Advice for this newbie - wedding band

[Qistina]

Hi all, this is my first time posting here although I've been lurking for a few months now. I'm hoping for some advice that would point me in the right direction. Apologies for the novel ahead...

I'm looking for a wedding band to be worn with my 0.9ct plain solitaire engagement ring. It should be an easy process but i just can't find something that I truly love in stores here in my country.

I know I want a half-eternity diamond band, leaning towards a channel setting. My budget is USD900.

What I'm having problems with, hoping for some advice:
- size of melee diamonds. I wouldn't want my wedding band to overwhelm my small solitaire, but I also want a band that's blingy enough to wear on its own.
- I guess this is somewhat related to the above, but what min and max width should the band be. All that I've tried in stores are either too bulky or too delicate. My e-ring band is 2mm wide.
- Also how can I ensure that the wedding band and e-ring kinda sit parallel with each other? I seem to find that eternity bands tend to stick out in the sides when worn with my e-ring. Not a look i fancy.
- Lastly, the average costs here. Store stock rings range from $1500 - $2500, and custom made ones are quoted to be $1300 - $1500. Wayyy over my budget especially when converted to local currency.

Which brings me to my next point; should I give international vendors a go? I see some places listing half-eternitys around my budget or less and I'm so tempted to just go online. But since I've got pretty specific requirements, it'd have to be custom made. Is that advisable? On top of that I'm based in Malaysia so shipping and possible tax/duties scare me, as well as returns for modifications/repairs.

I just feel kinda overwhelmed even though it's something that should be so simple. I just want a wedding band that looks good with and without my solitaire engagement ring, that's within my budget.

My e-ring (0.9ct F S1 from James Allen. The setting is the comfort fit 2mm in 14k white gold, size 5.5):


Hope me, please!

 

[marcy]

Hi Qistina, your solitaire ring is very pretty. I think a channel set band is going to look great with your ring. Do you want to stick pretty close in size to your solitaire setting? I have a 3 pointer channel set band that I like but the band is about 3mm. If you want a band closer in size to your solitaire, 2 pointers might work but it may not be enough bling to wear alone. I have multiple bands that I switch out. My ering is about 2.5mm and two of my bands are 3mm and 2 of my bands are 4mm. I like them all; it's just a different look.

 

[MeowMeow]

I wear a 2mm wide engagement ring myself with a 2.5mm wedding band. My maths say the diamonds in the wedding band are 0.03 carats each melee stone. But my jeweller thought she remembered them being 0.02 each. Either way though I do at times wear my band alone and for me it's quite big enough. I also have a 3ish mm half eternity band I wear with my e ring and without and I like that size too. Not sure what the carat size of those stones are though. I feel as though they are likely 0.05s each.
Any bigger for me personally it starts to overwhelm my ring and finger and I'm unlucky enough to have short stubby fingers instead of skinny long ones so I couldn't stack more than what I wear even if I wanted to So maybe give 2.5mm to 3ish mm wide rings a try and see how you feel about it on your hands?

 

[Qistina]

Thanks for your replies! I'll keep looking at ~3ish mm bands. Any thoughts on the height I should be looking at? My e-ring is about 1.5mm off my finger, how much thicker can I go before it sticks out too much?