Curiously I was just told my mom intends to give me her mother's ring, when she dies. This is a ring I have never seen. I too have no idea what I am supposed to do with this ring. It holds no memories of her as I never saw her wear it. My 'grandmother' died 30 years before I was born. Why doesn't she give this ring to one of her grand-daughters? I am married, I have no need of another wedding ring. She has a jewelry box full of rings. As far as I know most of then are worth less than this ring. I would rather have one of the ones that would remind me of her. I have no idea what I will do with this ring.

I had my grandmother's engagement ring and gave it to my son for his sweetie.

I have no idea, as my mother was married and divorced three times and I have no recollection of any of those rings, and certainly no fond memories associated with any of them.

On the same note, I have the rings from my failed marriage stuffed away somewhere, with no idea of what to do with them.

I do have a friend who has an interesting ring made up of several large solitaires. One was her mother's, one was her grandmother's, one from a favorite aunt, one from her deceased husband, and one that was found in her home when she replaced the carpet. It is very pretty and quite the conversation piece!

My mother inherited her mother's engagement ring. It had just a simple setting so she took the diamond and had a new setting made for her own engagement ring, using both stones. She then took the band from my grandmother's ring and bought a blue topaz gemstone set on the band. She then gave me the ring for my birthday. I do find a bit of sentimental value in it knowing that the same band was worn by my grandmother until her death.

I'm not sure what my mother will do with her ring..she could leave one stone to me and one to my sister but not sure if she will b/c she's also close with my SIL and might not want her to feel left out. Dh's sister inherited dh's grandmother's ring. She never married but wears it as jewelry on her right ring finger for dressy events.

If the rings have no sentimental value to you, then they are just stones and metal. Why not sell them and do something useful (household repairs), or therapeutic, like a vacation or a day at the spa, or something completely frivolous? Then maybe whatever the money funds will be special to you.

My mother's ring is in my jewelry box. Even if I wanted to wear it it's too small and I don't want to have it sized. My parents didn't have much when they married, the diamond is pretty small and probably not worth much. I'll probably give it to my daughter at some point.

I have my Mom's and MIL's engagement rings....I haven't done anything with them. We did get an odd brooch from DH's grandmother which I stole the diamonds off of and had it made into a necklace. Got a lot more use out of the necklace.

My dad doesn't seem to have any issues with my sisters or nieces wearing any of my mother's jewelry, including personal stuff like her engagement rings (there were several that she called this).

I have my grandmother's fiftieth anniversary diamond solitaire ring. It fits perfectly without needing to be sized and also fits perfectly into my wrap style wedding band. (My engagement ring is a sapphire.) My mother gave it to me after my grandmother died. I occasionally wear the diamond with my wedding ring. It feels special that it fits both my finger and my wedding band perfectly. My mother wears my grandmother's (her mother's) wedding band stacked with her own wedding band and engagement ring.

I imagine my mother's set will go to my nephew as he is the oldest grandson. Maybe he will have the diamond reset for an engagement ring? I would guess that I will inherit my mother's pearls as I wore them as my something borrowed on my wedding day.

Used jewelry, even the "good stuff", even diamonds, has such little value (compared to the retail cost) that it is vastly preferable to find someone who might use and enjoy it than to sell it.

Errant, that's a funny story!

I had my grandmother's diamond made into a necklace. I wear it often and smile as I think of my grandmother.

My mother inherited her aunt's engagement ring, I always loved it. My now DH had it reset as my engagement ring. My aunt left me her rings, the diamonds from one of them we set into my wedding band. Both mean more to me than anything new my husband may have purchased for me. If you have a family member that might appreciate them I would take that route. One of your nieces may love to have the ring. My daughter will get what will be her mother's, grandmother's, great aunt and her great great aunts rings.

BTW, whoever you give it to, I might leave out "... the funeral director gave it to me". I think that may have colored how you feel about it, and it's just not a great image or story to go with it, IFYKWIM? I imagine your father worked hard for that ring, and your Mom cared very much about it, so I would try to send it off with good karma and positive thoughts, if I you do give it away.

