Was never engaged so no ring. Didn't have wedding rings made until we'd been married about a year. We chose to use our birthstones instead of diamonds.

We haven't been married that long so I haven't done it but part of my thinks I might some day. Mine isn't small and is a nice style but I like diamonds/rings that really make a statement.

Before we were engaged I made sure to let DH know the style I don't like (we were planning on getting married at that point) and he picked the ring out. He says he didn't get me the bigger one he was considering because it would've looked too big for my small hand. I do honestly believe he thinks that because he's not cheap, but I'd rather him of said it was just too much money!

My Mom has a couple new diamonds she switches on and off because she wants to pass them down to us and also because for a long time she went without nice things.

I've thought about it but haven't done it. The reason I would change it is not for size or quality of stone (mine isn't a rock by any means) but the shape - it's a pear and that point gets caught on things. Wish I'd done an old fashioned round but probably will never change it.

No, not at all, too much sentiment behind the one I have. :c)

My main stone is a ruby, surrounded by diamonds. It's a Victorian piece that dh found for me. Not small, not large, all original mine cut stones. I actually went without a band for a long time after our wedding because is is a hard shape band to mate to but we found one at tiffanies of all places (they have everything lol) and it's simple too.

I love my ruby and though a few girlfriends have suggested I should upgrade it, I like it as is. I don't like the look of huge rocks on a woman's finger really unless it's a cocktail ring, but not for every day wear. Some are downright obnoxious! So between sentimental value, the love of antiques and a desire not to look tacky....I stick with this. :). Besides, five ks would look silly under my garden gloves lol.

I had a gorgeous emerald cut stone with two small brilliant cut on either side. One day the center stone fell out by the time I discovered it gone, it was GONE. So my mom gave me the ring she'd gotten for my Dad shortly before he died. He'd lost the stone out of his wedding ring and she got the new ring for him. She thought I could use that stone to replace my center stone, but it was round cut, and wouldn't work in the setting. Instead I had the ring sized down to fit me. DH didn't mind. I wore that for a few years along with my band, which also has diamonds, but around our 10th anniversary I found THE ring I'd always wanted.

I wear it with my wedding band on occasion, but it's such a statement piece, I tend to wear it alone. It's got 9 brilliant stones in a line in the center (L-R) and has 28 baguettes on either side, so it kind of looks like a clam shell. I fell in love with it, and it was on clearance, 60% off. They were having a promotion where you could get another 20% off by opening a store card, so I did and we got the ring for a heckuva good deal, far, far below appraised value.

THIS time I insured it for the appraised value! I still wear Dad's ring on occasion on my right hand.

Yes. My original solitaire round cut diamond in a Tiffany setting was reset with 2 smaller diamonds on either side of it for our 15th Anniversary. Before we were engaged now DH asked me if I wanted a three stone ring, and I said no, it's too much, as the years went on I changed my mind.
Now that I am older & wiser ;-) I love it.

My engagement ring is a three-stone ring. Those were popular at the time and I really liked them. I was glad I married later than a lot of my friends, because I avoided the whole marquis era with the settings always getting twisted and broken (no offense nancybee, the marquis just isn't my thing).

I originally thought about princess-cut stones but thought that would probably be trendy so stuck with round. I've thought off and on about upgrading to a larger stone, but I think I'm over that "phase". I think I'll keep it just like it is. But I do plan to surprise DH with an upgrade next year for out 10th anniversary. I've got my mom's engagement diamond from dad and want to have it set for DH. It's not large, but will be nice in a man's ring.

Igloo, I can guarantee that if Princess Diana had an engagement ring like your's, it would be a best seller in knockoffs! lol

I wear a garnet on my right hand. I love red rings.

I'm like Natal, we were in college and couldn't afford an engagement ring so we had silver bands made which I out grew in about 5 years. lol. We didn't design them as good as we should have.

It's a good thing though, I don't wear jewelry around the house.

I'm with Lukki, too much sentiment! Wouldn't dream of it! If I want another ring for "eye candy" that has other features, I'd get it, but "The engagement ring" is "the" engagement ring forever, imo! As far as general jewelry purchases go, Dh seems to have a talent for finding pretty necklaces, which I prefer to rings.

