What is your opinion on antiqe wedding sets??

[Evi]

Ok so here is my ?? When we first got engaged many many moons ago. We were broke kids and when df wanted to buy me a ring I told him he could buy me an antique set. So I have a traditional knife edge Tiffany ring with 1/2ct diamond and a diamond channel set band to match both are set in platinum. I recently had them reappraised for the house insurance and was told they were worth somewhere in the 6k range. The stones are D color and they are flawless and just about perfect the jeweler said.

So here's the thing I always wanted a 1ct diamond. I know this is probably being petty and I should be happy with my ring. I also know diamonds are worthless and size shouldn't matter. This isn't a financial dilemma, fiance said if I want a new ring we can go shop for one. But I feel like knowing what I know about jewelry I shouldn't want a bigger stone after all its just a stone and there was so much more put into finding my original ring then we would ever put into finding one now. Since now we can afford one.

I'm also thinking to keep my set and add a new wedding band in the same style as the other band I have and though that would be an anniversary set. Well I've been engaged forever and we just finally decided to get married this year (whole other story I've been pushing off the date, not for a bad reason just always wanting to be more settled ie. lets buy a house first, lets pay of the cars lol.

So what would you do? would you sell your set and start new or add something new to it?

 

[transfergirl]

Ok so here is my ?? When we first got engaged many many moons ago. We were broke kids and when df wanted to buy me a ring I told him he could buy me an antique set. So I have a traditional knife edge Tiffany ring with 1/2ct diamond and a diamond channel set band to match both are set in platinum. I recently had them reappraised for the house insurance and was told they were worth somewhere in the 6k range. The stones are D color and they are flawless and just about perfect the jeweler said.

So here's the thing I always wanted a 1ct diamond. I know this is probably being petty and I should be happy with my ring. I also know diamonds are worthless and size shouldn't matter. This isn't a financial dilemma, fiance said if I want a new ring we can go shop for one. But I feel like knowing what I know about jewelry I shouldn't want a bigger stone after all its just a stone and there was so much more put into finding my original ring then we would ever put into finding one now. Since now we can afford one.

I'm also thinking to keep my set and add a new wedding band in the same style as the other band I have and though that would be an anniversary set. Well I've been engaged forever and we just finally decided to get married this year (whole other story I've been pushing off the date, not for a bad reason just always wanting to be more settled ie. lets buy a house first, lets pay of the cars lol.

So what would you do? would you sell your set and start new or add something new to it?

Um, I don't know why you think diamonds are worthless, especially when you say it's D in color and flawless...

A couple of options:

-If you like the bands, look into upgrading the diamond only.
-Repurpose the diamond. Pendant. Buy a twin and voila, diamond studs.

 

[girli565]

Maybe just upgrade the stone but keep the same setting? You can go for the bigger diamond while still keeping your original set.

 

[RealLittleMermaid]

Why not wait and get a bigger ring for your anni?

And while diamonds are not "worthless", they shouldn't be as expensive as they are. There are a ton of diamonds but they are controlled by a few companies. Those companies "release" a few diamonds into circulation every year to keep the price up. Obviously, I'm not a fan of diamonds. Besides the ridiculous high cost, I hate to think about how many people died or were maimed for that diamond. I'll get off my soap box.

I probably won't get the ring I want because of finances either so I understand where you are coming from but I wouldn't get rid of your ring, I would get a new one later to celebrate your years together.

 

[Gigi22]

In my experience the insurance value of jewellery is not equal to the cost, or the money you could get for either a "trade in" or sale. If you really want to upgrade your diamond, I suggest you check around at local jewellery stores and see what sort of a discount (if any) you could get for your current diamond set. When I upgraded my original engagement ring, it was more cost-effective to repurpose it than to start over. Since gold is so pricy these days, you may decide to re-use your setting and put in a larger stone.

 

[Jilian]

I might not be the best person to ask because I think that jewelery is a bit of a waste of money. I'd stick with the original set or at least keep the setting and add a new stone. It has sentimental value and a nice little story attached to it.

 

[Evi]

Thank you for your posts and thank you for not flaming.

I have given it a bit of thought and I'm going to keep my original setting, upgrade my stone to the one I want and purchase a new matching band. I already have a few sets of studs but I think I'll use my stone for a pendant. That way I'll be able to keep it forever. I think that will give me a bit of the best of both worlds.

I also wanted to say that I didn't make the comment about diamonds being worthless to offend anyone. I worked in the jewelry industry in the back end where you get to really see the cost of loose stones and the experts who sell and trade them know that if the amount of diamonds being kept in vaults were to be released our diamonds would be worth about 80-99% less then what we pay for them. There are so many diamonds sitting locked up that if they were to be put on the open market we could all have a few diamonds for very little money and still have stones for generations to come. I know this is a hard pill to swallow. But it is a very well known fact in the jewelry industry. I have to admit I still like the shiny stones lol.

Anyhow I didn't mean to offend anyone and hope I didn't. If I did I'm sorry and thank you again. This is just something that's been on my mind and wanted some unbiased feedback.

 

[transfergirl]

I don't think you offended anyone. If you meant me, I'm reading my post 14 hours after I wrote it and see how it could have been interpreted that way. No worries!