I hope I haven't said that in an insensitive way.

Isn't it sad to think of all the inherited engagement rings just sitting in drawers and jewelry boxes, while so many young men try to save up for "acceptable" engagement rings, or go into debt to buy them? The jewelry industry has such insane markups and profit.

If you don't want to resize/reset/wear the rings, and aren't saving them to pass down to family, I'd find some young man that is planning to propose, and give the ring to him. It would be such a nice thing to help someone out, and pay it forward in your mother's memory :-)

As a side note- my grandmother inherited a beautiful platinum engagement set from her aunt, whose fiance was killed in WWI. The aunt never married, and never wore the rings after he was killed. My grandmother had the large, gorgeous diamond reset, but hardly ever wore it. Thankfully, she saved the original setting. When she passed away, my mother had the diamond replaced in the original setting. It's beautiful. Guess where it is? Sitting in her jewelry box :-) She just wears her own wedding rings.

My MIL passed away several years ago. Her rings went to her daughter, her husband's ring went to her oldest son, and my DH got her mother's ring. It was a weird ring with two solitaire diamonds, that were the same size, but not really the same cut, set side by side. He had them made into earrings for me. His sister had her mother's rings remade into a ring for herself with some sapphires. There were extra diamonds from that, so I had 3 of them set into a wedding ring for my DH. It means a lot to him because they were his mom's.

I had my great-aunt's, and both of my grandmother's engagement rings (only girl on both sides.) They just sat in my jewelry box, where I would occasionally look at them & think sweet thoughts about those special ladies...but like most I had no idea what to do with them. Unbeknownst to me, Dh took the rings (one was 1 karat, the other two slightly smaller) to an amazing jeweler. The two of them designed a gorgeous necklace that is basically shaped like a smile with the larger stone in the center. Dh added two smaller stones to each end (one for each of our kids) so there are 5 total. I adore this gorgeous necklace and wear it everyday, with everything. It is so special to me, and I am so grateful he thought to do that!

If there isn't any sentimental value to the rings I'd give them away to someone who might appreciate them. My Mom lost the diamond in her engagement ring and refused to replace it. But she did design a ring with small rubies and diamonds that she wore instead. My father's company gave tie clips (remember them?) set with diamonds and/or rubies to the executives to mark every 5th anniversary with the company. At one point my parents took several tie clips to their jeweler and designed a ring using 8 stones. I wear it occasionally and will someday pass it along.

A few years ago when gold was significantly higher I took her gold necklaces and bracelets to a few dealers for appraisals. My own jeweler gave me the best deal for the gold - either cash or if I wanted to purchase something he'd add an additional 20% .

I had my mothers diamond (over a karat) made into a necklace and gave it to my niece for her college graduation. She was especially close to my DM. I know my Mom would have loved the idea.

my mom also wore her rings til basically the day she died-- I removed them before she died tho. I didn't want them being taken off by someone else....

I haven't worn her engagement ring because it looks very much like an engagement ring, but I do sometimes wear one of my grandmother's because it is from the early 1920's and has a very cool old setting... I am planning to maybe someday offer them to my kids as engagement rings- they both have nice diamonds.......

I'd also vote for either having it reset into something you would wear (necklace or another ring) or giving it to a niece who would want it for the same purpose. It will lay there another 9 years or longer and do no one any good or enjoyment where it is now. I have my Mother's and do wear it on occasion but have been thinking of doing something else with it that I would wear more often such as earrings. Or I will give it to my DD or DGD if they want it as is.

It's been 20 years since she passed away. This ring wasn't her actual engagement ring but was a ring my Dad bought for her later (her wedding ring was a simple band with small diamonds in it), but she did wear this one often.

I have my mother's wedding set. She had always told me she wanted me to have it. Yes it sits in my jewelry box most of the time. I wear it occasionally. But it means so much to me because my parents were married for 57 years. She wore it her whole life. I have one daughter. I imagine I will give it to her one day.

