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Wanting to Propose: Would a CZ be OK for now?

Jackofdiamonds-
I was with my Fiance for 8 years (high school sweethearts) before he proposed. We had our priorities in order...finish school, start our careers, then get married when we can support ourselves. I wanted the commitment of the engagement, but I also had a dream ring in mind. So I told him, if you are waiting to propose because you cannot afford my dream ring then propose with a CZ. The day he proposed was a complete surprise and when he opened the ring box I saw my dream ring in front of me. While still on his knee he told me it was a CZ but that he would get me the diamond as soon as he could afford one of the quality and size he would have wanted me to have. I was over the moon because of the commitment, not because I had a diamond to show off. But I did have a sparkling incredible ring on my finger. I showed off my ring proudly and no one EVER asked me if it were real. And if they were to ever ask, I would tell them proudly that it was a CZ until we could afford the perfect diamond to go with my beautiful setting. I never felt like I had a ring of lesser value. I had a beautiful ring, of a large size and I knew that I would get to keep the ring he proposed with when we could afford the diamond instead of the upgrade being to an entirely new ring. I stare at my ring everyday and smile because it is so beautiful and I get compliments very frequently!!

Your girlfriend is going to be on cloud nine because of the proposal. Be honest with her, and make good on your promise to get the real diamond when you can afford it. You two can start planning your future together now and not have to stress on finances. I think your decision was a great one, good luck!!
 
Dreamer_D said:
And to those who think no one will ask about the ring, I say C'mon! A 1.5ct D color diamond (that's what CZ's are) in a very ornate and fancy setting? You think no one will commment when she is newly engaged? Not to ask if it is real, perhaps, but certainly to talk about it and ask about it, like Circe says, and then she will either have to tell the truth or lie, and she may not be comfortable with either. And I suspect they will talk about how much it probably cost behind her back, since a real ring of those specs would cost about $30k, which is a lot for a very young couple, and hopefully this will not make her uncomfortable either.

To the OP: Good luck! I truly hope she loves it.
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of course they will...we all know that women must gossip about their friend's Ering... :bigsmile:
 
jackofdiamonds said:
Ok, guys thx everybody for your thoughts. I've taken the middle way as Buddha would say... I've placed my order for the ring with Canera with a 1.5ct CZ yesterday, I ordered the ring in platinum. I'm going to propose with this ring in the next couple of weeks. Before the wedding, I'm going to have a center stone popped into it. This will give me enough time to put a few bucks together for the stone without going into debt. They've very kindly offered to have the stones swapped out for me free of charge. I've gotten another picture of the ring from them. It's going to be shipped to me tomorrow I think, that was the sample that they had in stock. So all in all I'm happy and I think my girlfriend is going to be stoked. Thanks again.
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If you know the setting is the "one", then I say go for it. An idea might be to set the ring with a pretty gemstone. Then you can reset the gemstone into a pendant or something when you have the diamond set in her ring. I like this idea because then she gets to keep the stone you originally proposed with. I don't know when you are actually getting married, or if it gives you enough time to save up, but making a pendant out of the original stone could be a wedding gift, or if the gemstone is blue, it could be her something blue. I would think that was pretty cool. Plus then I think it would be a bigger difference visually when you replace the stone too (even if the final diamond is a little smaller than the gemstone). I was in the minority here I think.... My setting was actually A LOT harder to find than the diamond. I upgraded my setting first (the setting was worth more than the diamond I had set in it). I did make sure the setting would accommodate the stone size I wanted in the end (the head of the setting could be replaced).

Just another viewpoint.
 
sooo... I was actually confronted with a large CZ ring the bathroom at a club! lol... while washing my hands in the bathroom at a bar this weekend, I noticed the girl next to me had my EXACT ring but the main stone was at least a solid carat larger than mine.(mine is a 1.55 D RB) I couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh my gosh, that is goregous!" to that she replied- "oh it's fake.... to ward off guys I am not interested in!"

It was a goregous ring, and honestly, at that point in time I could not tell it was CZ from looking at it- BUT on the other hand when I showed my 1.55 RB ring off to friends and soo MANY asked- if you don't mind- how big is that? and one friend who was a former tiffany employee said- WOW the color of that diamond is amazing, what color is it? So I have been met with questions from people not meaning to be rude but honestly impressed and curious about the ring/stone.

It's up to everyone with how comfortable they are with the idea of a CZ. I wish you the best of luck Jack! PLEASE post pics of the ring and let us know how the proposal went! :bigsmile:
 
What is "canera"? How do I find the website. I love the ring "jackofdiamonds" posted. I HAVE to see it again!
 