My engagement ring has been on my hand for close to 26 years (we'll be married for 24 in June) and fortunately, I think it is as pretty today as I did a quarter century ago. It's a half carat in a traditional Tiffany setting. Anything larger would look awful on my very small hand, and would be cumbersome. He did a good job!

This sounds cold and maybe heartless. But, my husband passed away many years ago and I don't have any children. So, since my family is in the jewelry business I am going to sell it for the gold.

I would like to, but my DH, while he generally let's me do or have whatever I want, isn't a jewelry guy. So while he would probably agree, I would know he felt it was really a silly expensive purchase. I've had my ring reset because the original setting broke, but never upgraded the diamonds. I'm not as sentimental as some, my thought was to take the smaller center stone and use it as a side stone and then buy a matching side stone and a larger center stone. I'm not talking about a huge stone, just a bit bigger than my .50 carat center stone.

But, I have three sons, and don't have anyone to logically pass it down to so it probably is a silly purchase!

Count me in with Lukki and Stinky - my ring means too much to me to "upgrade". Plus, I'm not really into diamonds or big rings. My husband has asked me several times if I wanted to change mine or get a new one or a diamond ring to wear on my right hand. So far, I haven't. Instead of a diamond 3 stone that he wanted to get several years ago, I asked for blue topaz. My birthstone is garnet and I have a lovely antique garnet ring that I sometimes wear.

BTW,all my jewelry is insured, I learned the hard way many years ago to do this.

tina

I have a three-stone ring, too. All emerald cuts. The main stone is very clear and I love it. The setting was handmade and one of the side stones is slightly cockeyed if you look really closely. When I notice it (rarely) it reminds me that nothing in life is exactly as you'd want it to be, but everything can still be grand if you choose to see it that way!

So, no I would never "upgrade." Besides, the stones are really the largest I could go on my short square "peasant" hands. :-) DH has sweetly bought me two bands set with stones for anniversaries over the years. This year will be 20 and I think I may just get the five-year band resized since it is now a squeeze.

I did get a 5 year anniversary band with some nice diamonds in it for my right hand. Now that we're in our 12th year, I guess it was premature. However, at the time it was a big mile stone for us and made sense. LOL

I'm not a jewelry person or into diamonds either. The diamond in my ring is fairly small and has a couple of even smaller ones set with it. It's in a heart shaped setting, definitively budget sized but very symbolic none the less. We went to pick out our rings together and even though it wasn't the one on my radar, it was my husband's reaction to it that told me it was the one. :c)

Tina spoke for me--I also wouldn't switch out my small diamond since it's what we started out with. And I'm not at all a jewelry person. That and makeup; those girlie genes seem to have skipped me completely.

Ann

Very sentimental about mine. In 43 years I've had it reset in the original Tiffany-style solitaire setting twice, still think it's the most beautiful ring ever. I wear my rings always.

Five years ago we were feeling joyous, celebrating our almost-simultaneous cancer surgery recoveries and added a small ring of alternating tiny diamonds and rubies. It seems perfect with my rings.

Sherry

I would never get rid of my engagement ring. Hub & I were dating; we went to Key West so he could fish. I shopped while he fished & went into a jewelry store & found the most beautiful ring- platinum; larger stone in the center; then graduated on the side; 5 stones total. We weren't talking about getting married; so I never actually showed him the ring. Wish we had cell phones with cameras back then; I also did not have a picture of it. About a month later we ended up in Philly to try to find the ring on jewelers row & managed to find it at Steven Singer. Hub agreed it was the perfect ring.

Our wedding was pretty rushed, though I don't remember why; we went from being engaged to looking for places to marry & then actually getting married about 10 months later. We never got back to Philly for wedding bands; went to the mall. I ended up with a wedding band with 13 small stones; about 6 years in the wedding band looked horrible. I'd replaced hubs wedding band with something slimmer; the original was too thick for his line of work; so I wanted a new one too. I never realized how cruddy mall rings are; just about all 13 stones were loose every time we took my rings to Singer. I ended up having a new wedding band made that compliments my original ring better but I'm not really happy with it; so I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

Btw; while it was ok for hub to get a new ring; he seemed a bit hurt that I wanted a new one because of sentimental reasons. If the ring was better quality; I wouldn't have upgraded it.

