Utah jewelry company official designers of Bella's Engagement Ring® from Twilight series

which reminded her of the color of Edward's eyes. "I thought it would be neat if I could wear some piece of jewelry specifically for the books," she said.

She was surprised when Meyer answered her initial e-mail. "She would [e-mail] sketches of what she thought it should look like," Ashton said.

In designing theTwilight jewelry, she wanted to remain as true to Meyer's descriptions as possible. The original engagement ring was described only as gold in the third book, Eclipse. Ashton asked Meyer for permission to make the ring in white gold and sterling silver, as well as yellow gold.

Six hundred copies of the ring were released online on July 18, 2008 -- the day Bella and Edward get engaged in the series.

With 13 cubic zirconia stones bonded with 14k gold in the center, the ring is available in three styles: Fashion ($59) featuring a sterling-silver band, Fine ($499) with white or yellow gold and Genuine ($2,000) featuring real diamonds with a yellow or white gold band.

"We do sell the Genuine ring," Ashton said. "Some people have used it as their own engagement ring. In fact, one man wrote to me and said he decorated a room exactly the same way as Edward in the book and proposed with our ring."

Ashton, who manages orders and manufacturing, said the ring is sold in stores across the country, as well as Russia, England, Austria, Brazil and Japan. She said she decided to sell the ring in 2008 -- before the June 30, 2010, release date of "Eclipse" -- because the jewelry grows out of the phenomenon of the book series.

She'll give away a few rings at the Twilight Lexicon party Nov. 21 at South Jordan's Megaplex 20 theaters.

"Jewelry ties all the fans together," Ashton said. "It's something tangible they can have and share with one another."

agreenleigh@sltrib.com

 

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