My mom willed her engagement ring and other jewelry to me. I have worn it for special occasions. It is a little small on me. I think it's around a size 5 or 5 1/2, and my wedding set is 5 3/4. I was willing to use it as my engagement ring and then get a new band, but DH said I should have my own. When my weight was lower, I could wear Mom's. I do wear her 25th anniversary band on my right hand every day. That one is about the same size as my rings. It is in great shape considering it's from the early 70's, but could maybe use a re-dipping for the white gold.

The engagement ring is on it's third setting at least. Mom wore her rings 24/7 and the prongs and bands wore down over the years. I think it was last reset in the 1990's. The center stone is small, but that's what everyone had. Maybe at this point I should just have the engagement ring resized and the anniversary band dipped. Life is too short to have it sit in a drawer.

My paternal grandmother's ring was left to her only DD. One of her granddaughter's stole it and sold it or swapped it for drugs. It was in a pretty setting and a nice size, but the color was off. Her band and my grandfather's band went to her second son even though they were suppose to go to one of his sons. That cousin has never seen the bands. My uncle has probably sold them.

I have no idea what happened to my maternal grandmother's jewelry. The gold Navy ring was stolen or tossed by accident before she passed away. Maybe her wedding rings too.

Mother is not well (Parkinson's) and will most likely go before my father. She hasn't brought up jewelry and neither have we. Who knows, he might sell afterwards, even though he doesn't need the money... but I know she would want us to have. My dad is funny (not in a ha-ha way!) about things. I know Mom would probably like to give everything to us now so we can enjoy, but Dad would get his feeling hurt, get mad and pout - seriously. If she does end up giving it to us, my sister and I have already decided that we won't each "take" favorite pieces, but share it all. She has no children and I have three (two daughters).

My dad designed Mom's wedding set. Mom is tiny, so the ring won't fit any of us. She has a another ring given to her about 8 years ago. It is large, so most people do not think it is real, or even ask (like grocery store cashiers). She used to wear it daily, but hasn't in several years. Only now and then.

I honestly don't care what happens to them. If Dad sells, that's fine. If she leaves them to us, that's fine. But I will share with my adult daughters while they are young.

DD2 sold her set about 2 years after her divorce. Listed it on a local Facebook Trading page. We met the young man at a jewelry store - we've known the owner for 20 years and the setting/band were purchased there. That way, we were in a secure place and the buyer was assured the stones were real. DD2 installed hardwood flooring in her kitchen and had money left over.

Although my mother had it in her will, she gave me the ring and the items she wanted my sister to have long before she passed away, just in case things didn't get lost after she died and to reduce the chance of the items getting stolen.

My sister got my mom's wedding set many years ago while my mom was still alive (passed in 2003). Mom couldn't wear the rings as they were too small so she took the stones out and had them set into a cocktail ring sometime in the late 80s/early 90s. My sister resized the wedding set and had it reset with sapphires and CZ. She never wears it because of her job.

After my dad passed recently, I was given the cocktail ring with the stones from the wedding set. I wear it on my right hand often. I always liked the stones and it's a small scaled ring, which suits my hand. It goes well with my wedding set and balances the hands nicely. I also got mom's mother's ring and wear that on my right had at times.

I have a bunch of costume jewelry that is a combination of my mom's and my dad's mom's. There are a few pieces I may hang on to. I don't know what to do with the rest!

My mother died when I was 29 and I am an only child, so I had her wedding and engagement rings (she was buried with a gold band that my parents bought for, I think, their 20th anniversary -- she wore that band all the time, not her original rings). I had no idea what to do with them for a long time. I had my own wedding rings and hers were too big for me anyway... so they sat for years in a jewelry box. Several years ago I took the engagement ring to a jeweler and had the diamond made into a sort of "charm" -- just the diamond, nothing else, that hangs from a plain white gold bracelet. I don't wear it all the time but I do wear it pretty frequently. You can barely see the little diamond hanging off the bracelet, but I know it's there!

