"I LOVE your ring!"..."Thank you, it's a Biro 88!"

Every woman can't help but love getting compliments. We may say that we don't... but that's a lie, we do.

My fiance and I got engaged last month. He bought me the most INCREDIBLE Biro 88, 1 carat total weight, 3-stone diamond ring. You can drool over it by clicking on the picture :)


Of course, it helps that I work at Day's Jewelers and have an inside knowledge of what the more brilliant, most sparkly, shiny, eye-catching diamonds are - and I am GREAT at dropping hints.

Since we're friends, I'll let you in on a secret. Biro 88 Diamonds are uniquely different, visually more brilliant, and cut with the finest precision and craftsmanship. Blah blah blah, I sound like a marketing description (that's because I copied and pasted! oops - don't tell). But, no joke, these diamonds even sparkle in the dark. That's what sold me on it. But I am getting a little ahead of myself.

Before I started working at Day's, the President asked me to do a few "secret shops" at our stores before everyone knew who I was. He said, "why don't you and your boyfriend go shopping for engagement rings." Obviously, I was elated at this idea... I think my boyfriend vomited a little when I told him the game plan. When I told him we were getting paid, his nausea cleared up.

We hopped in the car and headed to Day's Jewelers in Brunswick. We met Issy - she's amazing, she's German and she rides a Harley. We went through the shopping routine.

Before I saw the Biro, I had actually picked out a different ring. It was the exact same price but it was an emerald cut center stone with two radiant cut diamonds on the sides. It was still 1 carat total weight, white gold, etc. It was gorgeous, I had never seen anything like it - very unique. That was the ring for me. I looked at it under the microscope, clarity was incredible there were hardly any inclusions (little carbon spots or flaws in the stone-don't worry, every diamond has some type of inclusion) we're talking "high class, high quality."

I told Issy and my boyfriend that I absolutely had to have that ring. He looked at me sideways - he was a little green and sort of pale- I guess the nausea had returned at that point. I handed the ring back to Issy and fluttered my eyelashes at my boyfriend, hoping that he'd surprise me and just buy it then and there (no such luck). As she put it back in the case, she looked up with a wonderfully devious smile and said that we just HAD to see the Biro 88 ring that was the same price. I was all diamond-crazy by this point so I was all about it, my boyfriend protested... he's very sweet but he was ready to go home - plus, we weren't really shopping and I was getting a little too carried away for his taste. But he liked Issy so he consented.

She brought out the Biro and I can even describe how it sparkled. I thought it had to be a fancy lighting trick but, wow, that thing was blinding. "It has 88 facets," she said. That meant nothing to me (I was still a new kid). She explained that the facets are the cuts on the diamond that reflect light. The Biro 88 is an 88 facet "ideal cut" (mathematically perfect) diamond and that is what makes it sparkle. Well, I held it up next to the one I had picked originally - the best ring in the world- and the emerald cut absolutely paled in comparison to the Biro. I was blown away. Then, as if I wasn't convinced, Issy took the Biro into a dark corner of the store about 15 feet away from me and wiggled it. It even blinded me from all the way over there in the dark! Needless to say, my love affair with the emerald cut - which is still beautiful, but not nearly as spectacular - was over.

We left. Ringless. I pouted for at least a week, I had to keep reminding myself that we weren't really engagment ring shopping after all. So, I started my new job at Day's (Issy actually punched me in the arm when she found out who I was and that I had secret shopped her - it was all in good fun though, we're friends now).

A couple weeks went by and now the Biro 88 - the exact one that I fell in love with, sits oh-so-perfectly on my ring finger and I am SO proud of it and the wonderful man that got it for me.

I have had an incredible amount of compliments on this ring. At the grocery store, at Home Depot and Lowes (wow... if you want to burn your corneas, check out a Biro 88 in florescent hardware store lighting), my sister is beyond jealous, and everywhere I go people grab my hand and say "Oh my God, your ring is gorgeous!" All the while, my fiance stands beside me, so proud and so pleased with himself... I'm VERY pleased with him too.