Best non-diamond engagement rings you've seen?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So my boyfriend-er-fiance proposed to me over the holidays. :smiley: We are going to be picking out the ring together. I’ve always liked the idea of a non-diamond engagement ring to avoid the political controversy over diamonds, plus the financial cost of a genuine diamond isn’t really worth it to me.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for affordable non-diamond engagement rings? I’d love to see some pictures if anyone has a favorite design to show off.
Based on my initial searching, I am currently considering looking for something in sapphire and moissanite. Do most people think moissanite is a nice diamond alternative? I am not really set on the idea and open to better ideas.

I am not much of a jewelry person normally and I would feel bad if I were to end up with jewelry that someone who knows about jewelry would immediately spot as cheap-looking or low quality. Thanks for any advice from those of you who know more about this kind of thing. Happy New Year to everyone!

(I know these kind of conversations have happened here before but a lot of times the links and photos are broken if it’s an old thread, and plus I wanted to see if people had new ideas to share…)

2

Yay! Congratulations! Is there a proposal story?

Have you looked at Brilliant Earth and Gemvara? Brilliant Earth specializes in conflict-free gems and recycled metals. Gemvara allows you to choose from a large selection of stones, metals, and designs to make something you like. I don’t know that much about Good Jewelry, but at least to my untrained eye these stores seem to have well-made good-quality products.

Is there a particular design style you like? Do you want something with one center stone (either a solitaire or with accent stones) or are you also looking at bands and less traditional styles? Whatever the stones are, do you want them to be genuine, or would good-quality imitations be acceptable? Do you have a price range in mind?

3

I’ve heard that you can get lab created diamonds for 1/10th of the price of real diamonds— and that the only way even a jeweler can tell the difference is that only “fake” diamonds are literally perfect.

That said, Googling lab-created diamonds over the years really hasn’t helped me much. Maybe a Doper will have some good links.

4

This looks very much like my engagement ring.

I’m just not a fan of the look of large diamonds, but I like them accenting a colored stone. I am quite the fan of rubies. Despite this, I had no ruby jewelry, so when he said, “pick out anything!” that’s what I wanted. We literally went into only two stores. The moment we walked into the second store, I knew the ring for me. I think we spent about $275 on it, which was about the maximum I personally was willing to let him spend on a piece of jewelry (I’m not a big ticket girl.) It may or may not have been on sale, I don’t recall. :stuck_out_tongue:

Go with what you like. Sapphires are lovely, and have a long history of use in engagement rings. I’ve never heard of moissanite before this, but I looked at some pictures, and it’s quite pretty. It somehow (at least through a computer screen), looks warmer and more interesting than diamonds do.

I’m just superstitious enough to avoid pearls, even though I like them. Although even if they weren’t associated with tears, I’d avoid them because they’re so fragile. I want a ring I can wear all the time without worrying about it. For similar reasons, I’d counsel against amber, amethyst, citrines or opals - all stones* I’ve found too soft for everyday wear.

For the same reason, I don’t like white gold. Or rather, I like the look of it, but I hate how easily it dulls and scratches. It’s also not actual gold, in case the resale value of your jewelry ever becomes important. (I know, no one wants to think that they may someday have to sell their engagement ring, but…well, desperation happens, sometimes.)

Congratulations on your engagement!

*Waits for the Doper pedants to point out that amber isn’t a stone…

5

Thanks for the congrats. We are not fancy people so our story isn’t fancy. After we had come home from some grocery shopping, he decided to get down on one knee in our living room. :slight_smile:
I had not seen those sites, so thanks for that.

At this point I am not really sure about a specific design, though I think my general tastes are more towards modern and simple styles. I am not concerned about if the stone is “genuine” as long as it looks nice.
I am looking to keep the cost under $1000 (and so far it looks like there are a lot of good choices below that price, so I think we’ll find something)

6

Nice looking ring. Thanks for the thoughts about other possible stones. I agree with your suggestion to avoid anything fragile. I like opals but I wouldn’t want to worry about it being damaged. I am hoping I will want to wear this for a lifetime and that it will always look nice. :slight_smile:

7

Given the topic let me ask how any posters feel about the ring I have stashed away. The stone is probably 2 karats or so and is a Kashmir sapphire for those that know the significance of that. My birthstone happens to be sapphire. Would this make as good of an engagement ring as I think it will?

Edit… forgot to add, it is carved into a heart shape.

8

Yeah, I could see possibly going this route. To me it is not a big deal if the stone is genuine as long as it looks natural.

9

To me, the heart shape is NOT a plus, but the ring is otherwise a good engagement ring.

Although, I’m curious, is this an heirloom? Or just a random ring you picked up when you had an opportunity?

Because, frankly, the better the backstory, the more likely your bride-to-be will smile happily and agree to wear a ring she had no opportunity to help choose.