No, then it wouldnt be my engagement ring, it would just be a diamond ring. I can buy those myself.

NewDawn, I don't think it's cold & heartless at all. You have no one to pass it on to, and you will always hold your DH in your heart. If it would make it seem less cold to you, you could always donate the proceeds to a charity or cause your late DH supported.

None of my kids wants my rings, DD that is married has a beautiful ring of her own, and it fits her tiny, petite hand. Other DD doesn't care for a lot of sparkle, but I've instructed the kids that my DS gets my Dad's ring and my wedding band, the girls get to split my big ring and do whatever they want with it. My mom had her set refigured into a cocktail style ring which is to go to my sister and her solitaire was set into a beautiful pendant, which goes to me.

My original stone was rather small about 1/3 carat but was a pretty clear stone in a nice simple setting. Considering it was bought when my husband to be was in the first year of college and only working part time (41 years ago), he did what he could afford. About 25 years later, we were in the jewerly department of a store that was like a Service Merchandise and it was near Valentine's Day. The guy was pushing DH to buy me a new ring and DH was having none of it. The guy finally said, "Well, at least let me check to see if your ring needs any work." Lo and Behold, 2 of the 4 prongs were worn below the stone edge. So we let the guy send if off to be repaired. Weeks went by and I never got a call about it being back. When I did call - actually ended up being in April, I was told that it would be ready in a couple days. Went to pick it up and something just didn't look right. Even my husband who normally wouldn't notice things like that said, "that's not your stone." This one was yellow compared to mine. I told the guy, something is wrong here and it needs to be fixed. He said it probably needed cleaning from the spray they put on it when they work on it. Didn't seem right to me but they sent it to a local jeweler to be cleaned. CAme back the same way. By this time, its June and I am not a happy camper. I had taken it to a jeweler on my own who said it was possible that they tried to repair the prongs with the stone in it and overheated the diamond. They had actually "burnt" my diamond. Since we had the original paperwork on the stone and setting, I went up the ranks of the people at SM and fought them to get the stone replaced. The first stone they sent was way smaller than mine and the second one was very flawed but bigger. I stood in the jewerly department amongst all the couples looking at diamonds and said very loudly, "I wouldn't buy anything from this store as they do not follow through on their merchandise. I was quickly assured I would get what I wanted after that. A call to Corporate Office later and they sent 3 stones to another local jeweler who verified what they were graded and I got to pick the one I wanted.
That jewerler mounted it for me. BTW, they wanted to keep my original diamond! I said no way - it still has value to me as the one DH bought me. They finally relented and mounted it into a necklace for me.

Three or four years later for my 30th anniversary, DH ordered a large diamond on line for me - just the stone. Its a high quality stone. I thought he was crazy to do it on line but he couldn't get a jeweler here to sell just the stone. It arrived in a huge box, with the stone in a small envelope taped to the inside of the box. All paperwork was sent seperately. Of course it was insured and such. The first thing we did was to take it to a jeweler here and have him tell us the quality, the clarity, the weight, etc. It was exactly what it should be!
So we bought a setting from the jeweler and he mounted it. I love my newer ring! However, I still wish I had the first ring intact. The setting with the replacement diamond is in our safety deposit box and hopefully some day will be given to my grandson to give to his fiancee. That will be awhile - he's only 21 months old!

I upgraded my engagement ring when I upgraded husbands! ;-)

My first marriage ended in divorce, and we had married young (right out of college) so my engagement diamond was fairly small. After another thread here got me thinking about it, I decided to recycle both it and my old wedding ring. So I brought them in to a local jeweler, sold the wedding ring for 'parts', bought a matching stone for my old solitaire, and had the two diamonds set as side stones with a lovely square-cut emerald I had in another ring. The emerald really deserved better (larger) side stones, and I have no problem now wearing my old engagement diamond in a right-hand emerald ring.

'Real' hubby (second one, current one, forever one) was older when we married, and wanted to 'show his love' with a beautiful large stone, which, I'm delighted to say, he did. ;-) He knows I love beautiful jewelry and would enjoy it every day. I wouldn't trade that one for the world!

