Did you "settle" with your engagement ring?

[HappyNewLife]

I don't think I settled, I just don't think I knew what I wanted. My then-BF (now ex-H) really didn't want to marry me, but I guess felt pressured to and picked out a .8ct RB and put it in a 6-prong tiffany platinum setting. I loved the ring, but there was negative sentiment behind it (knowing he really didn't want to get married). A couple years later, I upgraded to a 1 carat diamond into a setting with sidestones. I thought the sidestones made my RB look smaller. That marriage fell apart, no suprise.

My now favorite style is a thick shank semi-bezel setting. I hope I like it because that is what I am having BGD make for me now.

What I settled on wasn't the jewelry, it was the person. I am MUCH happier now

 

[Nashville]

I don't think I settled, I just don't think I knew what I wanted. My then-BF (now ex-H) really didn't want to marry me, but I guess felt pressured to and picked out a .8ct RB and put it in a 6-prong tiffany platinum setting. I loved the ring, but there was negative sentiment behind it (knowing he really didn't want to get married). A couple years later, I upgraded to a 1 carat diamond into a setting with sidestones. I thought the sidestones made my RB look smaller. That marriage fell apart, no suprise.

My now favorite style is a thick shank semi-bezel setting. I hope I like it because that is what I am having BGD make for me now.

What I settled on wasn't the jewelry, it was the person. I am MUCH happier now

I agree with negative energy in a ring. I could have gotten a 6ct IF pink diamond in a platinum setting and if the guy who gave it to me wasn't the right man, I'd probably think the ring was pretty meh.

That's why we always say, if you really love the guy, you won't care if he proposes with a ring from a gumball machine!

 

[vespergirl]

Hmm ... I wouldn't say settle as much as compromise. I always liked a 3-stone or pave ring look, but DH really wanted to get me a solitaire - we agreed that I could get sidestones for our 10th anniversary, so I will do that.

Also, I originally wanted an asscher, which I got (DH preferred an RB, but wanted me to pick the stone I wanted). The problem was, I didn't love the way that asschers faced up so small, and I especially didn't like it in a solitaire setting. If I could have haloed it like Lovey's asscher, maybe I would have kept it, but instead, I swapped my asscher for an RB, since I love the way that RBs look as solitaires.

I am still using the old 4-prong solitaire setting that my asscher was in, but I really don't like it for an RB, so once I lose my pregnancy weight & my fingers go back to their old size, I am going to reset my RB in a 6-prong setting. I am tossing around the idea of maybe doing a halo or pave setting, but I think I'll probably just do a 6-prong Tiffany style from BGD. Since I'm still undecided on what type of "fancy" setting I would like, I think that I'll just wait for my 10th anni (in 6 years) and then pick the Leon setting on my dreams. It would be a shame to pick an expensive setting like that now since I'm not 100% sure what I would want.

 

[gwendolyn]

Yes. We used my great-grandmother's engagement ring that l inherited, since it was free, but it wasn't my style and makes me sad to wear it as my grandmother wore it as long as l knew her. We both agreed we'd used it since we were ready to get married and had other things to spend the money on that a diamond ring, but the plan is that we'll get my ring in a few years. So, we used that ring knowing it was only going to be a temporary thing.

l'm ok with that, and actually don't even wear it now that l'm married--l either wear my eternity wedding band alone, or l pair it with an aqua & diamond ring my hubs gave me a few years ago as a Christmas present. lt looks really pretty that way (although l worry about cracking the aqua). So, it's worked for us.

 

[elle_chris]

Nope, didn't settle. But that could be because I didn't get an e-ring when my husband and I decided to get married. And I was totally fine with it. At the time, paying off his school debt, and a mortgage I had, needed to come first.

A few years, promotions and raises later, I got my first e-ring. Hated it and it was my own fault. Two years after that, I finally got the ring of my dreams. So no regrets here.

 

[nararabbit]

No, I didn't settle, in the sense that I do love my e-ring. I have always had a picture in my mind of the parameters I like - an 'unusual' shape like a pear or cushion; NO rb, white colored metal, and some sort of pave. From there I was flexible.

However, my husband and I were relatively poor and about to get poorer as he was in a car accident and was forced to stop working due to severe chronic pain issues. So I gave up on those ideas when it came to rings! My husband's great aunt loved him very much and when she passed away, she willed him her engagement ring as she had no children - a 1.25 (ish) near colorless RB. (Ironic, huh, the one shape I hate! LOL) However, it's a mine cut so a bit different and the setting is to die for - a four prong platinum band with pave diamonds halfway round. I still wear it proudly.

I have real issues with the thought of 'upgrading' an e-ring (for me, I don't care what others do!). It's either my e-ring, or it's not. So someday when finances are better (like many of you, we chose to buy a house we loved instead!) my husband has agreed I should get a RHR in the style I like - most likely a split shank white and rose gold pave band with a 1.5ish pear.

My parents got engaged with the plastic ring off the neck of a coke bottle so you could say I was well indoctrinated into marrying for love alone... Luckily my FIL collects and loves gemstones, so I don't seem like a materialistic harpy when I want to look in the window of the frou frou jewelry store on El Paseo! He wants to look too! LMAO!

 

[bee*]

No, we definitely didn't settle. I have my dream ring. I wouldn't change it for anything.

 

[Octavia]

Hmm, I don't really know what my answer should be. My e-ring isn't what I ever wanted (I didn't want a solitaire, and even if I had, it's still smaller than I would have chosen) but I didn't really have a say in it -- DH picked it out completely on his own, and I said yes to the man, not the ring. But my wedding band is EXACTLY what I would have chosen for an e-ring, so in the end, I did get what I wanted. I'm going to get a simple platinum band to pair with it eventually, so it will be perfect. So, in a way, I actually got extra bling

 

[luv2sparkle]

I definitely settled. I HATED that ring. I picked it because it was the cheapest in the store. I just wanted to be done. There was
a long time between when we announced our engagement and when I got a ring. Had I known, we certainly wouldn't have announced
it. I took a lot of flak from people about why I didn't have a ring. We were young and dumb.

Five years later hubby insisted on getting me another ring. It was better and I still love it even though the stone is not great.
I wore it for more than 20 years, but now I have my forever dream ring. It is more than I ever thought I would have. I am
content.