Down To the Wire

She (the bride to be) was flying out of Seattle on Friday, and I still wasn’t done with the ring. It would need to have it shipped out on Wednesday in order for it to arrive in time.

I just wanted to make sure everything was perfect.

Hours turned to minutes and minutes into seconds as I carefully set each stone, 77 of them to be exact.

Sadly I came to the realization that, despite my best efforts, I would not be able to ship the ring out in time for it to arrive before her flight.

Out of necessity, my mind started racing for a solution until one presented itself:

“I’ll just drive it up to Seattle after work!“

Living near Portland, Oregon, that’s about a 3 hour trek for me. It was no matter, I would deliver the ring. I’m a goldsmith of my word.

My clients were so incredibly gracious and offered to meet me at a closer location. Tacoma, to be precise.

Rest Stop Adventure

After all the hustle of my workday I hit the road and suddenly realized that I had not taken any pictures of the completed ring.

That just wouldn’t do.

The sun was setting as I sped northbound on I-5.  With an increased sense of urgency I decided to pull off at a rest stop to take pictures of the ring.

To be honest the idea seemed a bit sketchy to me. What if someone saw the ring sparkling in the distance and wanted to take it from me?

Pulling in I made sure to park far away from most of the other cars. I spotted an isolated bench among a grove of trees. “There“, I thought.  I sneaked over, pulled out the ring and started snapping away.

Adrenaline pumped through me. I almost felt as though I was breaking some sort of rule. I kept looking over my shoulder until I noticed something.

“Is that truck driver staring at me?” A bit of paranoia crept in. “He’s definitely staring at me.” I grabbed the ring and dashed through the trees back toward my car.

Our eyes met as I emerged from the the grove. His eyebrows were lowered. I was half smiling.

I reached my vehicle, my safety, and booked it out of there. Mission accomplished!

From an outsiders perspective, there’s no doubt that I was the one who came across as the “sketchy” one.

Yes, I totally was.

I finally arrived in Tacoma past 9 p.m. It was a beautiful summer evening and it was such a joy and relief to deliver the ring to the happy couple.

Moments like this one are the true rewards of being a goldsmith. Seeing a vision come to life and make it’s way from conception to someone’s ring finger is a special feeling.

As you can see, it looked really good on her finger too. I was actually very happy I made the trek north as oftentimes I am not able to photograph the ring on the recipients finger.

Overall it was a fun adventure that I would do again in a heartbeat!

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