First - why are we still talking about CZ's. Pricescope is not for CZ's and it clearly states that. Second, since this thread is, I guess, special compared to all the other CZ threads I'll throw out my 2 cents. If you buy high quality CZ's, nobody knows! Really. I wear them a lot because I'm a klutz and damage things easily. People always comment on my "diamond" (they're H/I colored ideal cut CZs). If her friends ask she can also just say, "oh, we sourced a diamond but it hasn't arrived yet and he wanted me to have the ring to wear until it gets here"
 
Thanks everybody. I guess yeah my gut feeling in the beginning was correct. I'm eyeing a 1.5ct I-VS2 stone that canera has in stock at the moment. Might put a deposit on it...

imsommer said:
What is "canera"? How do I find the website. I love the ring "jackofdiamonds" posted. I HAVE to see it again!
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www.canera.com.. The designer\owner is Victor Canera.
Here's an email that I got from him describing how they manufacture the jewelry, this was finally broke me down to get the ring...

"Hi Jack, thanks for your interest in our jewelry. You'd be pleased to know that our jewelry is completely hand fabricated using almost forgotten jewelry manufacturing techniques. That means that we don't work on waxes, we don't cast our jewelry. Everything from the shank to the tiny wires of the ring are made by hand for that individual piece. Some rings for example are made from dozens of individual wires and plates that are assembled together to complete the piece. A good comparison would be a custom made suit as opposed to off the rack clothing. The tailor cuts the fabric around the wearer, taking his measurements and proportions. This is the purest definition of the term "hand made". Some other designer manufacturers push the term while only assembling the prongs lets say of a ring by hand while casting the other parts. Anyway, the point of this, is that the finished piece is unique to each and every stone that's set in it. The pieces are completely symmetrical. The metal doesn't have blemishes that casting introduces. The pieces are lighter than cast pieces. Every nook and cranny of the piece is clean, free of imperfections because they were individual pieces to start with that were cleaned and later put together.
Also, if your fiancee isn't happy with the ring, I'll be happy to exchange it for you for another item that we have in stock.

All the best,
Victor CANERA"
 
Congratulations on making a decision, Jack! And thanks for posting the link to Canera. Very impressive work.
 
Get a 3-4K diamond in a simple band and upgrade the stone later when you have the cash. Someone probably already suggested this. . .so if so, I second that suggestions. ;)
 
MC said:
Get a 3-4K diamond in a simple band and upgrade the stone later when you have the cash. Someone probably already suggested this. . .so if so, I second that suggestions. ;)
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Well that way you would have to upgrade both the ring and the stone. Anyway, I've pulled the trigger and I'm happy with my purchase. I should have the ring on Monday. I've set a target for myself of getting the stone in 3 months, we'll still have a nice stone by the wedding so, it's cool.
 
Please keep the thread focused on the question at hand. Discussions about the pros and cons of CZ will be removed per the forum policies.
 
I would prefer to wear a plain gold band than a cz any day....
 
ok well let us know if you need help in finding a nice diamond! good luck to you and i hope your intended loves the setting :)
 
The things I would do are:
1) Discuss with GF to see if she would be happy about having a CZ as a temp stone in a forever setting.
2) Show her pic of the setting to confirm her liking it.
3) Buy the best quality CZ if she is happy about the plan.

The things I would not do are:
1) Borrow money you don't have to buy something to impress.
2) Keeping your GF in the dark about your dilema.
3) Going all the way out in spending without considering the potential consequences of living outside of your means.
 
jackofdiamonds said:
Ok, so here's the situation. I want to propose to my girlfriend of 5 years. Problem is that our budget is pretty tight at the moment. What I was planning on doing is actually to get a really nice mounting but with a 1.5ct CZ in the middle for now. When finances allow, we'd reset a real diamond there. Would this be a really awful thing to do to a girlfriend or not? That's my question I guess. The thing is, is that I'm going to be getting a really nice mounting that 's going to cost about 3-4K which I really really like, that I've found from a jeweler I've been speaking to. I'm just thinking that it would be easier to buy a nice mounting and upgrade the stone as opposed to the other way around. What do you guys think?

Thx
Jack
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You had your mind made up before you posted, which is fine. What do I think? I think this was a social experiment. But of course I could be dead wrong. Congratulations and good luck. :appl:
 
Why is this thread in Hangout now?
 
heraanderson said:
Why is this thread in Hangout now?
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My guess is because it is no longer about buying a diamond so it doesn't belong in RT.

