Engagement Ring

[nannerbadnanner]

I also have an antique engagement ring that belonged to my husband's grandmother. I have no clue about the total weight, but I would guess it is around 2.5 to 3 carats. It has a center stone with 4 small diamonds surrounding it and then there are three larger diamonds going down each side. It is beautiful and unique, and fortunately, it was free!

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Gosh, mine's I think .33 and I don't think of it as small at all. It's a round center stone with sidestones and a band with matching diamonds...but it definitely doesn't look small. It looks vaguely like this one, only the sidestones are more round I guess.

It is very pretty!! (Though your wedding pic is prettier )

I didn't mean small in a bad way, just "below the "average" size" (which I thought sounded insulting. )

I posted this because I've seen a number of 2-3-4 carat size rings lately - on coworkers, family members, friends, etc. and couldn't believe it!

While I (I'm just being honest) wouldn't want a teeny chip of a stone, I think some of those huge rocks (like 5 carats or more) look tacky and unbelievable as a real diamond. Did you see Paris Hilton's TWENTY FOUR carat ring from Paris Latsis - it looks like an ice cube.

 

[chamonix]

Diamonds are not only priced by size, they are also priced by quality. Meaning, if it's not a certified diamond of a certain quality, it can be huge, but still pretty cheap. (well, in comparison anyway) Diamonds are "graded" on the 4 Cs--and Carat size is only one "C". It also includes things like how many inclusions ("Clarity" think of these as "faults"--some are visible to the naked eye, some are not) and Color (or really, lack of color/whiteness). The last C is Cut.

For example, you could get a non-certified 1 carat diamond with a low grade for much less $$ than a certified diamond of the same size that was graded G-VVS-1 or better.

Check out this website, it has a really good explanation of the 4-Cs and also you can see how much various graded/certifications are priced.
http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_education.asp?track=row_mod7&elem=miniheroHdr

Just because someone has a "big" diamond, doesn't mean they paid a lot for it. 1 carat solitaires could range in price from the low single digit thousands, to well over 20,000 (actually the sky is the limit, lol) depending on its grade/certification.

 

[kerrynic78]

I have a 1.11 round diamond in platinum with baguettes on the side. I think it is perfect!

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

http://www.thesuperficial.com/image.php?path=/archives/paris_choosesring2.jpg

Paris' ring in case you want to see.

 

[Disney-For-Life]

My husband gave me his (fully restored) great great grandmothers engagement ring. Its over 100 years old. The diamond is small but the setting is really beautiful. Its unique too - one of a kind by today's standards. I get compliments on it all the time.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Diamonds are not only priced by size, they are also priced by quality. Meaning, if it's not a certified diamond of a certain quality, it can be huge, but still pretty cheap. (well, in comparison anyway) Diamonds are "graded" on the 4 Cs--and Carat size is only one "C". It also includes things like how many inclusions ("Clarity" think of these as "faults"--some are visible to the naked eye, some are not) and Color (or really, lack of color/whiteness). The last C is Cut.

For example, you could get a non-certified 1 carat diamond with a low grade for much less $$ than a certified diamond of the same size that was graded G-VVS-1 or better.

Check out this website, it has a really good explanation of the 4-Cs and also you can see how much various graded/certifications are priced.
http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_education.asp?track=row_mod7&elem=miniheroHdr

Just because someone has a "big" diamond, doesn't mean they paid a lot for it. 1 carat solitaires could range in price from the low single digit thousands, to well over 20,000 (actually the sky is the limit, lol) depending on its grade/certification.

Thanks for the link.

You are completely right about the quality and I'm sure you could get a poor quality diamond for much cheaper than an D, IF, Ideal cut, of the same carat. Still, though - these women with 3 and 4 carat rings? The cheapest 3 carat round stone on BN is $20,515 without a setting - it's a fair (lowest grade) cut, SI2, J stone. I can't imagine spending that much!

 

[Poohnatic]

I have a half carat emerald cut. For what DH paid for it (cut, color and clarity), he could have purchased a 1.5 carat round of slightly lower quality.

I'm glad he listened to what I wanted, a round diamond wouldn't have made me happy.

Suzanne

 

[bsmcneil]

DGF will be getting (at WDW) a .65ct moissanite. I don't believe in buying diamonds - so this was a nice compromise.

