What Kind of Ring are You Getting?

[Indylady]

Vc10um, I think tearing up is a pretty good sign you''ve found the one!

 

[Indylady]

Date: 4/22/2010 10:22:13 PM
Author: LtlFirecracker

Date: 4/22/2010 7:30:30 PM

Author: IndyLady

I wish I knew what kind of ring I wanted! My SO and I have been looking, and finding ''the one'' is hard. We know what we don''t want, but we haven''t found what we do want. I need to start an inspiration folder.



So tell me, how did you ladies find ''the one'' when it came to your ring? Did you start with inspiration pics, did you dream it up, was it a style that already exists? Did you worry about durability when it came to long term wear? Did you worry about costs? Did you put more into the center stone, or the setting? Or rather, did he chose the ring ring without any input?

I was just lurking on this thread, but I thought I would try to help. I figured out what I wanted for my center stone and let my FI know. I have always had a hard time figuring out a setting. Well, I guess he figured that out because he proposed to me with the stone of my dreams and let me pick out my setting.


Fast forward 5 months, I still don''t know....I am going to see some next week. I have always known what I wanted for a wedding band, so I am going backwards. I am having the band made first than the e-ring.


Other factors. I want platinum, I need something that will stand up to kids (a moderate ring, I think pave is too delicate, but a bezel is overkill). I want sometime simple, elegant, timeless with clean lines.


I would start by finding the perfect stone. Especially with colored stones, they are so individual that sometimes they tell you how they need to be set. Than I would write a few adjectives you would want another person to use when talking about your ring, than go from there.....

I think Freke had a similar experience, in which she knew what kind of band she wanted before she choose her e-ring setting. Its also something she told me to keep in mind as I chose a setting...it was definitely good advice, because I hadn''t even thought to think that far ahead.

I like your idea of coming up with a few adjectives. I think I want along the lines of what you''ve mentioned: elegant, yet strong. Since I''m most interested in colored stones, I think it makes the process that much more difficult. Let me know if come across a nice ruby in the near future

.

 

[Indylady]

Date: 4/23/2010 10:56:05 AM
Author: RaiKai

Date: 4/22/2010 7:30:30 PM

Author: IndyLady

I wish I knew what kind of ring I wanted! My SO and I have been looking, and finding ''the one'' is hard. We know what we don''t want, but we haven''t found what we do want. I need to start an inspiration folder.



So tell me, how did you ladies find ''the one'' when it came to your ring? Did you start with inspiration pics, did you dream it up, was it a style that already exists? Did you worry about durability when it came to long term wear? Did you worry about costs? Did you put more into the center stone, or the setting? Or rather, did he chose the ring ring without any input?

Hey Indy!


I have never really been a big jewelery wearer. Especially not rings! I have a few I have received as gifts over the years and I can wear them occasionally...but the idea of wearing one DAILY FOREVER was intimidated to me!


When DH and I were engaged, we had never discussed rings beforehand. Then we opted for a really short engagement period. I was totally clueless about rings, really, albeit I knew I leaned towards a sapphire. So, I just skipped an engagement ring altogether at the time rather than rush into something. I did find a sapphire and diamond that I intended to wear ''forever'' as my wedding ring. However, once I started wearing it after we were married, I decided it was not that comfortable and there are a few things I was unhappy with about it with the setting.....so my search began.


DH and I both still wanted a sapphire with diamond side stone combination. And really, I LIKED a lot of things about my wedding ring - like the white gold, the fluidity, that it is feminine yet somewhat understated so I wanted to carry some of those things through. I can say I looked at what must of been THOUSANDS of rings online, in stores, etc. I am SO picky about settings. I found lots I liked....but would of wanted changes. I ended up finally going the custom route - the setting (both rings) could be custom done just as I liked for around the same price many of the ones I ''almost liked'' were.


So, to more specifically answer your questions....


Did you start with inspiration pics, did you dream it up, was it a style that already exists?


It was a combination of a lot of inspiration pieces and ideas, as well as knowledge of what *I* would enjoy wearing (appearance AND comfort wise for my very active lifestyle) and what was attractive to me. I ''dreamed it up'' from that but also managed to choose a designer who already had several of those elements I wanted already ''in design'' so I could take some of their elements and mix them in the way I dreamed up.