OP, I have to ask out of my own curiosity.. Do you plan on telling her it is a CZ before or after you propose?
 
hawaiianorangetree said:
heraanderson said:
Why is this thread in Hangout now?
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My guess is because it is no longer about buying a diamond so it doesn't belong in RT.

OP, I have to ask out of my own curiosity.. Do you plan on telling her it is a CZ before or after you propose?
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or never?... :devil:
 
zhuzhu said:
The things I would do are:
1) Discuss with GF to see if she would be happy about having a CZ as a temp stone in a forever setting.
2) Show her pic of the setting to confirm her liking it.
3) Buy the best quality CZ if she is happy about the plan.

The things I would not do are:
1) Borrow money you don't have to buy something to impress.
2) Keeping your GF in the dark about your dilema.
3) Going all the way out in spending without considering the potential consequences of living outside of your means.
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+1.

I would be very cross if I found out my SO had spent more than he could comfortably afford on a ring. And yes, borrowing (even from your father) is spending more than you could comfortably afford.

Chat to your GF. Maybe she'd be happy with a CZ, maybe she would prefer a smaller diamond and upgrade later. Many of the women on this forum were engaged with a "starter" diamond. Some of them kept the starter diamond as a memento of their early relationship.

But hey, every girl is different. Chat to you GF. Fish. Find out what she would prefer.
 
I'm also curious to know whether he will tell his girlfriend that her ring is a CZ. That part was never discussed by him, which is probably the most important aspect, in my opinion.
 
jackofdiamonds said:
Hi, Definitely going to do the full disclosure about the stone not being a diamond.:) My budget is more like 3K range right now. I'm still debating at the moment as to what to do so. I have the mounting picked out, I've even have a nice 1.5ct Diamond that I can pull the trigger on. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and possibly do some kind of financing or something. We'll see. I'm going to have the ring by next week and I'll post in the forums to get you guys' opinion.
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If you read his SECOND post in this thread he made it clear he was not going to pretend his CZ is a diamond.
 
Thanks Deia...totally overlooked that. This was such a long thread, I missed that part. :twirl:

Glad the OP is fully disclosing!!
 
No problem :)

I think Jack has really good intentions with all of his planning (minus the borrowing money part - I would not do that for a ring) but unfortunately he stumbled on the wrong forum for his current situation. He would have had a much smoother time here had he come here a few months down the line having already proposed with his CZ holding Canera ring ready to upgrade to a diamond... but oh well I hope he seeks our help again when it's time for him :)
 
jackofdiamonds said:
Every nook and cranny of the piece is clean, free of imperfections because they were individual pieces to start with that were cleaned and later put together.
Victor CANERA"
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:confused:
 
Nevermind... ;)
 
Hopefully you'll show us hand pictures when U propose :)) .

Btw life is so much easier for men in Europe... we don't care that much about diamonds, engagement rings are usually with CZ, gemstones or there isn't any ER, interesting how different our cultures are :))
 
Sorry I did not see this thread sooner. I had a 1ct cz in a 14kt yg solitaire setting as an engagement ring. It was my idea. I got engaged in the late 1980s. My goal was to buy a house and furnish it by the time DH and I got married. So we bought a house and furnished it without a mortgage or any loans. No one except for DH and myself ever knew. No one asked. I always got compliments.

After about 10 years DH and I upgraded our wedding bands as they were getting pretty worn. So at 10 years I opted for a 5 stone band and DH also got diamonds in his new band. Then last year after 20 years I got my new engagement ring with a 1.5+ ct center diamond and a new setting. I still wear my old engagement ring at times. It is the ring that my DH said he would love me and be with me forever.

So the stone or the setting did not matter. It was what the ring represented that made me fall in love with it.
 
Wow, I should have know people have strong feelings about CZ since posting here. I've mentioned already that I'd definitely tell my girlfriend it's a CZ. I don't think I'd be able to look her in the eye anymore if I didn't. I'm slowly going to start looking around for a 1.5ct stone from now, probably in the I-VS2 or H-SI1 range. I did take people's financial advice in not taking a loan or anything. Being a banker that's kind of like saying don't eat candy to a candy shop owner but hey, you guys are right. I'm still paying off my student loans so... I'll post pics of the ring when I get it.
 
jackofdiamonds said:
I did take people's financial advice in not taking a loan or anything. Being a banker that's kind of like saying don't eat candy to a candy shop owner but hey, you guys are right. I'm still paying off my student loans so... I'll post pics of the ring when I get it.
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Good bankers take out loans to invest in ventures that will (hopefully) earn more than the interest paid. Not the case in a diamond :bigsmile:
 
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