Finding an engagement ring is stressful—take it from someone who knows. My fiancé and I searched through store after store for the perfect ring that would symbolize our love, but it seemed like we could never find one that could make us both happy and still fit our college student's budget. It wasn't until we walked through the doors of Ridglea Watch and Jewelry, however, that we finally found the perfect piece.

The sales team at Ridglea was exceptional. I knew nothing about diamonds, and they spent hours teaching me all that I ever needed to know about choosing the perfect ring for my perfect girl. I told them my financial constraints, and they ran with that, showing me ring after ring, diamond after diamond, until we found one that made all of our searching worth it.

We finally settled on modifying a setting we had already purchased but wanted to change. My fiancé worked with the designers to turn it into the ring she'd always dreamed of. The custom design team was so helpful and friendly, and the atmosphere in the store was so warm and welcoming. I loved the hours we spent there.

The final product far exceeded our expectations and dreams. We love what they did to the setting, and adore the diamond they helped us choose. I was so happy with the service they gave that I recommend them to all those in search of a superior jewelry store with an extraordinary staff

 
It seemed like it was just another typical love story: Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy proposes to girl. They live happily ever after. The end. Except this time, it was happening to me, and suddenly it was far from typical. I was a new freshman on campus, and he was the student body president. I couldn’t seem to go anywhere without hearing about Mark. He was handsome, he was confident… But I was dating someone else.

One day, my girlfriends and I went to eat lunch at the oncampus cafeteria. As we sat chatting, Mark walked right up to me, crouched down so he could look me straight in the eye, and asked, “So Angela, that guy you’re dating— are you two on or are you off?” I struggled to keep my jaw from dropping in surprise. “Well, we’re still dating, if that’s what you mean…” I stammered. He just smiled and got to his feet. “How about you just let me know when it’s off, okay?” And that was all it took. As I watched him stride away that day, I knew he was something special.

When ‘that guy’ and I finally broke up, it was only a matter of time before Mark and I fell in love. He stole my heart right away. The next year and a half sped by in a flurry of late study dates and walks under the stars. Because we were poor college students, we didn’t get to go to movies often, but one night we decided to make a special exception. We wandered, hand-in-hand, into the movie theater, chose the best seats we could find, and settled in just as the lights went out. After about fifteen or twenty minutes, Mark leaned over and whispered that he needed to step out for a moment. He came back, arms loaded with two boxes of crackerjacks. He handed me one with a smile that melted my heart and called me back to that first day in the cafeteria. I could see him watching me nervously out of the corner of his eye as I began eating. What had gotten into him? Shrugging that off, I dug into the crackerjacks to retrieve my prize. “What did you get?” he asked, eyes sparkling. I shook my head. “I don’t know…” I fumbled to open the package. The movie screen lit up the sparkling diamond as it fell into my lap. I gasped. Mark pulled out his white handkerchief, set it on the ground and got down on one knee. And that’s when I started crying. He led me out to the car where he’d stashed a dozen red roses and a calendar. “Pick a date,” he said, the love in his eyes just as breathtaking as the diamond on my finger. We’ve been married now for twenty-seven years, and they have been the best years of my life. As time passed, however, the ring he gave me grew out-of-style and old. We wanted something new, something beautiful. We wanted something that signified how our love had grown.

We walked into Ridglea Watch & Jewelry with nothing but a desire to create something incredible. Mike and Cindy, the custom design team, sat down with us and immediately began to sketch out our thoughts. Within an hour, we went from not having a clue what we wanted to having a design for a ring I knew I wouldn’t be able to live without. But the ring we’d designed needed a few more diamonds than my original ring contained. “How many diamonds will we need?” I asked them, still marveling at the lovely piece of jewelry sketched on the page in front of me. Mike counted the stones in the drawing. “Nine on each side… So eighteen?” Slipping my hand into my pocket, my fingertips brushed against something. Oh yes… Maybe this could work. I pulled out another ring from my pocket—my mother-in-law’s ring.

My mother-in-law had been one of the closest and dearest friends I’d ever had. In the three decades since I’d met her son, she had truly become a second mother to me. She’d passed away only two months before, leaving me only with an ache in my heart and the ring now clutched within my fingers. I’d been holding it close ever since she’d left; clinging onto the only part of her I could keep. Hope blossomed in my chest. “Would these diamonds work?” I held out the ring for Mike and Cindy to see. Mike took it carefully between his artist’s fingers and inspected it. Then he looked up at me. “These are perfect. And there are exactly eighteen diamonds here.” I’d been looking for a way to make sure her ring would always be with me, and now that I’d found it, I couldn’t keep the tears from my eyes.

A few days later, Mark and I were invited back to look at the design Mike and Cindy had drawn up on the computer. It was gorgeous; everything I’d hoped it would be. Cindy was a wonderful designer, and Mike an excellent craftsman. After tweaking the image a bit, they promised us that the ring would be completed within a few weeks.

We stepped out of the jewelry store and back into our busy lives. Several days later, Mark asked me to go into Fort Worth to see a movie with him. I needed a break from the hustle and bustle of daily life, so I agreed, and we drove into the city.It was as though I was being transported back in time to the best moment of my life. Mark went out and brought back two boxes of crackerjacks. This time, when I opened my prize, I was shocked at how intricate the new ring was. “This is not my diamond!” I shrieked, holding it closer to watch it glimmer and shine. “I thought it was high time I got you a new one,” Mark replied. The ring turned out to be so much more than either of us had expected. And now I have a piece of my sweet mother-in-law with me wherever I go.

Mike and Cindy are the only design team we would ever trust with jewelry that holds such a sentimental place in our hearts. They led us from an old, simple ring to a new, heart-touching work of art that far exceeds any design we could ever have imagined. Their expertise makes it possible for me to be able to experience the joy I felt so many years ago every time I look at my hand—the joy of falling in love.