Cart is empty Close mini cart

Your cart is empty

Browse our services

People Behind The Pieces: Christine Jackowski’s Four Rings

Written by Annabelle
January 18, 2019

You know, we really think one of the most rewarding things about our job here at QJR is the sentimentality of our work. It’s all terminology and business when we’re getting your jewelry fixed, but then we learn the stories behind each piece you bring to us (and get a little teary-eyed in the process.) This time was no exception.

In May 2018, we ran a Mother’s Day contest to see who could send us the best picture of their jewelry. We chose our winner based on photo quality, jewelry design, and the story behind it. Our lucky lady was Christine Jackowski, who sent us a photo of a rare blue diamond ring and a tear-jerker of a tale to match.

The Winning Story:

ring-repair-blue-diamond

The winning ring and a lovely picture of Christine with her family

According to Christine, the ring was given to her after a couple of rough years in her life. Once the dust settled, her husband took her back to the front of the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, where he had first proposed to her.

“…and with two kids at our side he got on one knee and asked for my hand and heart forever and always. He gave me the big blue diamond with its tension/cathedral setting as a gift of rebirth and renewed love. Our lovely moment was interrupted by one of our lovely children telling us they were hungry and we needed to move on, enough mushy love stuff for the day!”

Needless to say, we had to choose Christine; her story was beautiful, touching, and funny all at once! She won a $200 gift card from us to repair her items, and around the year end she sent us four rings, including the blue diamond stunner.

4 Repairs

ring-repair-diamonds-gold

Christine's 4 rings before their repairs

The job was fairly simple; size all of the rings up to a 7. One ring needed both a stone setting and a stone replacement, and Christine also wanted her yellow gold rings to be rhodium dipped in order to give them a white gold appearance.

During the process of working through her order, Christine was kind enough to give us even more stories about her beautiful pieces.

diamond-baguette-ring-repair

Christine's baguette ring after sizing and rhodium

Baguette Ring: Christine purchased this ring through a very fairy-tale like method; she bought a silver spoon for a dime and sold it for ten dollars. Then she used the ten dollars to purchase an antique Schwinn bike that she sold for $200! Her local jeweler took the $200 for the baguette ring, which was originally cast in yellow gold. After our resizing and rhodium dip, the ring now has an classy, silvery vibe.

blue-diamond-ring-repair

Christine's round blue-and-white diamond ring after sizing and rhodium.

Blue and White Round Diamond Ring: If you couldn’t tell from her blue diamonds, Christine loves the sea and anything that reminds her of it. She bought this ring in Negril, Jamaica as a gift to herself to remember the color of the ocean, and her time there.

It came in with some loving wear, but a quick bath in rhodium brightened the ring up.

princess-diamond-ring-repair

Christine's princess-cut engagement ring after stone setting, sizing, and rhodium dip.

Princess Diamond Engagement Ring: This ring was Christine’s engagement ring, and she was enamored with it at Sam’s Club at the same time they were shopping for lawn furniture and cheese. We completely understood; falling in love with jewelry happens at any place and any time.

The next part of the story was so amazing, we just couldn’t believe it when Christine told us:

“My husband and I just had our 16th anniversary and we were married on TV by Santa Claus in the Adirondacks through our Albany CBS station. My beautiful princess engagement ring can be seen when he puts my wedding band on. As we were outdoors, at 6 am, it was zero degrees out. Oh the relief neither ring was dropped!”

christine-jackowski-ring-repair

Christine and her husband getting married on TV by Santa Claus!

Unfortunately, not even Santa Claus could save two princess-cut diamonds falling out of the channel setting, so it was sent on over to us for some needed TLC.

Channel settings can be a bit tricky, and this particular ring was interesting to work with, since one of the missing diamonds had to be set behind the center stone. Christine was able to send over one of the stones, and we replaced the other one with our in-house stock of ethically sourced diamonds. Once everything was set, we dipped the ring in rhodium and changed the ring’s look to an updated, modern aesthetic.

christine-jackowski-ring-repair

Baby Laura seems to have a love for jewelry just like her mom…

Once we were finished repairing all of Christine’s precious jewels, it was time to say goodbye to them as we packed them up and shipped them off. To be quite honest, we were feeling a bit awed. It’s stories like these that really make our job incredibly rewarding- that we’re allowed to be a part of something so important to people.

We got all these amazing stories from Christine because she signed up for the Mother's Day contest! If you're interested in learning about the next contest, sign up with us to get the latest news at QJR. 

[optin-monster-shortcode id=”gdxjtbvzka7hpicznsdl”]