I have my MIL's engagement ring. It is too small but I had the intention of getting it re-sized and wearing it as much as possible. It is lovely and I would love looking at it and thinking of her. I also love the idea of my son using it as an engagement ring, but would it be weird for me to wear it in the meantime? Could be another 15 years before he would need it.

Lots of interesting stories. Thanks for sharing. I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't really know what to do with "the ring". legomom - I think it would be okay for you to wear the ring.

The idea of using the stone in another piece of jewelry has a certain appeal but I will probably see if one of my nieces want it. (Without the funeral home info. lol I can be pretty tactless but even I wouldn't do that. I shared it here because it did, indeed, color my feelings about the ring to a certain degree.)

Does anyone keep gold/jewels as a sort of insurance policy in case of potential financial hard times? That's not in my plans but I think it is still done in some cultures.

I inherited my late mother's engagement ring, which is in storage at this point. That was replaced (after college) with a much larger diamond and a band with diamonds. I wear it on my right hand on special occasions. This was my mother's wish. I would not think of having it reset, however, I understand your circumstances were so very different. It is hard to second guess, but what do you think your late mother would have wanted you to do with the ring?

Now that's an interesting question, bonnie. I haven't a clue. And after hearing about all of you have inherited these rings I'm surprised their isn't a sort of mother/daughter protocol about discussing this issue before death. Being the only daughter of an only child whose mother managed to out live her by living to be 103 I just don't have experience with these things. (My other grandmother died when I was quite young. I have no aunts or uncles.) I'm going to give your question some thought.

I think you can also imagine what YOU would want to have done with your rings and then use that info to decide what to do with the rings you've inherited. I think many of us would say that whatever our kids or other heirs choose to do with them would be fine by us. Most people don't want to control that kind of thing, or be a burden on others, from the grave.

#1 As stated these stones/settings are not WORTH as much as people think. I have a son and would gladly give him the diamond..for his future use..but I bet it is not to her liking--the same way no one REALLY wants to wear my wedding dress. Any diamond I inherit will be modest at best, not worth the bother of a pendant and there aren't two so earrings are out.
#2. Women do not wear diamond rings! The diamond is the issue. I am an April birthday. I did not have or want a "birthstone" ring because it would have been a diamond. If you are single and wear one people think you are engaged or pretending to be. Women wear their wedding ring--the one and only diamond the need/want. If you put the diamonds among other colored stones or many many diamonds so it looks like a dinner ring...but still most would rather have a different stone for such jewelry.

arcy, I like diamonds, and while I have my solitaire as my engagement ring (which is welded to the wedding ring as a set), I have added diamonds to other rings including a ruby one and a sapphire one that I wore regularly to work. I think a lot depends on the setting and which finger it's worn on.

