Diamonds are a girl's best friend

There is something of a tradition in expat circles (and beyond) that when a female consents to allow her body to be used to create the next generation she is rewarded in diamonds (because the gift of a child clearly isn't sufficient to make up for the 9 months of discomfort). Most of my friends in HK who have had babies have been lavished with rings, earrings and all manner of sparkly items from their husbands and boyfriends to thank them for bringing life into the world. Never one to shy away from all things sparkly, I have been rather looking forward to this part of the whole pregnancy and baby thing.

However, after a year, and one trip to Tiffany's with the Boy when even I nearly fainted at the prices, we took the bull by the horns when we were in London and went to De Beers. It seemed sensible to take advantage of the combined whammy of the pound being very weak and getting the VAT back. Sadly, there was nothing I liked and I was very put off by the sales agent who seemed to think that someone in jeans dragging a baby around couldn't possibly afford their rings. Silly, silly her.

Anyway, the Boy was flagging in enthusiasm about all of this and I was starting to wonder whether spending a small fortune on a huge ring was really a good idea during a global recession and when we need to buy a bigger apartment.

So, today, I went and bought my baby ring. It is a lovely silver, chunky ring (thereby not upstaging my engagement ring) from Bulgari. It is a fraction of the cost of the diamonds and limited edition for the Bulgari 125 year celebration.

And the best bit is that for this particular ring 20% of the cost is made as a donation to Save the Children. Wholly fitting for a ring that celebrates the birth of my particular child. See here for a pretty picture.

The Boy will be refunding me the cost shortly.