Meaning of Jewelry – A keepsake!

Posted on July 17, 2017July 19, 2017 by Harvinder C. Maniar

17 Jul

Welcoming a new baby in the family is a very special event in any couple’s life. Giving a gift to the mother as a gesture of gratitude and keepsake has become very popular in recent years. For those not familiar with the term, a “push” present is a gift a father gives to the mother on the occasion of giving birth to their child. The present can be gifted either before or after the baby is born, or even in the delivery room.

Jewelry is a very popular push present. It can be made even more special and personalized by incorporating the baby’s birthstone. In this month’s Meaning of Jewelry segment, we feature Leslie Afolabi’s gift from her husband after their second baby – Lewa was born in July.

We asked Leslie the following questions –

When did you first get your jewelry and what was your reaction?

I got my Ruby ring shortly after my second daughter was born and I absolutely loved the gesture from my husband and the custom created ring with Lewa’s birthstone.

Leslie’s Ruby ring made after her daughter’s July Birthday!

Did you wear your ring right away? Do you wear it all the time or for special occasions?

I wore it as soon as the swelling in my hands went down and wear it for special occasions.

What meaning does your jewelry have for you?

The ring is my baby girl Lewa’s birthstone – Ruby and will forever be a reminder of the amazing day she came into this world. When she grows up and moves away I will always have my ring to make me feel close to her. This ring will always remind me of my baby girl.

Is this something you will pass on to your daughter?

I will definitely be giving this ring to my second daughter. If she has a July baby it will be the perfect!

Leslie’s family during their family’s recent July 4th Celebrations!

Leslie’s girls – Ife and Lewa – all dressed up for July 4th celebrations!

We love this new tradition of the push present as a keepsake to remember the special day your child is born. We enjoyed being part of the journey to create Leslie’s custom made Ruby ring with her daughter’s July birthstone, especially knowing how she will forever cherish this ring as a reminder of the day her daughter made her debut in the world.

Meaning of Jewelry – Past, Present and Future!

Posted on June 20, 2017June 21, 2017 by Harvinder C. Maniar

20 Jun

It is summer and wedding season is at its prime! I have already been to 2 weddings this spring and cannot wait for a couple more that I will have the honor of attending in the summer. One of the most significant events during the wedding is the exchange of the wedding ring. The ring that we put on for the first time the day we get married and for most us, never take it off. The wedding ring– the perfect circle – with no beginning and no end is the symbol of the eternal love that two people share from the moment they commit themselves to each other in marriage.

In this month’s feature of ‘Meaning of Jewelry’ we caught up with Alexandra Pulido who got married earlier this year. In addition to learning what special meaning Alexandra’s wedding ring has for her, there is also some advice for future couples who may want to create a custom wedding ring.

We asked Alexandra the following questions –

When did you start thinking about what kind of style you want for your wedding band? Did you already have something in mind from the beginning?

“I started thinking about my wedding band when I was in the thick of wedding planning – about 6 months before our wedding. I had an idea of what I wanted to go with since it had to be a specific shape to fit flush against my emerald cut engagement ring. My engagement ring is a vintage Tiffany’s ring – platinum with an emerald cut diamond in the center and two tapered baguettes on the side. The ring came with a plain, curved, platinum band, but in my opinion it didn’t look like it went with the ring (it just looked too modern next to this classic vintage engagement ring). I was envisioning something that had the same curved shape as the plain platinum band, but one that had a straight baguette in the middle and two tapered baguettes on the side, mimicking the classic look of the engagement ring”.

Alexandra’s original Emerald Cut Vintage Engagement ring with plain wedding band.

How was it for you to be a part of the process to make your band? Or would you have had your husband pick something for you?

“It was a very personal experience making my band. I’m really happy that I got to work so closely with Harvinder and my husband to create the ring I had always envisioned. I think it’d virtually be impossible for my husband to find something as unique as the band that we created since wedding bands for emerald cut rings are very hard to find – especially those that work with vintage rings”.

Any advice for future couples on how to go about the wedding band? Is it something that couples should try to work on together? Was it stressful to have to worry about the wedding band while also planning the wedding?

“My advice for future couples is to try to be as specific as possible with what you want. If you are getting a custom made band, bring in pictures of rings that you like to help the designer. It was a great experience designing the ring with my husband since he also has an eye for things and it was good to get another opinion. It wasn’t stressful worrying about the wedding band, especially since we started looking into it about four months before our wedding. That brings up another piece of advice to future couples – don’t wait till the last minute!”

Not only do Alexandra and her husband share an ‘eye for things’, they also share their nick name – Alex 🙂

What does your band mean for you?

“My wedding band symbolizes the happiest day of my life – getting married to my best friend. I love looking down at it and remembering that special day. I like to think that the three baguette diamonds symbolize our past as a couple (dating post-college), the present and where we are right now as a married couple, and then finally the future and what it may hold for us as a family”.