Arcy, that may be the case with some but not all. I agree with Annie.

~~~~~

I have 6 or 7 small bands with stones I stack two at a time on my right ring finger - several are Alex Sepkus, a few I have no idea and an artist band w/no stones (but lovely floral design) I bought on vacation in Santa Fe.

Mom did give me a pair of diamond earrings. My sister cleaned and ruined an emerald ring Dad bought my sister when traveling with him, so Mom gave her the emerald ring dad had bought her on the same trip. She said the diamonds in her earrings were larger and better than mine, but they weren't (according to the appraisals on both pairs). So I gave one to DD2 when she got engaged (the ring set she later sold) and DS the other one for his GF.

Arcy - I don't have a diamond engagement or wedding ring. I would never buy a diamond (or allow my husband to buy me one) because I think the diamond trade is a racket. Inherited ones are different though because they have sentimental value.

I love diamonds! Rarely do I go out without wearing diamond stud earrings, a solitaire diamond necklace and my diamond engagement ring and wedding band, which has a row of diamonds. Often I go days without taking them off. Racket? Oh, no doubt the mark up is huge!

I have my mom's diamond engagement ring. It's already been reset-she did that after my dad died, so it's more of a fashion ring.

I'm going to take it to my jeweler and see if I can use the gold for something else. The diamonds are not great quality, so I don't want them.

It's not the markup that's the problem, bonnie_ann. It's the market control and manipulation by a few stake holders (de Beers) that's the problem.

Wear it daily, it is my most cherished piece of jewelry; something my father gave my mother. Love and miss you Mom and Dad.

Since I like jewelry and I wear it daily, I would have it reset into something I like and wear it. I currently wear my late MIL's set on my left hand pinkie finger, along wit ha mothers ring my kids gave me years ago. They're all very small stones, so together the rings aren't overwhelming. On my right hand I wear my Dad's diamond ring. I never take my rings off.

Mom will leave me her original stone she had remade into a pendant after Dad died. She also had a cocktail ring made up from the other stones that is going to my sister (total carat weight on each is the same, but I get the solitaire). I don't know what I'll do with that, since I seldom wear one necklace, and I can't really combine that one with my funky costume jewelry. I plan to give any of the rings her current husband gave her to his daughters-they have no meaning to me or my children.

My eldest DD received her husband's grandmothers ring as her engagement ring. It's a lovely vintage ring, the stones are on the small side (no more than 1/3 carat each) but it's a beautiful setting and perfect for them. The trend seems to be big, ostentatious stones these days, with young people really going in to debt for subpar stones. My other DD's in-laws are jewelers, and he gave her a sizeable stone in a current style setting-but it cost them only a few hundred, versus what it would have cost retail. So I like the idea of passing on a ring you don't want or can use to a young couple who could really use it. My son will get his Grandpa's ring to use the stone for when he finally decides to marry the girl he's with (that we're all anxious he'd give her a ring already!!)

I’m divorced from my first husband, and I gave my engagement
ring to our son to propose to his girlfriend. They didn’t have it reset, just
sized. It’s an oval ¾ carat diamond yellow gold
solitaire – not really fashionable now, but it’s a good quality and it looks
very nice on her small hand. I would not have wanted to wear it, even remade as
a necklace, and I’m glad that someone is happy with it, and it saved him
thousands of dollars. When my second husband died, I gave his wedding ring to
my daughter – it’s gold with Celtic knots engraved on it, and she can have it
sized and wear it if she wants, or give it to her someday future husband.

I decided years ago after my divorce that I was not going to let convention dictate what I can wear on my own fingers. I wear my grandmother's fancy edwardian ring with diamond chip on my right hand, where it fits, and my mother's diamond cocktail ring on my left ring finger where that one fits, and put them both on every day when I go out, unless it's to do yard work. I think of them both every day when I slip on their rings.

Beagles, your ring is lovely, and how nice to remember your Mom and Grandmom.

Would it oddl to wear my mother's engagement band and diamond in a necklace-- as is?

^^^ I don't know, but it's kind of odd to tag onto a 5.5 year old thread.

@marihoula, see you probably searched for an answer and found this old thread.

No, I don't think it would be odd; would just make sure the chain/clasp is strong & secure to prevent loss.

Thank you for your response. Obviously, I'm new at this and was searching for answers...just added a question to a related link. Hmm...I appreciate your feedback, mdln!

I actually enjoy reading these old threads. Some I missed, such as this one. I do think sometimes people probably search and resurrect an old thread. ie Annie just found an old thread on building/remodeling for a poster going through a current project.

Many people wear their wedding rings to the end. I inherited my grandmother's diamond band, but do not wear it and cannot bear to have it remade as I remember it on her hand. I prefer to have it as a keepsake. I am not a lover of diamonds so probably would not wear a diamond ring other than my wedding ring. So, her wedding ring stays tucked away. My mom had problems wearing her diamond wedding set, and started wearing a wide wedding band. So, before my brother married, she gave her wedding set to him for his wife-to-be. They used the engagement ring portion and had a band made to fit with the ring.