Some women have very strong opinions about what sort of ring they want–good luck finding a woman whose dream ring matches your ring.

But many of the rest of us can be flexible, especially for a family heirloom that happens to be your birthstone.

10

Erueka, the ring is a semi-heirloom. It was my mother’s favorite ring, not her engagement or wedding. She and my step-father bought a rough stone back in the 70s (Kashmirs became more or less unavailable for several decades,) and had it made into a custom ring.

Just to add, from my experience the sapphires that most people see are nearly black, almost indistinguishable from onyx. A Kashmir sapphire looks blue even in subdued light.

I’m an old guy and don’t really expect to ever marry, but I’ve kept this ring for some years just because.

11

The engagement ring my husband Tripler gave me has a large round aquamarine (my birthstone) flanked by round raspberry garnets (his birthstone) in a white gold setting. It’s perfect and I love it! For the wedding bands we went w/ tungsten.

Congrats!

12

I’m not at all a diamond person, either. My wedding/engagement ring is yellow gold (19.2 carat - I wanted 24 carat but for a ring, that’s too soft) with a big round blue sapphire. The sapphire is surrounded by platinum, and it really makes the blue color pop. There’s a few really tiny diamonds set in the band itself for extra sparkle.

I love it. I can’t imagine a prettier ring, and I don’t miss a big ol’ diamond at all.

13

I got mine from QVC. It’s a Verragio design in Diamonique. It was only $45 and I’ve replaced it twice because my fingers shrunk from weight loss. I would link to it but it’s sold out. Next time I need to go down a size, I’ll have to choose a different ring. No one has been able to tell the difference, and I don’t have to worry about losing it. If I need a new one it’s no big deal.

14

I love moissanite - my co-worker has a 2-carat moissanite engagement ring, and when she told me it was moissanite (after I gawked at at it for almost six months :D), I was stunned - I never would have guessed that it wasn’t a diamond.

I’m also quite the fan of sapphires - my engagement ring is a European cut diamond that was a family heirloom in my husband’s family (it’s 160 years old), but if we hadn’t had that, I wanted a sapphire engagement ring. Since we ended up choosing the setting, I had it set with sapphires on each side, and we had to design a wedding ring to match, so that’s set with small diamonds and sapphires. (Pic if you’re interested.) The sapphires are meaningful because we were married in September, so that tied in quite nicely :).

There are definitely some beautiful options out there - if I’d gone with a sapphire, I’d have wanted something similar to this, but definitely smaller. I think non-diamond engagement rings are definitely in vogue, and personally, I’m always drawn to them when I see women wearing them :D. Diamond rings are pretty, but I love seeing that pop of color in a ring.

15

My wife’s ring is the small diamond from her mom’s ring, remounted, and flanked by two green garnets (her birthstone, my favorite color). She gets lots of compliments on the garnets, none on the diamond.

YMMV, but IME you can skip the diamonds and use semiprecious stones to make a ring that’s very attractive, much more unique, and cheaper to boot.

16

Mine is a very simple bezel-set sapphire with no other ornamentation, pretty much like this one, but we had mine made by a local jeweler because a) we could choose the stone in person, and b) apparently I have munchkin fingers (it’s a size 4.75). Sapphire is my favorite stone and my birthstone; I wasn’t at all interested in a diamond, or a prong setting. (IME they are always catching on things.)

17

This is a close approximation of my ring:

It’s a green tourmaline - lovely and green, but much harder (more durable) than an emerald which was my first choice.

I’m also not a huge diamond fan, but the small one’s on the side set off the middle stone nicely. FWIW, people stop me all the time to comment on my ring (which I was surprised by) - I guess lots of people like something a bit different than a plain diamond solitaire.

18

This is more about the idea then anything. My WAG is that less then 5% of people (professional jewellers types excluded) would be able to spot a “real” (read: expensive) gemstone over a cheaper one.
I have consitently worn cheap rings lately, bought on ebay. As long as they are convincingly small (stones, cubic zirconia, under a carat) no one asked me if they were fake.
Like these:
I got lots of compliments on this one, and it was 5 bucks and free shipping;
Or theother ones from that same seller, all engagement/wedding related. All gold plated and equipped with CZ’s .
Just to sho you that there are lovely pieces in a whole cheaper price range. They may not last years of intensive wearing, but will you wear something that long, daily?

19

Congratulations, lavender! I say go for exactly what you want, and to hell with the idea that you have to have the biggest diamond your fiancé can afford. If you want a huge factory-made diamond, go for it and never apologize for it not being “real.” If you want a lovely coloured stone in a different type of metal (amethyst looks lovely with white gold, for example), go for it and enjoy it. :slight_smile:

20

We skipped an engagement ring and went straight for matching rings from this site. They’ve redone their site, but we got rings most like this one. I thought they’d be more blue than green, but they’re still pretty.