Twilight Delights

We have a couple of bonafide die-hard “Twiheads” on staff.  I shudder to admit it, but I am one of them.  And I LOVE the fact that since Edward was born in 1901 he proposes to Bella with an antique ring.  How cool is that?!  

As soon as they started showing previews for Eclipse I started searching for the image of the ring they would use for the proposal in the movie.  And I admit, I am disappointed. The ring they are showing in the movie follows the author’s description accurately (gold oval diamond cluster) but it is not very pretty and it is definitely not antique!  Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series, describes the ring like this:

“Nestled into the black satin, Elizabeth Masen’s ring sparkled in the dim light. The face was a long oval, set with slanting rows of glittering round stones. The band was gold — delicate and narrow. The gold made a fragile web around the diamonds.”
-Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer

She describes a typical late Victorian or early Edwardian diamond cluster ring.  Being an antique jeweler, I envision bead-set Old Mine or Old European-cut diamonds set onto a narrow shank with a gallery defined with delicate open-work.  Much like these (none of these are oval, but trust me on this- they make more sense):



Side view:



Rings made in this time period were delicate.  A great example is the ring in the center of these photographs.  This is a substantial ring measuring 3/4 of an inch long with 3.5 carats total weight of diamonds.  Even though it is substantial, the ring is very fine with beautiful openwork in the under-gallery so the diamonds have very little metal to interfere with the sparkle.  All three of these rings suit the image of the ring in the book. and they are from the right time period to have belonged to Edward’s mother.  

Thanks for indulging this particular obsessed Twilight fan. Can you blame me for blogging about this?   Maybe the moviemakers will read this and give Bella an appropriate ring for Breaking Dawn… call me, movie people, I have the ring for you…

- Cristina