Engagement rings!

[ArtDeco]

Here I am starting another jewellery thread! Lovely if you want to join me :hi:

The threads over the previous days got me thinking last night about engagement rings. Did you get one? Do you still wear it (if you're still married I suppose that is!) My mum has been divorced since 1986 and still jokingly complains that she never got an engagement ring (every penny went on the mortgage and then later me, apparantly :thinking:!) When OH and I got Civilly Partnered I got a ring and OH got a watch. I don't wear my ring anymore, as I've been saying in other threads it's too new, took me a long time to realise I far prefer vintage jewellery. (And OH's watch broke the other night, hope it's not a metaphor for the relationship!) I wear another ring now (will try and upload photo of that in the other thread.) Am just wondering if anyone's had an engagement ring they've loved for thirty years, or whether they'd choose something different if they had their time again? Did you for a conventional solitaire or something a bit different? Or have you got a few engagement-type rings and switch between them? Did you get a divorce ring?! Keep telling my mum she should buy herself one of those!

Am desperately trying to upload a photo of my original engagement ring but can't get it to work. It's probably just me, am a bit :taphead: with technology. Ooh, hang on, is that it there? Think I *might* have managed it...

 

[ArtDeco]

Oh where has that blimming photo gone! Will try again...is there a quick way can anybody tell me? Followed Sazza'a instructions but coulnd't find the paper clip, tried via manage attachments and it seemed it had done it but obviously not...

 

[Frazzled]

AD - there's lots of info on the "Does my bum look big in this" in Pets, start on page 62?

If I'm uploading from my computer I use the "Insert Image" icon when compiling post?

 

[minim]

I did not want an engagement ring, I wanted a bed and a telly instead lol
So, my wedding ring had to be different & stand alone. I saw exactly what I wanted on the back of a bridal magazine & ordered it from Crouch the Jewellers.

It has 3 thin horizontal spaced bands held together by 4 thin vertical uprights.
I loved it & never took it off- a big mistake.
Over the years it has worn quite thin, the pattern in places is absent and it is distorted. It was a bit loose to start with, but when it shot across the kitchen when I shook my wet hands, it was time to take it off. It is too delicate now to have it re-sized.
I'm not a fan of yellow gold I did think about having my ring and all my yellow gold melted down and made into a badge inscribed with 'LOL' - but I don't like yellow gold so would never wear it.

Himself was very miffed & has never offered to replace it so I've indulged my whims. I've had a succession of bands since. Never gone for engagement & plain band combo. I find the stone ring always works it's way round the back on my finger and they are too uncomfortable and cumbersome for everyday use.

Currently I'm wearing a very thin eternity band type ring from Q.

 

[Frazzled]

Love the design of your wedding ring Mim.

Have you thought about taking it to a jeweller/jewellery maker and asking for it to made in white gold? You could find selling your yellow gold could cover some or all of the cost?

Or perhaps the badge in white gold etc - like the "LOL" idea!

 

[petpixie]

I haven't worn my engagement ring for years. It's a diamond shaped ruby with diamonds either side. I've totally gone off it and only chose it because it was the best of the bunch that hubby could afford at the time. In retrospect I should have gone for a vintage ring as I prefer them too. I've since bought/been given a few lovely rings, but rarely wear them. In spite of loving the look of them it's such a faff taking them on and off to wash my hands which I have to or my fingers get terribly sore and irritated.

 

[minim]

Love the design of your wedding ring Mim.

Have you thought about taking it to a jeweller/jewellery maker and asking for it to made in white gold? You could find selling your yellow gold could cover some or all of the cost?

Or perhaps the badge in white gold etc - like the "LOL" idea!

That's a good idea Frazzled. Hadn't thought of that.
Had thought of taking Himself somewhere though and getting him remodelled - a de-coke & a re-bore should do it lol.

 

[Vienna]

When I got engaged to my first husband in 1971 we were skint so my ER was a tiny cluster of diamond chips you needed a magnifying glass to see. I wore that ring for over 20 years and it ended up wearing so thin it actually snapped. When it was our silver wedding anniversary in 1998 he bought me a beautiful lozenge shaped cluster ring with matching wedding band. The diamonds were much bigger and the wedding band was diamond too. Even after he died in 2005 I still wore my ER and wedding band but when my second husband proposed 3 years ago I had an engagement ring made for me in an Edwardian style with a pale pink centre diamond surrounded by white diamonds in platinum. I still have the lovely set my first husband bought for our silver anniversary but i`m keeping it until one of my grand daughters wants to get engaged and then I`ll ask if she wants it, by then it will be classed as vintage so you never know. If neither of my grand daughters want to use it, they may want new ones of their own. They`re only 4 and 6 so they`ve quite a number of years ahead of them before that day comes.

