GBE2 Week 12: 2 Rings

This week's GBE2 theme is a picture prompt:

They were both quite old when they met, and neither of them had any expectations. She'd had 3 kids from 2 previous relationships....he had a son from a previous marriage. It turned out to be a match made in heaven. They had lived together happily for 3 years when he got offered a lucrative job in the USA. It seemed like a good opportunity to make some money out of his extensive experience within the IT industry. And they do say that travel broadens the mind.

'Tiny' was a giant of a man that had established a reputation as a fair and wonderfully artistic jeweller within the local community. He stood about 6ft 4ins tall, and at least 4 ft wide. But despite his great size, he had over the years created some exquisitely fine jewelery, and charged very reasonable prices for his creations.

She had gazed in at Tiny's shop over the years with wonder, and with an artistic appreciation of his talents. Before heading for the USA, they would get married. It would need to be done for the sake of her youngest daughter who would be coming with them. But in any case it felt right for them both.

And so she suggested that Tiny should be their ringmaker. They visited the shop the next weekend, and liked a lot of what was on display, but nothing grabbed them both. For one thing she preferred to wear silver rather than gold, and was looking for something simple yet elegant. Tiny was not in the shop at the time, and so they arranged to come back when he would be there.

Tiny listened to her ideas and offered lots of helpful suggestions. Eventually they settled on the idea of having 2 matching bands made out of 'white gold', a mixture of 18 carat gold, platinum and rhodium. His would be a plain band, hers had 5 alternating small diamonds and sapphires inset into the ring.

The magic that those rings exert continues to this day.

Tiny died about 5 years ago, his big warm heart no longer able to cope with his larger than life body. Several thousand people attended his funeral, most of them wearing pieces of beautiful and original jewellery that he had made.

And although the shop has been taken over and is now selling new-age/bric-a-brac, to many Colchester residents, it will always be known as Tiny's place.