When we got engaged, we were in our last year of college. My DH picked out a very pretty little pear solitaire that was the most he could afford at the time, and I loved it. My wedding band was a traditional "anniversary band" style, and he gave me another anniversary band for our 5th anniversary. I wore them stacked around the solitaire. The pear had a high setting that tended to catch and snag on everything, and I was always afraid of breaking it!

About 8 years ago, DH surprised me at Christmas with a beautiful princess cut solitaire about 3x the size of my first ring! He selected the stone and setting, and it is perfect. I wear it with my two bands. It was such a sweet surpise and I love it.

I wear an antique ring on my right hand. It is a small round rose-cut diamond in a 20's style platinum setting. We found it in some estate jewelry at an antique fair, and DH gave it to me as a birthday gift. Love it too!

My hands are not my best feature-- short chubby fingers, and my skin is always red and cracking, but I love to wear my rings!! :)

I did the same as Sweeby! First marriage ended in divorce. 2nd, better, forever marriage resulted in a bigger diamond. We picked it out together. I love it 16 years (today is our 16th anniversary!) later and have no plans to ever change it. DH has upgraded my wedding ring 2 times. Was married in simple platinum ring (religion dictates wedding ring should be solid with no breaks). DH quickly (within 1st year) upgraded to ring with small diamonds. Then a few years later upgraded that to ring with larger diamonds. I love it!

I wanted to take the diamond from the 1st marriage and reset it in ring with 2 rubies (DD from 1st marriage's birthstone) as side stones, making a 3 stone ring. My 2nd wonderful DH took the diamond and had it reset for me with 2 beautiful rubies. My DD was 8 when we married. She is now 24. I gave her the ring several years ago and she wears it everyday and totally loves it.

Well I didn't upgrade my engagement ring but my husband did. He had always wanted to give me a 'rock' and after 15 years of marriage he surprised me with one. But he also loves to give jewelry and has developed a great relationship with a jeweler who we trust and who will call DH when he gets a good stone at a great price. So I now have 3 large investment quality stones, two in gold and one in platinum and I rotate them.

He suggested that I get another stone to match my engagement ring and have them made into earrings. But I never got around to it and then one day he gave me a nice pair of studs. I had the jeweler change the posts to screw backs and now I feel comfortable wearing them everyday. He's also given me beautiful colored gems. He really should have been a Renaissance prince- he would have been a great patron of the arts - perhaps a Borgia!

I love my original engagement ring, but several years ago I took it off and put it in our safe deposit box. It was always catching on the gloves I had to take on and off at work, and now that my work is gardening, I wouldn't want to damage it.

I wear a simple gold wedding band and I like it. I don't really like big rings. If I had a large stone of something, I would much prefer to put it on a necklace than a ring.

The rings from the first marriage went back to ex when we split up. To me they were a symbol of the marriage, and since that no longer would exist, I felt that he paid for them so he should have them back. I can't imagine keeping those.

My DH and I discussed a bit when we were talking about getting married as to what kind of stone I wanted - an oval - and that I only wanted one ring, not an engagement ring and a wedding ring. He took a friend from work with him and she helped him pick out the setting, and surprised me with the ring. I loved it from the first moment I saw it - it was just what I wanted. It is a bit curvy and wider than a normal engagement ring, with the oval center stone and a line on each side of very small stones that echo the curve of the ring. The center stone is about 1.25 carats. I have worn the ring for over 26 years, and still love it.

We did get matching wedding bands, which are almost a herringbone design engraved around the bands. He wears his all the time(at least as far as I know, LOL!). I wear mine when I am doing things that would perhaps damage my other ring, as I did for more than two years almost daily in my last job. Still love those bands, too, and have never seen anything like them.

I don't see anything wrong with people who change out their stones or rings, tho. As your marriage evolves, why couldn't your rings, which are a symbol of that marriage?

One thing that I would love to do, because I like the look, is get a pair of eternity rings, set with very small stones, to wear on either side of the wedding band. Unfortunately, there is no money for that, and probably no good reason to do it at this point in my life.

I have a lot of good jewelry, and I don't know what will happen to it when I die, as we have two sons. Not sure how it would all be split, and certainly they themselves couldn't wear it. They might keep something for sentimental value, and perhaps future DIL's, if that were to happen, eh? In the end, I am guessing most of it would get sold - and that would be fine, too.

