Yea its a cushion cut. Two sides are slightly longer which makes it a very subtle rectangle. Then the edges are rounded which gives it the rounded appearance.

 

great looking ring, suite job

 

i have a friend with a 3 carat cushion cut, its an amazing cut, nice job.

 

When it comes to wedding rings...quality far out weighs size...IMHO. A very small diamond that is VS with a ideal cut and good color will sparkle like crazy. A 1ct poorly cut diamond with a cloudy color will not sparkle at all. I'd choose sparkle.

Find a jeweler you like to work with. Buying a wedding ring may be the most expensive jewelery you buy...but it won't be your last. Work with someone you like...they will usually hook up deals down the road.

Oh yeah...and remember...if your hung up on size or think you need that 1ct diamond...just remember...she will always have a girlfriend\co-worker\relative with a bigger ring.

 

1.66CT Sapphire

6 diamonds .50CT total H color SI 1 ....small enough that you really cant judge color or clarity without a loupe

 

one other thing....make sure its insured before it ever makes it onto her finger!

 

I'm so glad I have a low maintenance girl. She said if she found out I paid more than $500 on an engagement ring she'd make me take it back.

 

That ring is awesome. My wife has been on a sapphire kick lately. Nothing that big, but she'd definitely love that one.

And for side stones, the most important thing is that they match. They aren't expected to be top quality.

 

Try overstock.com, they have a nice selection. Low and High prices.

 

thanks...I really like this ring more than your average diamond ring. whats bizarre is that a few days before I proposed, my cousins BF proposed, and used his grandmothers ring.....same exact ring! My fiancees mother also has the same ring, only a bit larger maybe 2.25-2.50 ct sapphire (not as an engagement ring though thats about a 4ct pear shaped near flawless diamond)

honestly its not that big. Id actually have liked it to be just a bit larger...maybe 2ct. Keep in mind that sapphires are denser than diamond, so a 1ct sapphire will be a bit smaller than a 1ct diamond

 

mine is pretty low maintenance too, but you need to push the envelope a bit. for $500 you arent going to get all that much. Before we found the ring I bought her for 3k I was planning to spend at least 8k on a ring. She objected but I insisted telling her that "Ive spent so much god damn money on stupid things in the past and have nothing but pictures of what Ive had to show for it. This is the one time that I NEED to do this right for myself" She understood that it was important to me and also knew that it would still be a modest ring.

If shes ok with it you could keep an eye out for decently priced estate jewelery, but you had better make sure shes ok with that beforehand! I wouldnt doubt that you could find something like I bought used for about $1500

 

I see conflicting info online, so maybe somebody here has personal experience...

How often do you have to re-dip white gold? I found a ring design that she likes, but it only comes in white gold so I'm just wondering how durable it is vs platinum.

 

I have a white gold wedding band with 3 small diamonds.
I was in the store a couple/three years after the wedding with my wife to look at something else and the salesperson said "Let us clean the ring"-- the ring was re-dipped/electroplated to get rid of the really small scratches.

That was 10+ years ago; the ring hasn't been re-dipped since, but probably should be since the higher surround/band has a slightly yellow sheen under bright lighting compared to the rest of the ring.

 

I think it will depend on how she wears it. If she works with her hands often Im sure it will wear the coating faster.

If you really want platinum, you could take some pictures of the design you want and have it duplicated in platinum

 

I forgot to mention-- I wear my ring 24/7, but work at pushing paper and don't have hobbies that involve much foreign contact with my ring finger.

 

Thanks Will.

She is an attorney as well. And her hobbies involve TV, internet, and that sort of thing. So your experience is probably an accurate gauge of things.


Thanks for the suggestion MW. I only considered platinum because of its durability. I will have to run it by her because I bet the custom work will cost money. Sounds like white gold will be ok for us.

 

Late to the thread, but I got my fiancee's engagement ring from bluenile.. Was a great purchase, and looked better than I thought it would. Got a .9c princess cut with diamonds (.25c worth) on the band.

I went to a local store just to see what diamonds looked like because I had no idea. This definitely helped me pick out what I wanted to buy online.

 

Just saw this on the Woot blog:

Two Month's Salary
http://www.leegainer.com/salary.html

 

Haha, I was sent that by email from a friend too.