Did you worry about durability when it came to long term wear?


Absolutely. I have a very active lifestyle. For example while pave is very pretty - it just does not work for my lifestyle (my original band had a small amount of pave). I had diamonds flush set into the bands instead (scattered band style).


I did not want platinum or palladium either as I did not want to worry about the dents and patina (just not my preference). I went with a white gold/palladium alloy. I also did not want really thin bands. I went with 3mm each as they just seem more...steady....or something.


I have NO intention of ever replacing these rings (barring an accident or something of course!) so long term wear was important. I did not quite go as far as getting a bezel (though I thought about it!) though as I do like prong settings appearance wise so I did not go ALL for practicality!



Did you worry about costs?


Yes. DH and I are both on a very, very tight budget right now. While I have a good job - DH took early retirement from the military to go back to school so I am the sole breadwinner right now. If we had gotten engaged when he was still making money we could have afforded together a honking ring..ha ha (though that does not mean I would have wanted one!). I also have a lot of student loan debt from law school. And we paid for our own wedding. I only had the ''room'' from my tax return for the rings.


Which was originally why I avoided custom...I thought it might be too prohibitive!


That being said, cost was also a concern as I am not personally comfortable spending a WHOLE lot of money on a ring. It''s just not my own priorities, even if I did have a money tree there are other things I would direct that money too.


Did you put more into the center stone, or the setting?


Well, as verboten as it is on PS....for THIS ring I went with a created sapphire (with natural diamond side stones). I did take a lot of time to find it though, as not all created stones are created alike! It is absolutely beautiful (not glassy at all - nice dreamy blue, and precision cut, so very interesting!).


So, the setting actually did cost about 5x more!


Or rather, did he chose the ring ring without any input?


No. I chose my rings (both my original and this set). However, definitely with input from him (with my new set for example he was the one who really wanted a sapphire again to compliment his ring). Though ultimately, he always encouraged me to get what worked for me since I was the one wearing it.


I have no doubt that he would have picked something beautiful though if he had picked something all on his own, it was just not our relationship style or individual style to do something like that.

Raikai, thank you for your response! Hearing a through breakdown really helped a lot. I think its really interesting that you opted to purchase your ring after the engagement...it really gives me something to consider. I started another thread on this in LIW, but my SO and I will be long distance for a year and we''re considering a promise ring. I wonder if it might just be easier to buy our wedding rings now, and wear that as an engagement ring so we can take our time when it comes to finding the perfect engagement ring. That way, we wouldn''t have to get a promise ring, and would actually save a little money in the long run since we''d wouldn''t be buying three separate rings. Hmnnn....definitely something to consider.

 

[DuckLovingVegan]

I finally found the ring I want after changing it a billion times. I kept seeing all these different settings so I had to know all my options. I discovered that I love thick band rings which works out with my size 7 finger. B/F was like how to do you double the ring budget the first ring I wanted was like 2,000 but now it''s more like 6,000. I told him to blame it on pricescope and it''s true lol. Anyway its a whiteflash tiffany style bead set ring with ACA diamonds in the band. I''ll probably get an ACA H&A 0.80-0.84 round for the center stone. I love the ring I just hope b/f gets it for me one day.

 

[DuckLovingVegan]

The ring didn''t post for some reason hopefully it''ll work this time.

 

[anela]

I think I''ve made up my mind...until I see another picture of a beautiful ring. I went from RB to Asscher to cushion, now back to RB (I think). I know that I want a three or five stone ring and a really thin shank. I definitely want a Leon Mege setting. Other than that, my answer will be different any given day...

 

[DiamondCat]

i''ve always loved the look of a rb solitaire and that''s what i''d like as an engagement ring. the hard part is figuring out the setting!! i can''t decide between 6 prongs or 4. i''d probably get a 3/4 diamond, which is big enough for me because my ring size is 3. im just having the hardest time ever deciding on a setting. SO likes rb solitaires too but he''s not as picky as me when it comes to settings.

oh and my first love is the tiffany solitaire