What a timely topic -- #2 DS is proposing to his girlfriend tonight, surprising her with a lovely Ascher cut stone in yellow gold. We are so excited! (I have a small bet with him that she would prefer white gold, heh heh!)

I'm with lukki, stinky, tina & running -- my dinky diamond is what we picked out as young starry-eyed lovers, and that is precious to me.

We were visiting DH's family in New York & had gone into the city to go ring shopping. I just wanted something simple, but all the quality stuff was glitzy & too expensive. We went into Tiffany's just for a tourist visit, really. We were wearing t-shirts & shorts, my husband in cut offs with paint on them.

We watched a salesman handle a sale with a woman who had two rings on either hand with ginormous rocks. "Well...I don't know, I can't decide," she said. The salesman took out scissors, cut off the price tags, and said, "Why don't you take them home over the weekend and wear them. Bring them back Monday and hopefully, you'll have made a decision." The lady thanked him, got up & left with $70,000 worth of rings. (Eagle eye DH saw the prices)

DH & I stood there, mouths agape, and the salesman turned to us, "May I help you?" A little embarrassed, we told him what we wanted anyway. Well, he was happy to help us and was just as patient & respectful with us as he was with Lady Big Bucks. To our surprise, even Tiffany's had rings in our price range. They were lovely -- so simple & elegant, tiny but good stones.

We chatted happily with the salesman, asking tourist-type questions like, "Have you met anybody famous?" "Oh yes, Jackie comes in to see me, and Reggie Jackson is a friend." And some other name dropping & comments about the clientele. He seemed to get a kick out of us -- young, dressed inappropriately, not much money, naive & nice. Not his typical customers, I guess!

Five years later, we had moved to New York for DH's job. We had two young sons by then. I was meeting DH in the city for lunch, and this time we were very nicely dressed. On the way back, we walked by Tiffany's and wondered if that salesman was still there. He was! AND HE REMEMBERED US! We had a lovely chat with him, mostly about his pending retirement and plans. He was glad for us that we were happy & doing well, and was pleased that we remembered him fondly too.

I still think my dinky diamond is elegant, and it reminds me of all we've been through since. DH doesn't buy me jewelry now because we'd rather travel to commemorate our milestones. Besides, how could we top that story of our first visit to Tiffany's?

Ladies, here is your chance to upgrade your stone to something really special:

Christie's to auction Elizabeth Taylor's jewels>

Change out my engagement ring diamond for a larger one? Never! It's one of a matched group that has been handed down from bride to bride in my DH's family for more than a century. Through the vagaries of inheritance division, we have acquired the matching ones (other heirs were more interested in fancier, single stones). So now, we have the others, as well. But adding them to the setting would change my ring into something else. Some time, after my death, another couple can unset my stone and reuse it. I hope they have as long and happy a marriage as we have had (nearly 31 years, so far.)

L

Love the stories, Happy Anniversary Jill!

A couple years ago when I had an issue with swelling fingers I took my wedding ring off and haven't put it back on since. Planned on getting the band made larger, but it hasn't happened yet. I love my ruby wedding ring, but I don't have to wear it for confirmation of the love I share with one very special guy.

natal

same story here. My fingers swelled something awful when I was pregnant with my first DS. The Dr told me to take them off and I did. Six weeks after he was born I put them back on and my finger immediately swelled up and I could not get it off for anything.I spent a horrible night in pain. The next day we went to the jeweler and he had to cut it off. Never put that thing back on again. That was 38 years ago.I hate putting rings on now, it scares me. I still have my rings though. DH and I were married in grad school, so no money. I have a little marquis and still love it.

I created a scandal in DH's family when I didn't want a diamond ring. You see, his uncle was a diamond dealer and would sell my fiance a first quality ring at his dealer cost.

I did inherit DH's mother's ring, which is ginormous and sits in a safe deposit box.

Love all the stories!

My original ring (1976) was a small emerald cut. I had it for about 10 years before it was stolen.
I would so love to have that ring back. My sentimental ring now is an emerald cut blue topaz I wear on my right hand that my husband gave me many years ago.