 

I read some of the responses, and your folks at Acurazine have given you a ton of valuable information so far. Just jot the important points down on a sheet of paper and take it with you when you're shopping. Trying to remember all of that information will certainly be challenging. My two cents - make sure you shop around. Consider purchasing from a place that provides a lifetime guarantee and guarantees you a full lifetime credit - I bought my wife's set from Kay, and I can take it back at any time for a full credit toward an upgrade. Also, figure out a slick way to get some insight into what type of ring she would like. Examine the jewelry she already has for clues. Make a casual 'unplanned' stop in a jewelry store with her while you two are at the mall. Finding out exactly what she'd like will make her happy for obvious reasons, and she will also see that you put some thought into your decision.

 

I say get her one of those 50c rings from the vending machine at Walmart first. And if she accepts then you give her the real ring. That way you know she isn't saying yes to get a shinny new piece of jewelry. See women are like ferrets.... they link shinny objects (insert gold, plat, diamonds etc) and tend to run off with them, and horde them. Just like their furry little friend the ferret.

 

^^ Do NOT follow that advice. Not a good idea. I understand the principle "it's the thought that counts", but no one wants to wear a cheap-looking piece of jewelry, certainly not an engagement ring.

 

I was being sarcastic. I didn't think I needed to use red text to convey that.. But I guess I should have.

 

lol ok I'm actually laughing now, and I'm not being sarcastic. I suppose I just don't know you well enough to know that you weren't being serious. Good one.

 

I could see the look on her face if you gave her a plastic ring with like a skull on it or some shit liek that.. "baby will you be me matey for life arggghh!! AVAST YE SCALLYWAGS!! that would totally knock her off her feet!

 

I'm also late to the party....i see your dilemma OP...i think i'm still at LEAST 3-4 years away from where you're at. My perspective on this has always been if the girl knows that i love her, AND we discussed it before hand, what's wrong with getting her a white gold band and THEN save the 10-15k+ i would have spent and put it toward a down payment of a nice new home? Yeah, her friends, relatives would be like, damn that fool is cheap, but then i'd invite them over for a get together in my 24982749238 sqft. home (exaggeration, of course)....

I kinda hinted at this to my gf, she seemed like she'd go for it. ;-) in any case, good luck bro, i'll be lurking around this thread for more tips, links and advice...haha!

 

Presenting a fake ring would be a very interesting and potentially dangerous situation.

If she accepted you would know it's about her love for you rather than having a big rock to wave around. Then pull out the real ring.

The problem is if she gets pissed off and hits you in the head for being an ass and you trying to recover.

 

lol a ring pop would do the trick too..make sure you get her favorite flavor!

 

I've been looking pretty hard over the last 6 months and my price rage for the engangment & wedding band is around 10 to 15k. I've shopped locally and online, and I found a local place that is matching any price I find online as business is hurting that much right now. I don't think the main retailers will do that, but don't be affraid to ask the mom and pop type places to see if they will price match. I printed off 10 or some diamonds from bluenile and all but 3 they were able to match their price.

Just remember that your in the driver seat and due to the economy many places really want you to spend that $$ at their store. One the of diamonds they told me they would price match and give me 50% off the wedding band if I went with that one.

 

Thanks everybody for the continued replies.

Evilone... Your tactics are exactly how I got my girlfriend.

So anyway, after talking to her more, I have gotten it narrowed down to a fairly definite range of diamond criteria and ring design.

But my ring shopping is on hold because there is apparently a first time home buyer credit of up to $8,000, which is nice free money. The home has to be bought by December 1st however. So I may end up trying to get a house this year, and the ring early next year. We'll have to see. But all the while, I'm still searching and pricing.

 

smart man.

 

I wish I was able to take advantage of that too. We planned to buy a house in the next year, since she is graduating next week, but she has since decided to go right into an excelerated masters program starting in September, so that puts me out for about another year. FML

I also just picked up a pair of earrings to match the ring posted above as a graduation gift....wish I had a picture of them but I brought them home gift wrapped two weeks ago so it will have to wait

 

Well, as I had mentioned in a thread in the RL forums...

About a year ago I was looking for a new car and a ring. Then I lost my job and it put everything off for a year. Only now am I back to where I was.

So I bought the car (great car btw), but yesterday she called to tell me that we're "better off as friends."

Thanks again all for the advice. Wish I was posting to show you pictures of something. Guess it is time to pick myself up and start over. Maybe I'll be back in this thread in a few more years.

 

Sorry to hear it

Keep your head up!

 

damn, that sucks. Sorry to hear it

 

Sorry to hear that. Better to find that out now than after a few years of marriage.

On the bright side, you now have more time and money to focus on your "new" RL that you like so much.

 

sorry to hear.

 

oof

 

oi

 

Shit, that's rough. Hang in there.