We have gotten a fair share of customers who were kind enough to divulge upon us their pleasant experiences with Ruff&Cut, from choosing their ring, to working with us to find that perfect diamond, to getting their ring just in the nic of time for the grand proposal. We've received pictures, emails, kind words...but, the testimonial below really takes the cake, and we hope it will touch your heart like it did ours.
Our experience with Ruff & Cut and Glittering Conscience: I could sum this up in a few “one-worders”, such as: intimate, personal, flawless, memorable, honest, fun (!) and perfect. I could leave it at that and you would get the idea, but I won’t. I’ll tell you exactly why Glittering Conscience with Ruff & Cut made our engagement something to always remember.
Ariana and I decided to commemorate our domestic partnership on May 12, 2011 with rings. At the time, in New York, a domestic partnership was the only marriage-esque right afforded to us and even without the term “legally married”, we were ready and more importantly- determined- to ourselves treat this next step of our relationship with the utmost love, respect and commitment and were going to symbolize this just as any other couple would do: with rings.
Now, knowing my fiancée (and myself), I knew we would not be making any trips to your run of the mill jewelry stores and just “picking a ring.” No, no. Our rings would have to be special. They would have to be different. They would have to be unique; beautiful; fitting to our individual personalities; and just as importantly, they would have to be socially responsible.
Ariana let me know the moment she had found just the place and we haven’t looked back since. In web searching basically exactly these adjectives- special, different, unique, beautiful, and socially responsible jewelry - she came across the company of Ruff & Cut. She looked at their statement of who they are and what they represent (‘each diamond, conflict-free and as yet untampered with by human hands, exhibits a vital beauty that is undeniable. The marriage of this beauty with recycled metals in organic shapes and distinctive silhouettes articulates and honors the singular splendor of the land and the peoples who bring these precious things into the world.’) Reading this brings me back to one of the words used to describe our experience: perfect. This was exactly what we were looking for and then it got even better- they have a shop here in New York City, Glittering Conscience, not 5 blocks from where I work. This surely was too good to be true, right?
May 12, 2011: Our first experience with Ruff & Cut by way of Glittering Conscience. Hours after our domestic partnership and after many, many visits to their online site, www.ruffandcut.com, we made our way to the store to start the process of deciding on our rings. Enter Jennifer Schelhorn. Jen has been with us in this process since day one and we couldn’t have had it any better. On this day, she gave us an overview of the company, showed us around the shop, let us look at all the different types of jewelry that they make and basically got us completely introduced to the wonderfulness that is Ruff & Cut and Glittering Conscience. She told us about Wade Watson, the founder and head of Ruff & Cut and got us uber-excited to go on this journey with them in making our rings. We left the store that day, not yet knowing what rings we would be working with (the options were literally endless!) but knowing one thing for sure: we would be working solely with Ruff & Cut, Glittering Conscience and specifically Jen and Wade to help us navigate this experience.
Ariana and I spent the next 3 weeks going over ideas in our heads and on paper as to what we wanted our individual rings to be- did we want diamonds, just bands, each other’s birthstones, rings exactly alike, rings different from one another, yellow gold, silver, white gold; did we want to completely design them ourselves or work with one of their existing collections? As I said, the options were literally endless which can really take you all over the place in terms of finally deciding what is right, but as I also said, Jen was there for us from day one and we could email her any time and she gave us immediate and more so, personal feedback.
June 4, 2011: Our second trip to Glittering Conscience. The purpose of this day’s trip to the shop was to start putting some of these ideas we had been coming up with into real terms. We met with Jen this day and she brought out the inventory… great day! Book after book after book of stones, each with individualization to it. Did we want black diamonds, true diamonds, morganite, sapphire, amethyst, quartz, citrine, etc. (I could go on, believe me)? Did we want rough diamond or smooth? Did we want smooth band or hammer band? What shape? What size? Suffice it to say, we spent a great deal of time in the shop this day as we were, even after spending three weeks thinking about it, blank canvases. This was when Jen really shined. She, aside from being eternally patient with us, was so helpful to work out any questions we had and provide really insightful advice as to what she thought would work best with whatever idea we were working with at that moment. We left that day feeling inundated (in a great way) with information but really starting to see the abstractness take shape. Next, we needed to meet Wade.
