Tale of the engagement ring

These are my mother's hands.

I've never seen another engagement like hers. At the time of their engagement Dad was a marine engineer and his home port was Hong Kong. They didn't see each other often as she was in Auckland, New Zealand (where they both came from).

It become known that Dad intended to propose to Mum. The wife of the ship's captain took Dad to a well regarded jeweler in Hong Kong. Dad knew Mum's preference for a ring with filigree around it.

Dad chose the design, the jeweler made it and when Dad returned to Auckland he passed through customs wearing the ring between his toes!

Yes, we can't help our genetics ;-)

It's a great story, completely true and one I thought I'd share with you (along with my mothers beautiful hands).

Edit: Mum says she didn't see Dad for 2 years and 3 months, but they wrote to each other constantly. When she next saw him she said "yes", before the end of the first day he was ashore.

Edit no. 2: The ring started life in 1951 :-)