Alex and Alex’s beautiful wedding set captured by their photographer Michelle Walker

The three stones depicting the ‘past, present and future’!

How did you feel when you first saw your wedding band complete the way you had envisioned it?

“I was SO happy! The band was so shiny and beautiful and it looked like it had been sold with my engagement ring – it was seriously exactly what I wanted! Most people assume the two rings were sold as a set and I’ve received many compliments on how unique the ring looks”.

Loved receiving this message from Alexandra a couple hours after she got her final wedding band!

Any special stories regarding the band from your wedding day or since the wedding?

“Our photographer and her assistant both complimented me on the ring – they said they hadn’t seen anything like it before and that it had photographed beautifully”.

Both the wedding bands beautifully captured by Alexandra’s wedding photographer Michelle Walker

Anything more that you would like to share?

“I would just like to thank Harvinder for the amazing job she did helping design my ring. I know I was very particular throughout the whole process and she was very patient with me! She also made it very easy to meet up with her to go over the wax proofs – either at my home or work. I’d recommend HCM to any of my friends, family, or colleagues at work if they’re looking for a wedding band or engagement ring. The quality of the ring was truly exceptional, matching the same clarity, quality, and size of the baguettes on my engagement ring. Thank you so very much for creating the band I will be wearing forever!”

It was truly a pleasure working with Alexandra in making her wedding band that would fit and look perfect against her vintage engagement ring. We cannot stress her advice of being as specific as possible of your vision of the finished product enough. Alexandra shared many photos and drawings which helped us be on the same page and enabled us to deliver the ring that she wanted! We also cannot agree more with her advice of not making the wedding ring a last minute thing. Get your wedding band done early like Alexandra did and spend that time envisioning wearing it on your BIG day versus stressing about still having to get it made.

The wax model of the band to show Alexandra the bands curvature and hit it will fit against her engagement ring.

We love Alexandra’s vision of the ring as a symbolism of her relationship as her past, present and the future to come in addition to the circle of love the wedding ring itself stands for. We truly wish Alexandra and her husband the happily ever after of their dreams!

Cheers! And please don’t hesitate to share the meaning behind your jewelry pieces!

Meaning of Jewelry – Mother’s Garden of Love

Posted on May 14, 2017May 14, 2017 by Harvinder C. Maniar

14 May

Robert Browning said it perfectly. “Motherhood: All love begins and ends there”. When I think of motherhood, I think of selfless love and care and the best friend who is the first person you turn to for any sort of advice and support. No matter how old we get, we all tend to yearn for that motherly love and affection that we know will make things better and give us the familiar feeling of home. To all the mothers reading, you have my utmost respect for everything you do and I wish you the best this Mother’s Day.

In HCM Diamonds, I consider myself blessed to be a part of a mother’s story when her loved one buys them jewelry as a gesture of gratitude for everything they do. In this segment of ‘Meaning of Jewelry’, we celebrate with Meenu Klar, who is a mother to two beautiful girls ages 2.5 years and just 2.5 months!

We asked Meenu the following questions –

When did you get your Mother’s Day surprise?

“My earrings were a gift from my husband for my first Mother’s Day, a pair of round cut diamond studs. What I loved about them even more is that they came with halo jackets signifying the new sunshine in our lives! I can wear the earrings as just round studs or with the halo jacket”.

The halo jackets that came with the studs.

What was your reaction when you first received your jewelry?

“The gesture of the earrings made me feel very appreciated and loved. So much of life changes when you have a kid; you evolve from being just husband and wife to being parents. The earrings were not just a reminder of the love between my husband and I, but also a reminder of the love we both have for the new life we created. I simply loved the earrings and wore them right away and have been wearing them since”.

Close up photos of Meenu rocking the Earrings with the round halo jackets.

What meaning does your jewelry have for you?

“Every time I look at the earrings, they remind me of my oldest daughter. The earrings take me back to my first Mother’s day – the year of so many learnings and so much love. They remind me of the newly added sunshine in my life that can rejuvenate me even after a long and tiring day.

I am getting new jackets this Mother’s Day for my second daughter who was born just a few months back. Growing up, I remember my dad would call my siblings and me his diamonds, and only after becoming a mother myself have I realized what it means to be a parent and how precious children can be.

One of my hobbies is gardening, and just like my father used to call his kids diamonds, I like to think of my daughters as flowers and think of myself as their gardener. The new jackets are flower shaped and I totally loved them as soon as I saw the design and asked HCM Diamonds to make them for me. The new flower shaped jackets are perfect Mother’s Day gift that I will cherish forever along with my initial studs and the halo/sunshine jacket. These will complete my garden of love”.

Meenu’s earrings with the new Flower shaped jackets.

Is this something you will pass onto your daughters?