I couldn't stand to have a ring so valuable that I couldn't actually wear it! Many years ago, a good friend of mine was planning to propose to his now-wife with a family heirloom ring. But because of the size and value of the stone (probably 2-3 carats), he was reluctant to 'allow' her to wear the ring. I told him I'd never accept an 'engagement' ring I wouldn't be 'allowed' to actually wear, and that I'd be surprised if his GF would either, and suggested he either get over it, or have a copy made with a great CZ, and give her both... Don't know if he made a copy, but she sports one heckuva rock! (I hope it's the real one.)

Agree with sweeby. Isn't that the reason we pay for insurance! I wear my diamonds all the time. Might as well enjoy it while I can.

We didn't get engaged, we just decided it was time to get married. My husband-to-be knew I was looking to buy a used baby grand piano (I couldn't afford a new one, was going to finance a used one), so he gave me my choice of (a) a diamond ring (b) a trip to Europe or (c) a new baby grand piano.

No hesitation--I chose the Yamaha Baby Grand; I figured I'd wind up with a diamond and trip to Europe later on.

I have my original gold wedding band, and on our 20th anniversary, at exactly the time (adjusted for time zones) that we said our vows, he surprised me under the Arc D Triomphe with a gorgeous marquis diamond ring to go with the gold band of twenty years. I was surprised, because at that exact moment, I presented him with a gold band--he had not worn one all of those years because sometimes he had to go on job sites and it was dangerous. Our girls knew of our gifts to one another but kept the secrets. Great Anniversary Trip. We made it to Twenty-Five years, when he took me on a surprise trip to Zurich and Vienna. No rings, just $5 Cokes.

I still wear my rings.

demi -

I have a friend who got an engagement baby grand!

We upgraded about 5 years ago when one of the stones on my original engagment ring fell out (and was lost). Of course we could have just replaced the stone, but... the original engagement/wedding rings were yellow gold, and I had gotten to the point where I never wore yellow gold, only silver and some white gold. I had really been wishing for a while that I had white gold rings. So now I have a slightly larger diamond engagement ring and matching band in platinum and loooove it. We kept the older rings to give to DD when she's older, or maybe have them made into something for a significant birthday.

I have. Similar story to sueb's. We were in upheaval from remodeling, and one day, no rings. I had only gone to a gas station that day. (Bad habit of tucking them in coin purse, where I never kept coins, and thought maybe, just maybe, they fell out when I paid.) For over a month I looked everywhere in the house, the car, went back to the gas station several times. No rings. :( Thankfully, I had insured them separately. I went back to the same jewelry store that made them. Same little old Russian man was still there making jewelry. :) He remembered mine from a photo (I had sketched the originals for him). Mine have baguettes on top half of both engagement & wedding band, with a marquis on engagement. Only thing I changed was I opted for white gold. Prefer that, I rarely wear other jewelry, but when I do it's silver. I do wear my pre & post marriage Christmas & Birthday diamond studs daily, they are set in white gold. Back when we got married very little was available or displayed in white gold or platinum. And the marquis is a bit larger, but that was based on what they had in the store, closest to what I had before. (Not a big rock kind of gal.) They don't match DHs gold band, and will never be the same as the ones placed on my finger. I am happy to have them tho, and if not for insuring them I would be up the proverbial creek!

Yes to insurance! Here's a happy story: Years ago, my aunt hung her gorgeous rings on a nail above her washing machine and forgot about them. She tore apart the house. After several months she got up nerve enough to tell her husband; they decided they were lost forever, filed the insurance papers, replaced them with a plain gold band.

Ten years later they were moving out of the house. The mover taking the washer out looked up, saw the rings on the nail, and said, "Mrs. S, you'll want these, won't you?" Oh, my, goodness, Y E S ! ! !

They called the insurance company with the good news, were told to keep the claim money (this was 10 yrs later) and reinsure the rings.

Wonderful stories! I don't have an engagement ring. Even back then I thought the diamond market was a racket.

Once I thought I'd lost my wedding ring when it wasn't where I'd put it after a trip to the lake. Figured it was under 30 feet of water. I cried and cried. DH said "I'll buy you another one. Please don't cry." "But it won't be the one you gave me on our wedding day!" I continued to cry. Found it the next day in the sweat band of the hat I'd been wearing. I'd put it in the hat while I went swimming and it slid into the band when I picked the hat up. Whew!

