you give her.  My advice to you is to go browse the popular places with her to get an idea what she likes and what she doesn’t like.  If you are ambitious, you can even design your own ring around the diamond of your choice.

Picking the right rock…Learning the 4 C’s:  Color, Cut, Clarity, Carat.  This is what most jewelers will tell you that determine a diamonds ‘presence.’  I can tell you, this is only half the story.  Not all diamonds are created equal, but you say “oh but they all have specs!”  Yes this do… but pray tell who makes those specs up?  There are two types, Appraisals and certifications.  If it’s an appraisal, run away.  If it is certified, ask by whom?  There are a few major diamond certifiers out there, google for more info or feel free to ask me :).  Now comes the hard part… you don’t have an unlimited budget, what do you put priority on?
Carat:  This is not the size, this is the weight.  You can get a badly cut diamond that’s very deep, but not very wide, and it will still be 1ct in weight.  Here’s some quick info for ROUND diamond diameter’s.  .50ct = 5.2mm, .65ct = 5.6mm, .75ct=5.9mm, .85ct=6.2mm, 1.0ct=6.5, 1.25ct=7.0mm.  As you can see, there isn’t a big jump till 1.25ct.  Side by side, from .50ct->1.0ct there is a difference, but only if you look really close, but not it is not as big as 1.0ct->1.25ct. 
Cut:  Some may argue, but I think the cut is one of the most important traits of a diamond.  A Diamond cutter can do sooo much to trick the eye… like increases the table size, putting more facets in the surfact, cutting it shallower to refract more light.  All I can say is buyer beware. 
Color:  don’t matter if you are white or yellow… Or it does it?  Usually you want you want to stay in the near colorless region, which is G,H,I… Colorless is D,E,F, but with a hefty premium.  I don’t recommend anything lower than Color I though. 
Clarity:  Most people will sacrifice this spec, because a good SI2 (slightly imperfect) still can’t be seen by the naked eye.  The scale is as follows (I3,I2,I1,Si2,Si1,Vs2,Vs1, VVS2, VVS1, IF,FL).  I wouldn’t go anything lower than Si2, but beware, ask them to show you the inclusion and you make the call if it will bother you.

Diamond overload…  after looking at 50+ spectacular diamonds, with the naked eye and even under a microscope @ 30x, I finally picked the ONE.  I thought that was it, I got the diamond, then he asks me, “Ok!  Now what band do you want?”  I stared at him with a blank look… oh sh*t…  Ahh, but wait, I did know the answer!  Years and years of being dragged through these <insert brand name here> store’s, I was experienced!  So, with the band picked, white gold, no shit ass platinum (inquire within to as why), so, all that was left was to pay.

Fighting the urge…As I said, I started my search in Feb… and it is now June.  I had the ring for a good 5 months… and yes there were many times I just wanted to get over with it.  But I had a bigger problem, I had no bloody idea how I’d ask.

Bring on the ideas…  I won’t share all my ideas, but I had help from people suggesting various things, thank you all!  It gave me a good idea of what I wanted.  Remember, this is your engagement, do it how you feel most comfortable.  I knew we didn’t want to make a public scene, and I knew I wanted something that reflected who I was.  I finally came up with the idea of programming a simple flash game, that upon completion would play a pre-recorded video of me hinting to Sheila to go somewhere, where I would be waiting and ready.  Sure this idea was me, and sounded like me, but there were a few logistics to be figured out, but I had no alternatives, so I decided to stick with it.  I had all the time in the world, because I was planning to propose in fall of 2009.

I am lazy… a few months passed, and the game progression was going slow.  It felt like 3drealms and working on their title of Duke Nukem 3d…  so close yet so far.  Our 8 year anniversary was coming up on June 27^th, and I had decided before that I would not do it on this day because it was sooo cliché and expected.  Anyhow, I had to take the ring back for appraisal and upgrade the certification for insurance, so I was not in a rush.  I tried to work on the game whenever I could, but yes, things always seem to get in the way… or at least stuff always found their way in. 

The broken record…  After attending 4 weddings one after another, I kind of succumbed to the peer pressure of everyone asking when the f*ck will I get married.  My original plans of doing it in the fall sometime didn’t seem to make all that much sense.  I decided that I will do the cliché thing and ask on our anniversary which was fast approaching.  But to keep it a surprise I had to use misdirection lies and sleight of hand, the very essence of what our relationship was built on :).

