Pat Kirby shows off some engagement rings at Anna Quinn Jewelry in Kernstown. Alan Lehman/Daily

A satisfying job: The area's jewelers enjoy putting smiles on faces - and rings on fingers

By Carolyn Keister Baker -- Daily Staff Writer

Distraught that the engagement ring he gave his bride was lost while in transit to be re-sized, a Winchester man turned to the owner of Anna Quinn Jewelry in Winchester for help.

“They were devastated,” proprietor Pat Kirby remembers. “They came to me and wanted me to duplicate that ring. It took four or five months, but we duplicated that ring.”

From a tiny image in a photograph and from drawings based on the couple’s best recollections, Kirby, with the help of a California jeweler, produced a new ring just like the original the man gave to his wife when they were engaged. The only change was they upgraded to a two-carat marquise diamond.

“[The result] was incredible. She was so happy,” Kirby recalls.

Kirby had the honor of attending the couple’s 10th anniversary celebration.

Another happy Winchester couple became engaged in her store at Opequon Center on Valley Avenue on Oct. 27.

“He took her hand and asked her if she would marry him. It was very exciting.”

“He cried. The tears were in both their eyes,” Kirby says.

Their photograph is proudly displayed on her store’s Web site.

Moments like these are what make their job so worthwhile and satisfying, independent jewelers agree.

“It’s very rewarding,” says Kirby, who opened her own jewelry store just three years ago. She had worked for a large jewelry company for 17 years before going out on her own.

Kirby enjoys the gratification of seeing happiness.

Rick Finks, owner of Finks’ Jewelry Store in Woodstock since 1980, knows the joy of seeing couples in emotional bliss.

“I’ve seen girls fit a size 6 ring on a size 8 finger and walk out the door,” says Finks, who has owned the family jewelry store for 27 years. “Sooner or later, she will get [the ring] re-sized. [The man] will get more kisses than he will receive in his life. To see them that happy and watch them go bouncing out, that part makes you feel pretty good.”

The sparkle of a diamond engagement ring can make any woman’s heart skip a beat.

And she is certain to be astonished at the engagement rings now in vogue.

The diamond solitaire engagement ring is still popular and retains a prominent place in jewelers’ display cases. But more than ever, a variety of styles of engagement rings are available to complement a bride-to-be’s individual personality.

When Finks started out as a part-time worker at his father’s store in 1973, he remembers the day when the store sold mainly bridal sets and engagement rings designed in a box setting — a round diamond placed in a square setting. Engagement rings were simple.

But as time passed, diamond inlays, baguettes and odd-shaped stones came into the picture, Finks explains.

“Traditional solitaires are still popular, but times have changed,” Kirby agrees. “They want engagement rings that look like this,” she says as she shows a grouping of engagement ring settings — elaborate, intricate and many reminiscent of rings from yesteryear.

“They like the fancier engagement rings now,” Kirby explains. In the past three years, brides-to-be want rings with an antique look. Many want to design their own, she says.

Micro pave diamond engagement rings are a choice popular in the Northern Shenandoah Valley, jewelers say. Micro pave engagement rings are set with tiny diamonds in metal in rows or channels, making the jewelry appear paved with diamonds.

Pave, pronounced pah-vay, is French and describes the intricate cobblestone streets of Europe.

“It is just the times,” Kirby says. Advertising campaigns show engagement rings with little diamonds all around. “Everyone wants [the design].”

“I love it,” Kirby says. “As a matter of fact, I did mine.”

Engagement rings with intricate, lace-like detail on the precious metal also are popular, Kirby adds.

One of the significant changes was the color of gold, Finks says. While yellow gold was most popular when he first started in the business, brides-to-be now want yellow gold, white gold and platinum, a metal more precious than gold.

Engagement rings are created with larger diamonds. Colored diamonds and other gems also are popular, Kirby says.

“Designers have come up with some amazing designs over the last 10 years,” Finks adds. "You think there couldn’t be one more idea, and then they come out with something new.”

Because there are so many styles from which to choose, Kirby suggests that if a man wants to surprise his bride-to-be with an engagement ring, he should at least know the cut of diamond she prefers and whether she is partial to white or yellow gold.

“I think that’s important,” Kirby insists.

But without the bride-to-be there to help select or design her perfect ring, men may still be taking a chance.

Finks remembers working feverishly into the wee hours one Christmas Eve, finishing an elaborate and expensive engagement ring with 26 baguettes and a pear-shaped center diamond. “I had to carve and set each stone individually,” Finks recalls.

Finks finished the ring, made as she had described to her groom-to-be, just in time to be presented on Christmas.

What was the reaction of the bride-to-be when the ring was finally revealed?

“She didn’t like it,” Finks declares. “She was very gracious. We remade it after Christmas.”

* Contact Carolyn Baker at cbaker@nvdaily.com