from a guy''s perspective

[samkongado]

Don''t worry it''s ok I play devil''s advocate all the time! Anyway, I''m almost positive she will like the setting I''ve chosen. What I''ve gotten from her is that she likes basic simple jewelery, "classic" designs as she calls them, and that she wants the diamond to appear a little more flush with the ring so the diamond doesn''t appear to stick out as much (hence the cathedral setting). She''s never been into jewelery too much, doesn''t know the first thing about it, and I know that she''s comfortable letting me choose these types of things. So I feel "reasonably" secure with my choice! I think once I see it in person I will know for sure whether or not she''ll like it. Until then, I just have to use my imagination with how it will look, just from the pics on the website.

 

[TBeck2000]

^^ Sounds like she has given you some direction on what she wants. WF''s Sleek Lines Platinum setting looks to be a great bargain at only $549. I had looked at it before I changed my plan of attack.

I was a little bit in the same situation as you. I knew I was going to be proposing, but I never mentioned much about it to my gf (tried to keep it 100% a surprise like you). I had picked out a nice 3 stone ring with a diamond in the middle and 2 round blue sapphires on the side. It looked a lot like this:

I had the cash ready and I had sourced the diamond and sapphires. I would have bought it if my girlfriend hadn''t told me about a dream she had one night. She said that I had proposed and it was not at all like she expected. She loved the proposal, but apparently the ring was hideous (to her). She said that it was high tech and had all kinds of clasps to attach and a safety chain. She also said that I had picked some sort of synthetic material as the center stone instead of a diamond. She was getting very upset at this point in the story. She said that she had always dreamed about a Marquise cut and couldn''t see herself wearing any other shape.

At this point, I realized that she needed to be more involved in the process. After all, she is going to be wearing this for a long time (I hope). I needed to know her expectations so that I didn''t disappoint (i.e. Is 0.75ct enough or was she expecting more?). One Saturday, we spent the afternoon reading a couple of diamond buying books that I picked up on Amazon.com. We''ve talked a bit about settings and how she would like it to look. I don''t think this has spoiled the surprise at all. She knows that something''s going to be happening soon, but she doesn''t know much more than the cut of her center stone.

Good luck with the ring purchase. It can be a bit overwhelming if you try to do it all alone.

 

[Blenheim]

Sam

It''s great that you''re trying to get a feel for what kind of jewelry your girlfriend likes. It''s really important to keep her tastes in mind, because (as TBeck pointed out) she''s hopefully going to be wearing it for a very long time. However, are you basing what you know about her tastes on her everyday jewelry, or on what she has said about engagement rings? I''ve seen several threads about girls who never even wear jewelry dreaming and dreaming of their e-ring, because it''s their first big piece of jewelry and it has a lot of sentiment attached to it. If your girlfriend is talking about how high or low she wants the diamond set, she''s probably thought about the ring more than just "do I want a solitaire or a three stone?"

That being said, if you''re absolutely sure that she is comfortable leaving the decision up to you, you''re probably fine.