My official engagement ring has a small emerald (pear cut) with teensy diamonds on either side. I love it but my fiancee got a very small and delicate setting and over the years it has worn down enough that I was getting worried about it. When I have the time and money, I’ll have it reset into silver, since I prefer it to gold anyway. It originally cost $250.
But in the meantime, I’ve started wearing a ring my mother gave me. It has a garnet (baguette cut) with two smaller garnets (trillion cut) on either side, separated by 3 teensy diamonds. Garnet is my birthstone and she got it at a pawn shop for $100 and then held on to it for years until the right time to give it to me. I’d actually like to have this one reset in silver too though.
I love both rings and either one is perfect as an engagement ring, with or without the tiny diamonds.
3. My fiancee’s mother’s engagement ring is a sterling silver band with a star sapphire and CZ accents. She had a choice between a diamond ring or a house down payment so she went for the house down payment and a very cheap ring. I believe she said it cost her $15 but this was back in the 70s. Something similar would probably be closer to $75 or $100 now.
My sister’s engagement ring from her second (failed) marriage is a very pretty sapphire (either trillion or pear, I can’t remember) set in white gold with diamond and sapphire accents. The ring is a keeper, even if the husband wasn’t. The entire set (engagement and both wedding rings) came from a pawn shop and cost them $250 total)
My other sister’s engagement ring is a CZ (round) set in 10k gold and is also really pretty and looks real. (I believe she said it cost $50)
One of my good friends’ engagement ring is an emerald (radiant or princess I think) with diamond accents. (I didn’t ask how much it cost)
My fiancee’s sister’s engagement ring is also sapphire with diamond accents. (I believe she said it cost $100)
Now that I think about it, my best friend and my mother are the only people around me who have diamonds. My best friend’s ring is ugly (I’m sorry, but it is) and was over $1000. My mom’s is beautiful but the diamonds are tiny tiny tiny (she has tiny fingers, I think her engagement ring is a size 2 so anything bigger than diamond chips looks kinda dumb). Her engagement ring, wedding ring, and my stepfather’s wedding ring cost about $1000 total but they have very delicate designs in the bands, which is most likely where the cost came from because it certainly didn’t come from the diamonds.
The prettiest engagement ring I’ve ever seen had no stone at all. It was a very delicate looking filigree but made out of something really durable so it wouldn’t break. I can’t remember the metal though. The engagement ring and wedding ring fit together to make a cool geometric shape with a hole in the center. For their 20th anniversary, they had a diamond set into the hole. I preferred it without the diamond in the hole though. It was the most unique ring I’ve ever seen and was apparently really inexpensive until the diamond was added.
I firmly support getting engagement rings from pawn shops. It’s a very good and inexpensive way to find something really unique. I also firmly believe that official wedding sets are kind of boring. I like the idea of an engagement ring that really expresses what the woman wants and likes, with a simple wedding band. I think the guy’s wedding band should be something he really likes, even if it doesn’t match the woman’s band. If my fiancee decides to wear a carved wooden band, I’d be totally ok with it, even if I’m wearing a simple silver band. You’re (supposedly) going to be wearing it for the rest of your life so wear what YOU want, not what custom says you should wear.
i was going to suggest what nawth chucka (birthday season is nigh, eh?) has, a mix of birthstones or his birthstone. as long as neither of you are born in april, it should work out well.
if you do want to go the diamond route and are anywhere near arkansas, you could try digging for one at “crater of the moon” state park. other gems have been found there as well.
My wife’s engagement ring is tanzanite, with small diamonds either side. I think it has a nicer colour than sapphire, and goes really well with white gold. This is the sort of colour - you can also get tanzanite which is a much deeper almost purplish blue. It is softer than sapphire, but we haven’t noticed any problems with scratching.
When I got engaged I really wanted an aquamarine. I didn’t want a diamond due to the controversy and the cost. I wanted a color, but not an intense color. Also, some folks think that aquamarine brings good luck to a marriage and there’s the whole “something blue” thing.
I left it up to my fiance to pick the ring and he did a great job. At a local estate jeweler, he found a sapphire ring with small flanking diamonds. The jeweler had an aquamarine that he could replace the sapphire with. The ring, including resizing, came to a total of $900. It looks like this but with diamonds instead of the tanzanite side stones.
This is my wife’s engagement ring. I’m pretty sure the stone is an amethyst, but my memory sucks for such details. I went to a custom jeweler, gave them some ideas and they drew up some sketches. I asked for a new sketch which was basically the head of one sketch with the shank of another, then they cast a wax mold, and then made the ring. From first visit to ring on finger was like 3-4 weeks.
That is really beautiful! I’ve always thought using a non-diamond engagement ring was something I wanted to do if I ever get engaged/married. My birthstone is Amethyst and my second favorite would be an Emerald. I really didn’t think about the hardness of a stone so I’ll have to look for good purple or green stones haha
As far as I know, tourmaline and emerald are pretty similar in hardness AND in brittleness. Emeralds tend to be easy to chip and damage and if I were guessing I’d guess tourmaline would be, too. So if you want to wear a ring doing everything, they may not be the best choice. (My mother’s favorite stone is emerald, and the jeweler suggested she take off her ring whenever she did dishes, for example.)
For hardness and durability in a colored stone, corundum (ruby and sapphire) are the best choices.
Have you thought about high end craft fairs in your area? Last fall, the TACA fair in Nashville had some beautiful rings. I found a peridot and crystal one for about $300, but wasn’t ready to buy. Hope the same guy is back this spring.
Since this thread was bumped, I wanted to let anyone who is curious know that I ended up opting for a semi custom moissanite ring from http://www.moisaniteco.com
It turned out nicer than I was expecting and was very affordable (like 1/3rd the price of a comparable diamond). I would definitely encourage others who might be looking for a durable non-diamond alternative to consider moissanite.
I’m not a huge fan of simulants because the good ones cost over $1000 and you can get a decent diamond ring for that price. A simple gold-band solitaire. I’m all for the concept but I think simulants are way overpriced.
I’ve seen some really nice Tungsten and titanium rings too, but mostly on guy friends. You can do a lot in terms of carving wild celtic and tribal patterns on Titanium bands. If i was on a super low budget and couldn’t afford any precious metal or stones, I would go for a titanium ring.
