How I mine for ring?

[Day]

idk about you but when I was buying an engagement ring last thing was really on my mind was how much it was going to be worth in 20 years. what kind of shitty self fulfilling attitude is that lol

[Callisto]

I'm kind of torn between being a traditionalist re: marriage but also being against buying a piece of decoration that is valued higher than my car when I have lots of real actual bills to deal with.

[Ksandra]

I'm kind of torn between being a traditionalist re: marriage but also being against buying a piece of decoration that is valued higher than my car when I have lots of real actual bills to deal with.

Again, you don't have to put down a hefty price to get a nice ring. If the ring looks nice, your gf is not really going to care about the cost.

The trick is finding the ring your gf thinks looks nice.

[Tokitoki]

I'm kind of torn between being a traditionalist re: marriage but also being against buying a piece of decoration that is valued higher than my car when I have lots of real actual bills to deal with.

I agree. It should also be a financial decision. If you are in debt from student loans/car loans/mortgage/all of the above or whatever it may be it is probably not a wise decision to spend a few grand on an engagement ring.

[Day]

We just talked about it together and I think that's probably what most healthy relationships do. It doesn't have to be like the movies where she has no clue you've even looked at a ring or whatever. You can pretty much pick it out together, she still won't know when you are going to ask. We came up with a budget and started looking at ring designs and gems she liked and went from there. We spent a lot of time on Gemvara website because they have a cool feature where you can change the metals and gems on all the rings. Was a lot of fun actually.

[ronin sparthos]

Basically comes down to shit is situational?

If you've been dating someone long enough to consider marriage then you should already have a good idea what type of woman she is for better or worse. Some women will appreciate a guy building a ring from scratch while others would berate you for not going to Jared or *insert your generic jeweler here*. Make the selection that is best for the woman you've paired off with, fits your budget without stressing you out and makes you both happy. You can't eat diamonds and a pretty ring isn't going to a change a reality where you're both bitching at each other about money problems.

Personally I'd bank the cash into a house or land and drop the ring down to 3rd or 4th priority if not lower but I'm not the one making those decisions now am I.

[Seraphyna]

True. My lady specifically didn't want a diamond. We went with our birthstones, and she loves it. Far from embarrassed when people ask about it, she loves showing it off. It's still a very nice ring.

I didn't want a diamond either. I mentioned in passing that I really liked Burmese rubies. That's what he ended up buying me.

As far as the op, you could always have something custom made since she likes filigree.

[Acevalefor]

Here's mine!




I am super happy with the way the pairing came out. It ended up being exactly what I wanted. :D

That's almost exactly what I got my wife. Her wedding band has 3 diamonds on each side of the main mount. She picked it out and it was only $1200 11 years ago.

[Aylee]

Not all women are into the bling. Pimped out honeymoon is becoming a bigger thing nowadays. People don't trust diamonds anymore.

buy that shit out of a 50 cent machine at the mall and go on a extended vacation some where.... with the money you spend on a diamond ring you could easily take a 7 day cruise to the Bahamas or something similar. On another note though if you are interested you can look into "enhanced" stones. What it is is basically a diamond that had a flaw inside of it somewhere they they laser out. Its not noticeable to the naked eye, only under a microscope and are significantly cheaper. That being said they have HORRIBLE resell value. When I bought my ex's ring I was able to get a .75 enhanced main stone with 2 .26 carrot stones on each side with a while gold band for $1500. Also jewelry stores jack the shit out of their prices just like car dealerships. If they are trying to sell it for 1500 offer them 1200-1300 and most of the time they will take it.

[Seraph]

buy that shit out of a 50 cent machine at the mall and go on a extended vacation some where....

When I proposed I actually presented her the ring inside one of those $0.50 capsules from those machines. Inside the ring was wrapped in tissue paper and the capsule was tinted so she couldn't tell what it was until she had the weight of the whole thing in her hand, but still, I thought it was funny. It was a black and orange colored capsule on Halloween too so she was quite surprised, was pretty badass. I would say that the ring presentation and 'the moment' might be even more important than the ring itself assuming you get a fancy ring at all.

[Aylee]

When I proposed I actually presented her the ring inside one of those $0.50 capsules from those machines. Inside the ring was wrapped in tissue paper and the capsule was tinted so she couldn't tell what it was until she had the weight of the whole thing in her hand, but still, I thought it was funny. It was a black and orange colored capsule on Halloween too so she was quite surprised, was pretty badass. I would say that the ring presentation and 'the moment' might be even more important than the ring itself assuming you get a fancy ring at all.

This

[archibaldcrane]

Here's what I got for my wife:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps0776bb0d.jpg
She liked the more "vintage, costume-y" look of the "halo" of diamonds around it.

We went to 4 or so stores in the LA jewelry district so I could get a feel of prices and what she liked, and then I bought it without her knowing. It was kind of funny, she would get so overwhelmed at the stores it was like her brain would turn off, but watching what styles she gravitated towards made the decision pretty easy for me.

[SephYuyX]

Has anyone mentioned yet that the correct way to shop for a ring is to let her pick the ring?

If you're with a real picky girl, she's going to be stuck with this thing forever, and you may think you know what her tastes are, but you're much better of shopping with her for the ring she really wants. Propose with a place holder, or something inventive, then go shopping with her. Even if she isn't picky.

The ring(s) I used to proposed to my wife with was her grandmas ring along with my grandmas ring, and then we went shopping together to pick out the ring of her choice. We used a stone from each grandmas ring, along with a new diamond.

Forgot I still had these in my bucket.

2 smaller, 1 bigger, split shank on the sides with several down it. The grandparents donating one diamond each made it much more reasonable for sure. Took maybe a month of shopping to find it, and ended up with a family owned jeweler. Had to custom make it for the size of the grandparents diamonds, and also do it in yellow gold. Seemingly everyone was really shocked we picked yellow gold.



Also true about the way you propose to her. I took her to the fanciest place in town (went there on our first serious date too), and then when we got back to her apartment I sprung a 2'x1' cross stitch (took 3+ months of all my free time) along with the rings. She didnt know what to do but freak out in excitment and happiness.

[wipers]

All this talk of marriage is depressing the hell out of me. Cue the forever alone meme.

[Manako]

Here we go! We got it at a "diamond exchange" some guy his family had been going to for years. He had like.. tackleboxes full of rings he kept picking out til we found one we couldn't refuse.

[SephYuyX]

Side profile is pcool.

[Qeomash]

This is another reason I like being gay. When I do get married, it will probably be like $400 for both rings.

[archibaldcrane]

This is another reason I like being gay. When I do get married, it will probably be like $400 for both rings.

My plain yellow gold "dad ring" was like $680 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Mens-Yellow-Co...dding+band+18k

[Qeomash]

My plain yellow gold "dad ring" was like $680 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Mens-Yellow-Co...dding+band+18k

I'm not a fan of gold, I'd rather go with titanium.

[Rhyis.]

Shoulda gone adamantium.