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Surrey, Canada
October 2005
M&M: You know we could do that whole Claire's ring better
than the last attempt!
JaniceM: Should we try? I'm meeting up with Diana when I go
to Phoenix in the spring, I could ask her in person.
That's
basically how it started. The rings were attempted back
in 2000 by someone else with not verra good results. The whole first
ring project
was a nightmare for the lass that headed it, and the lasses that were
buying a ring. In that spring of 2006 Janice met up with
Diana Gabaldon to ask if we could attempt to have the rings made again.
We really just wanted one for ourselves, but knew we would have to share! :-)
The first
attempt at Claire's ring.
Diana, being the verra generous soul she is, gave her permission for us
to give it a try. We searched out jewelers that were willing to work with
us and could handle the delicate interlace pattern. Although it looks
huge on the sketch, the pattern is very small and intricate.
Claire's
Ring sketch from "The Outlandish Companion" 
We
found a wonderful jeweler that was up to the task, sent them the sketch.
Informed them we wanted a sizing bar on the back of the ring so we could accommodate all sizes with just one ring mold. Ring molds are pricey!
One mold can only be half sized up or down.
Bob Kopf the graphic designer at deSignet sent us the pattern they would use and what the sizing bar
would look like.
We ask 50
friends from some of Diana Gabaldon's fan sites for a non-refundable deposit for a ring, we used this money to
pay for the ring mold and sample ring. In exchange they were given
the chance to order first. In 4 weeks we received our first sample ring. For us
it was a wonderful bit of fiction brought to life.
After we
received the sample ring we opened up ordering to Diana Gabaldon's fans.
We put messages on two fan sites to join a special Yahoo Group to
purchase the ring, and in five days had over 300 fans that wanted to
order and had to close the group to further members. We turned away
quite a number of fans because we couldn't accept any more names without
it overwhelming us.
In
addition to the cost of the ring, we added a small addition amount to
purchase gift rings for Diana and her daughters. We ended up
selling more rings than planned (lot's bought 2) and had a bit of extra
money left over. So we decided to buy Diana's whole family gifts.
Diana received a white gold Claire's Ring, her two daughters received
silver, her husband Doug was given a beautiful kilt pin, and her son was
given a Celtic dragon key chain, all custom made by deSignet just for
them. We did not have enough money to
buy all of Diana's pets a gift. *g*
click on picture to make larger
Janice and myself did this as a project of love
for the Outlander Series, and wanted no profit from the rings. We still
had a bit of money left over so we decided to purchase and raffle off three Claire's
Rings. We collected over $1,100.00 for the Arizona
Literacy & Learning Center, based out of Diana's home state. Below is a picture of Diana picking out the raffle winners
at the Surrey Writers Conference in October 2006. 3 Lucky Winners
were chosen to receive a free ring, also 10 more names were picked
for a chance to order a ring and an autographed bookmark.
Another
thing happened at the Surrey Writer's Conference, Janice and I pulled
Diana aside and asked if we could repeat the project in 2007 with
some changes to save our sanity, and Diana said "Yes."
We
periodically post about the Claire's Rings on 3 Diana Gabaldon Fan Sites
Diana's
Compuserve Forum
Outlandish
Voices Yahoo Group
Ladies of Lallybroch
If you
happen to find this page and are a member of another Diana Gabaldon fan
site we have no objections to you posting about the rings. You do
not need to be a member of a fan site to order a ring. Anyone can
order!
If you have a question about the ring or ordering, please go to the
information site above, it has everything you want to know!
Thanks...especially you
Diana!
M&M and JaniceM
For
Claire's Ring Information and how to order a Claire's Ring
click HERE!
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