Those are all beautiful! 

Pear pendant...what pear pendant?  hehehe!!!

Love, love, love the EC solitaire!!!  But then I am a step cut nut 

You have some beautiful pieces! 

I have a question for you that is sometimes asked: how do the customs charges work for shipping items into the UK?  I am married to an American and can ship here duty free but it would be helpful to have an idea on the cost for other Brits considering a purchase.  Obviously with the current exchange rate it is even more advantageous to buy from the US right now.

The customs charges can be quite steep. I ordered the studs last year and I got hit with a customs charge of £179 before Fedex would hand them over. The studs cost around £900 at the exchange rate when I bought them, so that is quite a high percentage.

Of course, it didn't help that FedEx lost their record of my payment I had a huge fight with them about it. I payed over the phone by card, to get the package quicker. Next time, I would send a cheque by registered post.

Still, it was a better deal than trying to buy something comparable in terms of cut quality in the UK, so I'd say go for it! It's well worth it to get exactly what you want and at a good price compared to the stores here. Some of them are excellent (others aren't) but they are expensive.

Hope that helps.

Jen

Ronda, thank you! Glad you like the title - my family would shudder, because it is all too true! The pears will look sweet with my necklace but I have a feeling I might want to go bigger. So no surprise there then!

I would like to turn the pendant's remains into a birthday gift - I do think the world of her, she was my bridesmaid and her mom was my MOH. Plus, she is quite the little jewelry fiend already, so I know she'd love it. My other thought was to get her one of those little 0.25 asscher pendants that David has on the website. But then I would want one for myself too!

DJ - the exchange rate is great for us right now, makes it almost silly not to buy diamonds from the US! The studs are 0.49 each, I SI1 and VS ideal cut. They are nice and I love them but I kinda wish I'd found this site first. I would have loved step cut studs of some sort and of course, I now have a yellow craving. Ah well. When I priced comparable cut and quality here, it was way too expensive. It was also very hard to find such high quality cuts. A couple of high end stores had their own branded ideal cuts, but most just sold 'round brilliant cut' Would have cost way more than I would have been willing to spend if I went with the branded cuts.

Jen

I went into a maul store (and one of the better ones) recently and they raved about their ideal cuts. I asked to look at one with my loupe and idealscope (a handy thing to carry in your purse). The temperature dropped by about 20 degrees. Instantly.

My eternity band is a 1.5 shared prong band and it is very well cut. DH got that in a store here, I think partly to stop me going on about not being able to get such things here. However, it was a special order and it took 7 weeks to arrive. From the US! Ha. I love it though and it was a gift for our 3rd wedding aniversary.

Jen

Very beautiful collection!  Thanks for sharing! 

MM-Thanks for the pics, I love your collection!

WOAH!!!!!!!!!!!! I REALLY like your diamond tennis bracelet!! I too love the EC ring.  Thanks for sharing!

And ouch on the custom charges!!! Gosh!!! Ok, off to drool some more!!!

Great collection! I love the title of your thread.  Pretty sure we all have the sickness!   

   That is gorgeous!!!  I can see why you would walk to NYC for that one.  We will need lots of pictures of that beauty when you get it!!!

I don't blame you! After seeing that, FedEx can't get to you fast enough!   Just another idea for me to set my pear shape diamond in!    It is a beauty!~Ronda