“The nice thing about having daughters is that it gives you more reasons to buy timeless diamond jewelry as you know that they will continue to give even more life and meaning to the jewelry for years to come. Yes, my daughters will certainly have these earrings as a reminder of the garden of love we have created and to keep nurturing it further”.

We love this Mother’s Day story of Meenu’s Garden of Love. We love how Meenu has created so much versatility around her initial Mother’s Day gift by adding a new flower shaped jacket to fit the changes in her lives and her gardenlike vision of her family. We truly wish Meenu and her family the happiest of Mother’s Day.

We would like to close with the words of Rudyard Kipling, “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers”. A very Happy Mother’s Day to all beautiful mothers out there.

Meaning of Jewelry – Story of Passion, Baseball and Resilience

Posted on April 20, 2017April 23, 2017 by Harvinder C. Maniar

20 Apr

April is a very special month for me because it was during this month in 2010 that I first met my husband, Chintan Maniar. Since then, I have not just associated April with Spring or our ‘dating anniversary’, but also as the start of the Baseball season. It is not because I always followed baseball, but because my husband completely loves the sport and is a passionate fan of his team – Boston Red Sox. And passion can sometimes be contagious!

Since our first date, Chintan has made his love for baseball transparent, especially for the Boston Red Sox in particular. How does someone who grew up in India and lives in the Bay Area have Boston Red Sox as their favorite baseball team, I asked. He explained how he first got introduced to the sport and how he fell in love with the history of the Red Sox. But, it’s what happened next that told me that this guy was serious and perhaps the most passionate person I had ever met in my life – Chintan pulled out his custom made diamond and ruby pendant with the Redsox logo. He left me in awe and admiration for his passion.

Some photos of Chintan at the Red Sox game.

Chintan does not miss a single game when his Red Sox are in town to play against the Oakland A’s.

Proud fan!

I have been fortunate to get to know the game of baseball with him (although I support local) and to share in his passion for the sport over the years.

Since it is April and Baseball is in full swing, we caught up with Chintan and learned more about his passion for the Red Sox and the meaning behind his sports pendant.

So, we asked Chintan the following questions –

When did you first get your pedant?

“I first got this pendant back when Red Sox won the World Series in 2004. My dad wanted to give me a piece of memento that I would remember forever and would always have it on me”.

What was your first reaction to it? Did you wear it right away?

“I was blown away not just by the gift/gesture but also by the significance of it. Growing up over the years, my parents would usually gift me pieces of jewelry for birthday gifts or special occasions. However, for the most part, I would wear those pieces for a few months and either put it away in the safe or switch it up with a different piece of jewelry or just not wear any jewelry at all. Alas, all of this came to complete halt when I got my Red Sox pendant. The day I got it, I put it on right away and I have never taken it off. I have been wearing the same pendant for over 13 years”.

The pendant literally has not come off. Here are some places its been…

Our Engagement shoot in Carmel, CA.

Snorkeling adventure in Mauai.

On our honeymoon in St. Marteen.

What meaning does the pendant have for you?

“Two words that describe the significance of this pendant is: resiliency & passion. I look at this pendant every morning when I am getting ready and it reminds me of all the history & resiliency that my family had to go through to achieve the American dream. Just like the Red Sox had to overcome 86 years of championship drought. My parents did not speak a single word of English and took a leap of faith to come to USA to achieve the American Dream for their kids. It reminds me of all the hard work that the entire Maniar family has put in and still does to ensure we never forget the feeling of winning. Just like the Red Sox, I am a passionate person. And I could not have been more excited to say that, they are the first team in the 21st century to win 3 World Series trophies. I do not have 3 championships, but my own resiliency and passion have brought me many successes in my life – my college degree, my first luxury car at the age of 24, my first home at the age of 27, my several promotions in my career to name a few. I have put my blood, sweat & tears in all aspects of my life that I am truly passionate about. I love having my Red Sox pendant that keeps me close to my passions and continues to teach me resilience as I navigate through life”.

Any anecdotes/stories with your pedant?

“Anytime people question my loyalty to the Red Sox since I grew up in Bay Area, all I have to do is pull out this pendant and it does the job. I am proud to be wearing this pendant daily & love the power that comes with it”.

Close up of the pendant that gets pulled out each time Chintan’s loyalty is questioned.

Is this a piece you would hand down to your future kids?

“I would totally hand this down to my future kids once HCM diamonds makes a new piece for me that would have just as much significance as this Red Sox pendant does ;)”

This is such a beautiful story of how a piece of jewelry can be so instrumental in keeping not just sports history close to heart, but also family history and resiliency close to heart and keeping the passion alive. It also goes to show how sports can become a very integral part of our lives and remind us of our own struggles and teach us virtues such as resiliency and passion.

Hope to see you all at the ball game! Please do not hesitate to send us stories of the meaning behind your jewelry pieces.