My mother gave me her wide gold Art Carved band from her marriage to my father(she was married 4 times in her life). My mother and father were married 24 years...that seemed like a looooooooooooong time when your 19. :0) DH worked construction....no band for him.

On our 25th, I purchased small 18K stackable rings by Tiffany, Bulgari, Hidalgo and Salaveti, for myself and an Art carved titanium inlaid with 18K for DH to match his titanium and 18K watch by Citizen. Simple....but an upgrade. :0)

Lol Goldie...mine looks a lot like princess di's ring..only a ruby and ummm well it's the super midget version lol.

Now don't get me wrong girls...when I said I didn't like huge rings I only meant wedding rings that blind you! Because I think those trophy rings look silly at Safeway (even on an elite shopper lmao) but gems in general...I have no issue with big stones, small stones and medium stones!!!!! My heart beats faster if the jewelry is antique...but even a nice new piece makes me smile.

I ave to go call that auction house...I said that I wanted a piece od the duchess of windsors collection before I die....it seems now might be my lucky day!!!! Thank you Eliza Beth.....ummmmm does anyone have a million or two I can borrow til Tuesday ???? (Tuesday the day after heck freezes over but let's not be specific shall we?).

I love Demi's story.

I didn't get an engagement ring, since I only wanted one ring. DH bought a loose stone from my father (great deal) and we picked out the same band. So I received it during our wedding. There was only six months between our first date and the wedding, so I didn't have to wait long. ;)

A few years later I added a simple diamond band - looked only engaged and I had 2.5 children, so I wanted to look married.

For our 20th anniversary - almost 10 years ago - I designed a ring and had it made by Judith Ripka. It's a modern, custom version of the three stone ring, keeping the original center stone. It's worn alone, no band.

My mother has her original engagement ring that was designed by my father. He has given her several upgrades over the years, but she would never think of altering or replacing her original ring. The last ring carat weight is quite large. She's less than 5ft tall and under 100lbs, so my girls tease her about it being a weight to keep the wind from blowing her away.

Hey Costco shoppers - if you hurry you might be able to snag the ring they just advertised on the evening news...

6.77 cts. flawless and colorless in the classic round cut

it's appraised at 1.6 million but with your Costco cards you can get if for a cool 1 million

Drat - I belong to BJ's.

I saw that at Costco last weekend! When DH demonstrated just how large that would be on a finger, I changed my mind and didn't buy it. :+)

My wedding set was designed and made by DH. It's not traditional by any means. He has a matching band. Our rings have small leaves surrounding the setting and there's not another set like them in the world so there is no way to upgrade them. I would have been happy with my original diamond if I hadn't lost it. We paid $90. for it at the time.

My new diamond wholesaled for $4K and came with insurance and papers. It's flawless. It was a very unexpected Christmas gift. I hadn't worn my wedding ring in 6 months because I'd lost the stone. I'd asked for a CZ replacement and received a very nice diamond instead.

Not in a million years would I upgrade on purpose. It's perfection as is. Small by today's standards but by far better quality than many stones that my friends got.

It's a traditional round stone in a filigree setting flanked on each side w/ 3 smaller stones. Very 'antiquey' looking. People often ask if it is an antique.

I have an unusal shaped engagement ring that had a simple thing also unusally shaped band. DH always said when we made it to 10 years he'd get me a band. Our good friend is the jeweler. Ten years came and went with the loss of my dad. We had so much going on that we let the band idea drop much to the happiness of our jeweler. He didn't want to make the custom band.

Next month is 14 years. Last fall jeweler called and mentioned he had a .5 ct marquise that would be great in my ring (mine was .26ct). I told hubby that I didn't think I could part with my original diamond and felt greedy to upgrade. He said I deserved it for putting up with him and I could keep the original.

We went and looked at the diamond and both agreed it would look amazing. Much to my surprise my jeweler said he'd make the band afterall. After having the ring for close to 3 months he gives it back and I HATED it. I cried.

We took it back and explained what I was thinking. He said no problem he could fix it. Another 2 months later and my ring is beautiful. It has so many different style of stones but blends so well. Marquise, trilliums, rounds, and baguettes. It still means the world to me and still has all the sentimental value as before. Just redesigned a bit.

I think I'll have the original diamond set in a pendant. Or maybe in another ring.