June 19, 2011: We met with Wade on this date to do a not-so-final-but- final-esque ring consultation. Today, we were going to put our ideas in motion. We met with Wade (and Jen) at 4pm and this was a dream come true. He sat and talked with us (on the ultra-comfy couches, I might add) about who we both were- both as individuals and as a couple- and got a sense of what were looking for in our rings. He told us about him, his family- even showing us pictures of his beautiful kids, and everything, everything there is to know about Ruff & Cut, Glittering Conscience and how it is that he came into this concept. We soaked up every detail of this just mesmerized by the fact that exactly what we were looking for in a ring experience and its company were literally right here. This didn’t have the air of “shopping”; it had the feel of familiarity and comfort- both of which too often are completely sidestepped in the world of consumerism. After a while of talking, we got down to business. Ariana and I each told Wade and Jen the types of bands we each wanted, we picked our individual stones, we picked our individual designs, we sized our fingers and we were set. I decided on a variation of the geode ring, complete with hammered white gold band and a ruff diamond that would stand out on top. Ariana went with a variation of the aureole ring, complete with hammered yellow gold band and a ruff diamond that would peak on top. Understand that Ariana and I, while we have very different styles, wanted there to be some semblance of uniformity in our rings and that was why we chose very similar diamonds as well as the hammered band- both for this engagement ring as well as the wedding band we decided on to compliment the set. We honestly could not have been happier, even if these rings wouldn’t be used in an “actual” marriage ceremony. Or would they?
If you are following the dates at all, and follow anything in terms of New York news, you will see that June 19, 2011 was only a few days shy of one of the most monumental days in New York state legislature history: June 24, 2011- Same-Sex Marriage is legalized. A difference of a mere five days! My fiancée has always, as long as I have known her, been a strong proponent of putting into the universe that which you desire. Now, here we are, June 19th clearly putting it out there that we want to be married, even going so far as to design rings with or without state legislative acceptance and then BAM! Five days later, those rings suddenly have a new meaning. They were engagement rings and wedding bands after-all.
Wade and Jen were as happy for us as we were in this news. They knew how much these rings meant to us, even without the legal recognition, but now, this was just surreal. Wade even texted us the night that the bill was passed. What more could you want from the people making the rings you intend to wear forever as a symbol of your love? This is why we didn’t go in to your “run of the mill jewelry store”; or better yet they are why.
Now, we just had to wait for the rings to be ready. This would only take a few weeks but as you can imagine, we couldn’t get them soon enough! Nevertheless, Wade and Jen stayed in touch with us each week letting us know the progress and updating us on any news as to the exact date they would be ready. And then, they were ready!
July 10, 2011: Engagement day!! We went to Glittering Conscience at 2:00 and there was Wade and Jen, ready with champagne and our rings and we couldn’t have been more elated. They were here and ready for us to take home and we were thrilled. We tried them on, took pictures, drank champagne, sat and talked with Wade and Jen and just smiled. Not even two months had gone by since we first walked into Glittering Conscience and now here we were, ready to get engaged with the rings that we loved. This was a great day. (Just a side note- we decided to make two minor alterations—me downsizing my band size by .5 and Ariana adding some hammering to around her stone— and even though neither of these were the result of miscommunication on either Wade or Jen’s parts but rather “after the fact changes” that we elected to make, Wade and Jen took care of this right away, further ensuring that we were 110% happy with our rings.)
I can’t say enough about Wade, Jen, Glittering Conscience or Ruff & Cut. Even this excessively long narrative doesn’t do it justice. For some people, a less involved approach such as just picking a ring from a display case may be a better method and to them, I say, that is wonderful for you. But for us, we wanted the personalization, the intimacy, the connection, the experience, the involvement, the uniqueness, the eco-friendliness, the personal friendliness (they texted us when the bill passed and got us champagne on the day our rings were ready for God’s sake!), and the open communication… and that is exactly what we got, and more, from our experience with Wade, Jen, Glittering Conscience and Ruff & Cut. Simply put: it was perfection from start to finish.
Sarah (and Ariana)
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| The rings! |
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| The happy couple :) |
Thank you, Sarah and Ariana, and congratulations!
In addition to this amazing story of romance and perseverance, we'd like to state our support of same-sex marriage. We were among the many New Yorkers dancing in the streets with joy and pride on that fateful June day. Congratulations to everyone for this step in the right direction towards acceptance, unity and love!!! And, remember, when you're ready to get hitched the legal way, you know where to find the best, brightest, greenest and most unique rings available! We offer a variety of styles to choose from and our more than happy to accommodate your every desire in making your ring just right for you.
We are also pleased to announce that also in honor of the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York, we will soon be carrying a collection especially for gay and lesbian couples. Stay tuned!!!
