Anyone done the "temporary e-ring" thing?

[velouriaL]

Hi! I haven''t posted over here very much, but I am definitely a lady-in-waiting, and I have a question for you all-- Has anyone ever done the "temporary e-ring" thing? Why? What was it? Did you tell people it was a temp? How did you explain the switch? Also, if it was a cz or other inexpensive ring, did you come clean on that or just let people believe what they wanted?

Here''s my sitch-
If any of you read the colored gem fourum, you may know that I am looking for a truly unique non-diamond ring. On top of using a non-traditional stone, my boyfriend, who is a very talented sculptor, is going to make the ring! We plan to be engaged before I move with him to go to grad school next year, but, if we wait until AFTER he gets to grad school, he''ll have a much better jewelry studio/metal shop to work with than he has here. If we wait, we could come out with a more perfect ring in the long run. So now we''re thinking that that we should get an inexpensive, most likely colored-CZ ring from HSN or the mall or somewhere, and then switch it over when he can make the real one. Not sure what we''ll tell our families, though...

What do you think?

 

[blueroses]

I think this is relatively common--one of the LIW graduates, JCJD, had an $8.88CZ from WalMart before her FI surprised her with her beautiful pear solitaire sparkly! My sister was also proposed to with a "place-holder" and then they picked out the stone and setting together. Lots of people also do a temporary setting for the actual stone while the real setting is in the works.

Since your Fi2B is doing something so unique and creative for your ring, I don''t see why you really have to explain anything--get engaged with any sort of temporary ring, and if anyone asks just explain that you are custom-designing your "real" e-ring together and that something so special is going to take just a little longer....I think it''s a great idea. And then you have a very sentimental piece that you can always have as a backup if you travel or need to have the real e-ring repaied in the future.

 

[velouriaL]

Oh! And here some possbilities for the temporary-

Victoria Wiecke "tanzanite" colored and white CZ ring in sterling silver. 8mm center stone. It had gallery work you can''t see. About $50

Simulated diamond and simulated ruby (not sure if that''s different than a CZ) in sterling silver. Center stone is 6mm. About $56.


Both are from hsn.com and have no questions asked return policies.

 

[velouriaL]

Thanks blueroses! Great advice! And I never though about it as a backup ring for the future. Great to use while travelling!

It''s just that the whole point of the place-holder is so I don''t have to hear it from my family when I move across the country with man I''m not engaged to... I hope they take the temporary seriously enough. But, really, whatever! We are both adults. I moved across the state for college and across the country for a job, so really, it shouldn''t be a big deal, right?

 

[velouriaL]

Also, and maybe JCDC can answer this, did having a temp lessen the moment at all because it meant that you were still waiting for the "real" thing and thing, and still, somewhat, a LIW (even though, I know, I know the engagement is not about the ring it''s abotu the relationship)? Did it feel real to you when you got the temp, or like a promise ring? Or, conversely, did it lessen the moment when you got the real ring because you''d already had the thrill of being engaged for a while?

 

[JCJD]

Thanks for mentioning me blueroses!!

Here''s a link to my \"REAL\" E-RING.

 

[blueroses]

Right! Plus, getting engaged with a temp. ring doesn''t make you any LESS engaged! You could be engaged with NO ring, so I would hope your family would be just as excited as they would be with THE ring.

And I love both of those looks--very art deco-y, which I love! Cool

 

[JCJD]

Date: 3/22/2005 3:14

3 PM
Author: velouriaL
Also, and maybe JCDC can answer this, did having a temp lessen the moment at all because it meant that you were still waiting for the ''real'' thing and thing, and still, somewhat, a LIW (even though, I know, I know the engagement is not about the ring it''s abotu the relationship)? Did it feel real to you when you got the temp, or like a promise ring? Or, conversely, did it lessen the moment when you got the real ring because you''d already had the thrill of being engaged for a while?

Hmmmm...

The temp definitely didn''t lessen anything about it! He actually proposed with nothing (just his sweet self!!) and we drove to Walmart after announcing the news to his mom that night. It was actually pretty fun being "in limbo" on the LIW list - I was half crossed off for a month!! It definitely felt real getting the temp, and felt real again when I got the real one. I wouldn''t do it any differently - we were very ready to move on towards marriage and he told me that he decided to propose without a ring because he didn''t want to wait any longer to make it official. And I got proposed to twice by the same wonderful man in a little longer than a month!

 

[JessesGrl]

JCJD- your story is so sweet, that is what getting engaged is all about...not the ring or the "spectacular" moment, it''s the intimacy of the two of you becoming a family. I knew my ring was coming (I picked it out)...but when that moment came we were in our bedroom and he had hidden the ring in the back pocket of my favorite teddy bear that he had given me years ago. So anyways, we are laying in bed and he tells me ''super bear" has a special delivery for you- I lift the bear up and out falls the ring. The nexy day when I went in to my internship everyone asked me if I was disapointed w/the proposal....they obviously do not know what true love is all about!!!! Intimate moments such as these are not about the "show" but about the feelings behind it....