Anniversary Day…. Dundundun.  Honestly, I was still hesitant, because I didn’t think the cliché way of asking was good enough.  After all, you want it to be memorable right?  We decided to not get each other anything that night since we want to save money.  Oxymoronic considering I booked a table at Tojo’s and play to do Omakase set menu.  I had 2 misdirection gifts, wrapped with my xmas gift wrap.  I planned to have dinner, then go back to my house and watch the movie “He’s just not that into you.”  I had prepared a slideshow of our 8 years together to music, cheesy I know, but I was all in at this point.  The awesome 8 course meal I had at Tojo’s left me very satisfied and full.  Sheila was stuffed as well, so her mind probably was distracted from the feeling of over eating!  All was well, I don’t think she suspected anything at this point!  So, we drove home to go watch the movie.  When we got home, I did my usual thing, change, go to washroom, and I told her I had to prepare the movie and that it would take a few minutes.  I told Sheila to wait downstairs for me.  Meanwhile, I grabbed the misdirection gifts and went downstairs.  Oh, most importantly, I also went to empty the bladder #1 and #2!  I just had one tiny little problem… I hid the ring downstairs in the other room. 

Show time… so I go downstairs with the two gifts place and place her tacky xmas wrapped gifts on the couch.  I tell her to hold on a sec, and goto the other room to grab the ring quickly in the dark so she wouldn’t see me turning on any lights.  Problem #1 solved, go time!  She was already surprised because we said we wouldn’t get each other anything.  I replied, “well, I had to get you stuff because you got me a card.”  She bought that lame excuse, so she eagerly opened my poorly xmas wrapped misdirectional gifts.  The next two minutes were pretty long two minutes.  As I sat down beside her and while she unwrapped the gifts, I felt the ring shift in my right pocket.  Ooooh SH*T, damn these slippery Hong Kong made/Hawaiian wannabe pants, the ring FELL OUT!  Keeping my cool, I quickly shifted, adjusted my sitting position, pretending it was not comfortable for my back; palmed the ring with my right hand, then slipped it back into my pocket at the same time grabbing the blanket and covering my legs.  *PHEW!* She was thanking me for the first gift at this point, and I told her there’s one more gogogo!  At this point, I also realized that having the ring in my right pocket wasn’t going to fly and that I needed to move it to my left hand to make this happen. 

Two minutes later…she was the proud owner of a Jabra Bluetooth headset and an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner.  Reasons behind the gifts, the jabra Bluetooth headset was because she’d always talk on the phone while driving (work related)… well we all know that will be a luxury soon to be gone, since people are voting to ban it.  As for the ultrasonic jewelry cleaner, this little puppy is supposed to save us money in the long run since <insert brand name here> wants $$$ to clean their sh*t now.   Anyhow, gifts done, hugs and kisses all around… but I still had a problem.  The ring was in my right pocket, but not to worry, I had a plan!

The movie starts now…I told her, oh let’s watch the movie, so I got up, went to turn off the light, while reaching into my right pocket, I palmed the ring with my right hand and then turned around, poked the light switch with the right hand (w/ ring in palm), meet my left hand and right hand behind my back to do the swap, and then sat back down beside Sheila.  As I adjust my sitting position, I stuck the ring back into my left pocket.  I grabbed the keyboard to start the movie, and hit my preprogrammed shortcut key to start the slideshow instead.

What is this?  She was surprised to hear music and reminisce in our photos from 8yrs ago… as the slideshow progressed we cuddled, and I grabbed her left hand.  I was pretty nervous at this point, not because I was scared she’d say no, but because the f*cking ring was falling out again.  So I kind of sat awkwardly and played with her ring finger.  This ultimately gave away what I wanted to do…  by the time the slideshow ended, we looked at each other and kissed.  As we kissed, I reached into my left pocket, grabbed the ring, and slid it on her finger.  Once she felt the ring, her eyes sprung open like a deer caught in the headlights of a car.  I pulled away, went down on my right knee and said the 4 words she’s been waiting for…

The End…  And that’s how I did it.  Whether or not it was lame or cheesy, this is how I did it.  Thinking back now, I could of done things better, but I guess that’s what the wedding is for.  Engagement = guys fuck up, then wedding = girls show you how it’s done :).  Anyhow, I hope you get some ideas from this write up and I hope it didn’t bore anyone.  And if you are at the stage of shopping for a diamond, feel free to message me, I will gladly help :).

Finally got everything dialed out and mounted on my hometheater with my new speakers... still need to tweak some frequencies, but it seems all good now.

I can finally enjoy the fruits of my labour...

I've been addicted to rockband lately, lol... too bad I can't really play the drums/guitar like that for real.

Who wants to come over and play?? :D