I hate Christmas. I hate buying Christmas presents. I love giving them, but I hate buying them.
Especially jewelry. I wanna buy some nice jewelry for my GF. But, since I have the aesthetic taste of a braindead, rabid moose, I ask the SDMB:
It’s opal and emerald (her birthstone) and I like it.
If it’s god-awful, any ideas for me?
Sorry for the stupid thread, but I’m desperate.
Thanks folks
It’s beautiful. The more important question is; Is it her style? Does she have a dress or an outfit that would go with it perfectly? If you can think of anything, and you say; “I thought this would go great with your( beautiful eyes/grey dress/pearlescent skin)”, you will score MAJOR chick points.
My ex always said I had excellent taste in jewelry so:
I like it, the emerald is a little dark but it could be the lighting. The opal is a wonderful stone AFAICS. I really like opals with lots of deep blue in them
The stones look nice enough that even if down the line she decided she didn’t like the setting, they could easily be put into another setting more to her liking
YMMV of course, but I always look at the stones- that is what you are apying for mostly
Uh…sorry, but I don’t like it at all. The opal is pretty, but I don’t like the settings or the combo with the emerald. Sorry, but you asked.
I don’t have any suggestions for websites, especially those with jewelery, but I do have a couple of suggestions about buying gifts:
What does she buy for other people? Usually we buy others things we like.
What does she admire when you go shopping? Take her by some stores, man, and see what catches her eye.
And remember, it really is the thought that counts.
good luck!
I think it’s pretty.
Thanks for the responses.
Peculiar Pixie: Well, I really have trouble with matching colors and styles and such. I’ve seen her wear jewelry that I would deem similar. On the other hand, she might not feel the same. <AGH! ANXIETY!> I’m lucky when my socks match. I think I’ll go through her closet and take a look though. “Major chick points” would be good 
MikeG: Yeah, I thought the stones were pretty nice. I’ve always liked opals, and with emerald as her birthstone I figured it would be all right.
Brynda: Not hurting my feelings. I appreciate you telling me your opinion. If EVERYONE said they liked it, I’d be suspicious… Anyway, those are good tips on how to find a gift. She’s an odd one though, when it comes to that sort of thing. For example, for my birthday she gave me a Harem Xena doll. Huh? <Of course, my ex wife got me a bunch of Little Mermaid stuff for Christmas… maybe I have a thing for fictional women and I’m the only one who hasn’t noticed>.
Blue Twylight: Thanks, I thought so too.
If anyone cares, I bid on this on Ebay and won it. I was the only bidder. I don’t know if that’s a good sign or not. Anyway, I hope she likes it and I hope I wasn’t ripped off.
Thanks for your input.
BTW, this isn’t the ONLY gift she’s receiving from me, just the prettiest.
Since you already bought it, I hope she likes it–FWIW, I think it’s pretty. In the future, if you find yourself wanting to purchase more jewelry for her, I second Brynda’s suggestion: go shopping with her and take note of what she admires in the stores or window displays.
I can tell you from personal experience and that of my sister and friends, there is little more touching than to get as a gift something you admired in a shop window. It shows that your fella was paying attention and remembered–two very, very important things in the chick universe.
Well, maybe it’s just my age showing (40-something), but I would think that she’d like it, tiny esthetic quibbles aside (it’s possible that the photo doesn’t do it justice–opals are impossible to photograph properly).
Doc, any jewelry makes a lovely gift, as long as it’s real jewelry, not a Wal-Mart $14.99 10k gold/cubic zirconia tennis bracelet.
And, as someone already pointed out, with real jewelry, if she doesn’t like the setting she can always have it re-done.
But now, I sure hope I don’t see you two on Judge Judy someday, bickering over who gets custody of this thing. 
EEEW!! MY EYES!! MY EYEEESSSS!!!
No, seriously, it’s pretty. Old-fashioned, for sure; but I like all things vintage.
Ooooh, pretty.
Take the ladies’ advice. If anyone can help, it would be them.
Brynda said"
DocDaneeka said:
Hmmmmmm. Speculate. 
I think that it’s lovely! I love the simple style, it really showcases the gems. Is that a black opal? Yay! As far as I’m concerned, you’d get girlie points for that alone.
If you squint, it looks pretty sexy.
The best way to buy jewelry for a woman is to match it to her eyes. So if she has blue eyes, you’d get a blue stone.
Then you can say that you got it for her because it matches her eyes & then you get laid.
Duck Duck Goose
Son of a bitch. Well, at least I saved my receipt.
opals are the best. a very pretty necklace. next up, wrapping it. the wrap is very important. there must be paper that is diffrent from the other gifts, and ribbon, and perhaps a mini something dangling from the bow; like a little ornament or pine thing. how the package looks is as important as what is on the inside for women.
Oohhh…
Me like.
Make that emerald a saphire and I’d die.
Hey, you guys are all great. I wasn’t expecting such nice responses with such great ideas. I should reply to each of you, but she’s in the next room and she’s gonna spy on me sooner or later and give away the surprise.
Thanks for lifting some of my gift anxiety.
Damnit handy! He’s right, though. I fondly remember admiring some bauble once in a store window and the guy I was with said, in an offhand way, that it would be better with a blue topaz in it since that would match my eyes.
I’ve been carrying that comment around in my heart for YEARS (and I’m sure I dropped my panties that night too) but now I just feel… gullible. LOL
You can buy gems from their originating country for far less. I once bought a whole string of beautiful opals as pearls from HK direct. They were like $40.00. I also almost got a huge emerald from south america. I think it was a call to the Virgin Islands for the comp. that got their emeralds from SA. Huge ones, 1" wide & 7" high were like $100.00.
This is some advice that’s fraught with peril. You see some cool jewelry that you might want to give to your special someone. She sees engagement rings and starts generating expectations that you are totally unaware of. Take my word for it, the dynamics resulting from the above situation are similar to driving down a bumpy road with a trunk full of nitro.
