That ring is beautiful! I (and probably others here) were probably expecting to see a really cheesy, gaudy, ugly ring, before clicking on the link, and then having to lie to the OP. "Umm, yeah, that's a really umm, interesting choice for a ring."
If anyone asks where the ring came from, just say, "My HUSBAND!" Sound shocked that people would expect you to know
where it came from. You can also turn it around and question
them. "Why? Is it important
where I got my ring from? Does that make it less special or my marriage less special?" If they go to him, he can just say, "I choose not to say. It's special between my wife and I and I want to keep that private." Period. End of topic.
Anyway, I read the description of your ring. Just a little FYI, so you can describe the ring better to others and feel better about the quality:
LAB CREATED sapphires are just as "real" sapphires as those mined from the ground sapphires, except to a jeweler putting it under a jeweler's magnification. He will then see it is without the natural "flaws" that are inherent in a mined sapphire. And of course the price would be more for those. But, they are created along the same process of crystallization & intense pressure (or whatever it all technically is) as mined sapphires are, only cleaner and faster. So the
materials of carbon & whatever are the same. They are NOT the same materials as imitation
synthetic sapphires made of polymers or whatever.
Some people prefer LAB CREATED stones, as they are more ecologically friendlier to the environment. People are not dying, nor living & working in atrocious environments to mine them, like the miners who die for blood diamonds. It is also not mining and depleting the earth of minerals to extinction.
According to the expert gemologists at the
American Museum of Natural History, here in NYC, natural sapphires, rubies and emeralds are made of
exactly the same materials and process as diamonds are. The ONLY difference are the trace elements in each (or lack of) that give them their unique color. Also diamonds are 4 times as hard. People pay a hundred times more for a "diamond" because of the clarity & white color, over a blue stone, made pretty much the same way, but is called a sapphire.
The white sapphires in your ring would have become diamonds had they been hardened into diamonds.
Someone, centuries ago, decided the white/clear diamond stones are more precious & valuable. And others went along with that idea. That's how diamonds got their greater "value" over the colored stones. Jewelers are now selling "chocolate diamonds" for loads of money, but they are probably were just the same as dark brown topazes. Now, advertized as "
chocolate diamonds" they are suddenly way more money.
Up until the 1980's, diamond engagement rings were the norm. Then Prince Charles put a sapphire on Lady Diana Spencer, and now that is "in." His brother, Andrew, put a ruby on his fiancee. That also became "in."
My point is, it's ALL a matter of perception and a decision as to what ANY one person considers valuable. The man who said the clear stones were the most valuable could have been voted down and instead, we could all be considering the sapphire the most valuable stone today.
Wait! Princess Diana DID decide her sapphire stone was most valuable TO HER, and now it is a trend. Regardless, even if it hadn't become a trend, she didn't let
others decide what was valuable & special to HER. Now her son & DIL think the same way.
YOU
decide if this ring is valuable to YOU and how much, regardless of the store or price tag. Who should tell YOU & your DH otherwise? And why are you listening to idiots and the Ring Police decide what is valuable in/about YOUR marriage? Will
they be standing up there with you, or over your shoulder, when you stand at the alter? If so, knock them off NOW!
Your wedding ring is a symbol and
token of YOUR marriage, no one else's. You are going through lean
financialtimes right now. Nothing to be ashamed of. The ring you picked actually is a reflection of those lean times (yet you still have great taste
) Maybe, some day, you'll buy an expensive eternity ring to mark how times have gotten more plentiful. Maybe you will still cherish your wedding ring most, because it still symbolizes how your LOVE made you both rich, even when your wallets said otherwise.
Thank you everybody for your kind words of encouragement. You have helped convince me to buy the ring
. It only comes in whole sizes and I need a half size but I did some research and I should be able to get it stretched.
You might not even have to take it to a jeweler. I had a gold ring that was too small. My sister, who was in a jewelry making class at college thought about it for a few moments. Then she picked up the wooden billiards pool stick. It is tapered. She put the ring on it. Grabbed a nickle and laid the edge against the ring and gently and slowly pushed up the ring up a little upwards, moving up the wider part of the pool stick. She'd slowly turn the ring and edge it upwards all the way around. Then she'd flip the ring around, (so that the side that was on the smaller side of the tapered pool stick was facing the wider end. And she'd gently repeat, nudging it up.
She'd take the ring off a couple times, letting me try it on, till the ring had stretched out to the proper size. Took all of 10 minutes!
Long story short, DH had a friend whose cousin's family did settings for jewelry stores, so he got a good deal going "behind the scenes."