 

[Mishetta]

I have an outrageous ring which my DH purchased because I said "wow! Look at that!" We were looking at real rings that was within his budget & that is what I was expecting until he opened the box & I saw it was the ring that made my eyes pop out of my head. I wanted him to return it & buy something more budget friendly but he refused. Anyway, it's now 15 years that I've been wearing this ring (13 of it married) & I'm now glad that he was stubborn. We're worse off financially now than we were back then!! (Those with children will understand that last statement!)

Mine is a 1.35 carat marquis with 3 rows of diamonds on each side totaling 42 diamonds. 14 of those side diamonds are baguettes & the other 28 are round. All the diamonds on my engagement ring total aprox 2.5 carats. Then my wedding band is all baguettes totaling another 1 carat so when I wear the two together (which is pretty much all the time), it's 3.5 carats.

Let me tell you, I've seen these young 20 y/o girls with engagement rings that could choke a horse!!

 

[Nicolepa]

I voted .76 or greater, real. But my orignal diamond was 1/2 ct. Dh had wanted to buy me a bigger one, but I refused. I was a poor college student, living alone and in my mind anythign bigger was nonsense.

We ended up upgrading after about a year. Not because I wanted something bigger, but because the jewler we bought my ring from was horrible. I had a couple of warrenty issues and they were refusing to fix my ring. I left the jewler in tears and even though we eventually got it fixed I got upset every time I looked at my ring. Not something you want with your wedding ring.

Dh insisted that we get a new ring, and while we were at it, it was going to be bigger. We were looking to get a 1ct or slightly larger. Dh's mom happened to decide to upgrade about this time and offered us her 1.9 ct at for the same price as the 1-1.25 cts we were looking at. So we bought it from her and I designed my own setting for it. I found a fabulous custom jewler to design it for me. The diamond is a round center stone, in a wide gold band w/a teardrop ruby on either side, set into the band so it is flush. I hand picked the rubys myself. I absolutly love my ring and it has nothing to do with it's size. I get compliments on it every week and it is truely something you won't see in any store. We've been married 10 years this year.

Another funny story. When we were looking, my dad had a 3 ct, almost perfect diamond, from his ex fiance. We offered to buy it from him and he wouldn't sell it to us. He said a ring that large just wasn't safe to be wearing and he didn't want to have to be worrying about me wearing it.

 

[alliecats]

IDh insisted that we get a new ring, and while we were at it, it was going to be bigger. We were looking to get a 1ct or slightly larger. Dh's mom happened to decide to upgrade about this time and offered us her 1.9 ct at for the same price as the 1-1.25 cts we were looking at. So we bought it from her and I designed my own setting for it. I found a fabulous custom jewler to design it for me. The diamond is a round center stone, in a wide gold band w/a teardrop ruby on either side, set into the band so it is flush. I hand picked the rubys myself. I absolutly love my ring and it has nothing to do with it's size. I get compliments on it every week and it is truely something you won't see in any store. We've been married 10 years this year.

Your ring sounds gorgeous and so unique!

 

[rie'smom]

My diamond is 1.66 and is considered flawless according to the appraiser. None of course are totally flawless but I never asked for the appropriate letter and all that. For our 20th, my husband took me to a jewlery show and said to pick any ring that I wanted. Well,there was no way that I wanted a larger diamond because I have small hands. However,I did find an antique setting and he had the stone reset.

 

[Meriweather]

my original engagement ring had a very small round diamond. We were only 18 and POOR!!
I wore that one for 20 years. Then DH gave me a diamone and sapphire anniversay ring.
For our 30th anniversary, I took my original diamond, the diamonds from my mother's ring and the diamonds from my grandmother's ring and had a band made that included all of them. I love it.

 

[LittleBlue22]

Just under 1C, nice clarity, round cut. My dh (fiancee at the time) worked during tax season to pay for my ring in cash once tax season was over. I love my ring and I didn't help pick it out.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I chose a saphire because I love them! I'm not a big fan of diamonds, but my wedding ring is a band of diamonds. It is a family heirloom that has been passed down for 2 generations.

 

[spazzyjazzy]

I wanted nothing bigger than a half carat. My wedding band has pink sapphires and diamonds on it.

 

[PhotobearSam]

What is a moissanite?

 

[JR6ooo4]

Wife got a very clear .66 with surrounding stones and shortly after (3 years) we added some bands with a few more small stones.

My ring has 1.0 carats but there are 10 stones all in a row on the top 1/3 of the ring. It cost what her engagement stone cost.

Mikeeee

 

[Liberty Belle]

Mine is .53 carats. I don't think it's that small, though. It's really a nice size. I wouldn't want anything over 1 carat.