Dear Eve Prime,
We have never met, but I have lists about who you are and what you love all over my desk. I even have images of you wearing your favorite blue dress in my Downloads, as well as pictures of you balancing a dime on your fingers in an attempt to display the scale of your slight frame. I know what you do, what makes you laugh, and what makes your blood boil.
Over the past few months, I have been in long email conversations with your best friend and now-fiancé about what we should create for your engagement ring. In every email, adjectives overflowed and phrases stuck out about your personality, your favorite things, and what you deserve as a symbol of your now-fiancé’s love.
The first email your best friend sent connecting the three of us was almost a complete disaster. Gmail played an evil trick, autocorrecting my name to your name and (potentially) your email address (Apparently two Eve’s are too many for Gmail to handle). Your best friend wrote panicked, “Ok, can everyone present confirm who they are before further conversations occur?” and we obliged, forever dubbing you “Eve Prime” as you are the Primary Eve of all of our affections and attentions.
Your now-fiancé was frustrated by the time we were introduced, having seen dozens of rings that were not you. He was starting to be fearful that he would have to settle for the ring he “disliked the least”. He was adamant in our design process that the coloring of the ring complement your tan Sicilian skin, but not overpower your incredibly light Scandinavian hair. The design needed to reflect and not impede your work with animals—nothing could get caught in their tufts of swirling fur or be snagged by their claws. It had to sit low to the hand, be held securely, and display the detail inherent in antique styles—reflective of the details and intricacies of your personality that he loves so much.
I hope we were able to capture all of these things and more
in the ring that we made together.
The ruby in your ring is a cushion-cut 1.34-carat Mozambique Ruby that seemingly glows from within. In an email your now-fiancé wrote to me titled “Prettiest Girl of All Time”, he stated that the ruby we selected “burns with the same intensity and internal light that she does”—a phrase that still makes me stop and take a breath.
The setting is made in 18k yellow gold with a series of buds forming the basket, growing from a smooth band that tapers to accentuate the cushion cut ruby, set on its axis in claw-like prongs to highlight its silhouette and make it uniquely yours.
There was a moment a few weeks ago when your now-fiancé and I slipped out of a dark hotel lobby into the morning after he selected the ruby that would become the central focus of your ring. It appeared so scandalous—He had a hidden email folder dedicated to the process, was keeping secrets about text messages and whereabouts, he was scheduling secret meetings in public-yet-private places before heading into work... Ultimately, we met for drink after work to discuss and hand-off the ring that would lead to you becoming husband and wife. If there was ever a time in 16 years of dating to get worried about what your now-fiancé was doing, it was in the moment he was trying to lock it down, show you he loves you, and create something beautiful to express desire to be yours forever. I apologize if our secret keeping made you apprehensive or suspicious!
After dating for 16 years, your now-fiancé proposed dramatically, blotting out the sun with the moon in a total eclipse, giving you a fiery red stone that burns with the intensity of your spirit (and the sun that disappeared [temporarily] from the sky).
There are not many Eve’s in this world and though we still haven’t met, I am proud to share this name with someone I have grown to know through the eyes and experiences of two people who admire you ferociously. You are fierce, fun, and beloved. I am honored to have been involved in this moment in your life.
Congratulations to you both and I look forward to meeting you, Eve, and witnessing your passionate intensity for myself!
With the greatest joy and best wishes,
Original Eve (Not You, Eve Prime)