 

[ArtDeco]

Have managed to shrink the file (after working out it was far too big), it's showing up under 'Manage Attachments' but can't see it in message box. Will post and see what happens...

 

[ArtDeco]

Woo hoo! I managed it! Not bad for a technophobe who's waiting for her kids to grow up so they can explain this whole digital revolution type thingybob to her! Ooh there'll be no stopping me now, off to post me vintage bling on the other thread...

 

[Milly]

My engagment ring is a small two tier diamond cluster in yellow gold I got engaged in 1972 and I wore it every day for over 25years then one evening I was watching the new Gems tv show(about 10 years ago I guess) well that was the start of my love affair with rings I now have over 100 different rings mostly in yelow gold which I prefer and they go with my gold wedding band and I wear a different ring most days one of my favourites is a solitair black diamond I bought in the early gems days but I do have loads that I really like but my original ring is in my jewellery box and is priceless in sentimental value and me and hubby are still married to each other and he never had a ring as he had a manual job and he's not a jewellery wearing bloke other than a watch .

 

[ArtDeco]

Thanks for replies so far. It is a lovely design Minim. There's a jeweller near to that makes very contemporary rings and I've seen things there along the same lines. You were clearly ahead of your time a few [ahem] years ago! Vienna in 2006 ago my step-dad remarried (I have a v complicated family!) and his wife had been wearing a silver engagement ring for thirty years given to her by her late first husband in the early seventies. The ring my step-dad gave her is a beautiful sapphire and diamond vintage gold ring which she loves, but I know the silver ring means such a lot to her after such a long and happy first marriage.

When I picked up my engagement ring I excitedly texted my OH to say I'd got it. I've kept the reply I got back from her, it says: "Cool. I'm cleaning the kitchen." RIP romance...:grin:

 

[BusyMum]

That's a good idea Frazzled. Hadn't thought of that.
Had thought of taking Himself somewhere though and getting him remodelled - a de-coke & a re-bore should do it lol.

don't forget the "big end" Min, that was something that always seemed to go I remember..!

to revert to topic, when I first got engaged I had a tiny piece of diamond in some kind of setting...second time I didn't get engaged as such but have indulged my love of white metals and solitaire diamonds with a succession of Eek rings...I love a change so no point in buying something expensive that I would be fed up of after a year or two - even if himself was agreeable!

PS I had a very similar ring to yours Min in silver...it looked quite Rennie Mackintosh to me at the time!

 

[Pinkpussycat]

I can't show you my ER as I don't know what happened to it. I got engaged at 16 and my b/f (later my hubby) was 19 and he didn't have much money so my ring was a y/g trilogy with 3 small diamonds set into a w/g illusion setting top and cost £45 lol. We divorced in 1979 and my ring has since been lost because tbh I didn't really love it so didn't take care of it. Circumstances meant that I we could not get engaged but my ex who I was with for many years gave me this 'I Love You' ring instead which I adore and even though we are no longer together I still sometimes wear it. It's a vintage platinum trilogy, the centre diamond is a 1.50ct old cushion cut and the side diamonds are each 0.60 old round cuts. Photo is carp but those fms who know me well expect that anyway lol.

 

[ArtDeco]

Busymum, my mum (who is also very busy :grin prefers her multiple Eek to one piece of bling. I prefer multiple bling which isn't good for my bank balance...

PPC that is a *beautiful* ring - I love old cuts I have one like that (not as big as yours though!) Truly spectacular.

Congrats to all of you who are long married by the way - and congrats to those of you who are divorced too :rock:

 

[Toril]

I had a white gold engagement ring with a pale blue stone in the centre with diamonds round the central stone's circumference. I had a white gold bark design wedding ring. I obviously stopped wearing them when I got divorced but still have them safely stored in my jewellery box. I now wear a silver five stone eternity ring on my 'wedding' finger ....... not because I'm engaged, but because I'm 'not available' and the sight of it on my finger has meant that I don't keep getting asked out on dates. After all, refusal could cause offence, :wink: but I was genuinely amazed at the interest shown in me, once people knew I was 'newly single.' There's life in the old gal yet! :wink:

 

[Nora]

Here I am starting another jewellery thread! Lovely if you want to join me :hi:

The threads over the previous days got me thinking last night about engagement rings. Did you get one? Do you still wear it (if you're still married I suppose that is!) My mum has been divorced since 1986 and still jokingly complains that she never got an engagement ring (every penny went on the mortgage and then later me, apparantly :thinking:!) When OH and I got Civilly Partnered I got a ring and OH got a watch. I don't wear my ring anymore, as I've been saying in other threads it's too new, took me a long time to realise I far prefer vintage jewellery. (And OH's watch broke the other night, hope it's not a metaphor for the relationship!) I wear another ring now (will try and upload photo of that in the other thread.) Am just wondering if anyone's had an engagement ring they've loved for thirty years, or whether they'd choose something different if they had their time again? Did you for a conventional solitaire or something a bit different? Or have you got a few engagement-type rings and switch between them? Did you get a divorce ring?! Keep telling my mum she should buy herself one of those!

Am desperately trying to upload a photo of my original engagement ring but can't get it to work. It's probably just me, am a bit :taphead: with technology. Ooh, hang on, is that it there? Think I *might* have managed it...

I loved my engagement ring it was a set with the wedding ring and I took them off one Boxing Day 20 years ago as I was pregnant and my fingers had swollen. Went out and some scumbag broke into our home and took all my jewellery, Xmas pressies, the lot! My husband bought me a new set later on when we could afford it but its not the same. :mysmilie_853:

 

[Sacha]

Thanks for your pics ladies, lovely to see the pieces you have been posting about. Fraid I can't do that as I'm using an IPad thingy that I can't copy pics onto. I have a white gold diamond engagement ring with one rather small and sparkly stone, but it fell out decades ago....I do still have the stone! My lovely matching wedding ring became too tight and also eventually lost its pattern, being the softer 18k gold and so for very many years I wore just nothing or a dress ring.

Since getting the jewellery bug I do now chop and change what I wear on my wedding finger, but having different sized fingers what will fit my right hand is too large for my left! So I was delighted when years ago GemsTV suddenly sold, for a very brief time, a range of Rainbow Sapphire 14k rings in size 6. I nabbed a couple which I wear regularly plus some tri-colour gold rings from Blackhills Gold, Dakota via QVC.....plus others including a very sparkly Moissanite eternity ring from the B'ham jewellers, agents of Charles & Colvard. I think my motto should be ......'ring the changes'? :tongue: But still no engagement ring as such!

 

[Tinkerbelle]

Oh Nora that's such a shame. (

You've all seen my engagement ring. I love it but its not traditional and I know that it's probably not what most people would choose. Maybe as a right hand ring but I wanted morganite and to get the true beauty and colour of morganite it needs to be a big stone. Even two (or is it three?? I'm not good with dates) years later I sit and stare at my ring.

I may or may not get married again but if I do I'll have to have a ring made to fit round my engagement ring. I'm thinking maybe two rings to sit either side, rose gold set with diamonds that echo the shape of the ring and sit proud on the finger. The jeweller who made it seemed confident a wedding ring could be made easily enough.

My first two engagement rings (1st didn't last five minutes, married the second one) were a trilogy with diamonds and a central sapphire. The second of the two was an antique Ceylon sapphire. I also had a five stone diamond eternity ring. I also had a second eternity ring. A diamond trilogy of .75 ct stones semi bezel set in white gold. Why I'm saying had I don't know as I still have them all!

 

[Nora]

Oh Nora that's such a shame. (

You've all seen my engagement ring. I love it but its not traditional and I know that it's probably not what most people would choose. Maybe as a right hand ring but I wanted morganite and to get the true beauty and colour of morganite it needs to be a big stone. Even two (or is it three?? I'm not good with dates) years later I sit and stare at my ring.

I may or may not get married again but if I do I'll have to have a ring made to fit round my engagement ring. I'm thinking maybe two rings to sit either side, rose gold set with diamonds that echo the shape of the ring and sit proud on the finger. The jeweller who made it seemed confident a wedding ring could be made easily enough.

My first two engagement rings (1st didn't last five minutes, married the second one) were a trilogy with diamonds and a central sapphire. The second of the two was an antique Ceylon sapphire. I also had a five stone diamond eternity ring. I also had a second eternity ring. A diamond trilogy of .75 ct stones semi bezel set in white gold. Why I'm saying had I don't know as I still have them all!

Thanks Tink! Amongst the ones I had stolen was a two diamond and sapphire dress ring that the OH had designed for our first Christmas as a married couple. I used to keep it hidden and the day before I had shown my daughter )who was 4 at the time and said when she was 18 I would give it to her, then what did I do? Put it in the blummin drawer, why I don't know and of course that went. Oh well!