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Did you "settle" with your engagement ring?

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Absolutely not! My diamond is "only" a .5 carat but at the time (and still) I fell absolutely in love with it and still wear it everyday proudly! I will never upgrade it either. I wouldn't be opposed to receiving larger diamonds in the future though!
 
random_thought said:
Absolutely not! My diamond is "only" a .5 carat but at the time (and still) I fell absolutely in love with it and still wear it everyday proudly! I will never upgrade it either. I wouldn't be opposed to receiving larger diamonds in the future though!
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I think "settling" is relative. I think a half carat is plenty big, especially if it's of a good cut and clarity.
 
Thanks Nashville! He really is wonderful, I would marry him even if he gave me a 0.01 ct piece of frozen spit stuck on a napkin ring. :))
 
Nashville said:
random_thought said:
Absolutely not! My diamond is "only" a .5 carat but at the time (and still) I fell absolutely in love with it and still wear it everyday proudly! I will never upgrade it either. I wouldn't be opposed to receiving larger diamonds in the future though!
Click to expand...

I think "settling" is relative. I think a half carat is plenty big, especially if it's of a good cut and clarity.
Click to expand...

Oh I agree, I just kind of felt like having a half carat was seen as not being that great. I may have misread though and if that is so please disregard this :)
 
random_thought said:
Nashville said:
random_thought said:
Absolutely not! My diamond is "only" a .5 carat but at the time (and still) I fell absolutely in love with it and still wear it everyday proudly! I will never upgrade it either. I wouldn't be opposed to receiving larger diamonds in the future though!
Click to expand...

I think "settling" is relative. I think a half carat is plenty big, especially if it's of a good cut and clarity.
Click to expand...

Oh I agree, I just kind of felt like having a half carat was seen as not being that great. I may have misread though and if that is so please disregard this :)
Click to expand...

Nope, not at all what I was saying :))

I was just trying to illustrate "Did you want A, but settle for B?"

If you got the ring you wanted, then clearly settling isn't a factor for you, and that's great! I guess what I was curious about is if unrealistic expectations were ever problematic when buying a ring.
 
I never 'settled' when we purchased, but a few months later what I thought I wanted changed. What I initially thought I wanted was well under budget, but if we hadn't had the budget to accommodate those changes then I suppose I would have 'settled'..?
 
I didn't have a hand in picking out my ring (except for saying I wanted an EC), so initially, I thought I was sort of settling. I really thought I wanted a halo setting, and I wasn't particularly open to loving something else. When I got my ring, I thought I'd want to reset it at some point, but as it turns out, the ring he picked ended up being something I truly love and now could not imagine resetting. He consciously mixed both of our tastes to come up with a ring I think fits my style better than the halo I wanted. It's a 2.12 ct EC with two RBs on either side of it, giving a five-stone-type look.

So did I settle? I thought I did, but as it turns out, the ring I have is perfect for me. This may be PS blasphemy, but I'm kind of glad I didn't have the chance to take over the process, 'cause I'd probably be wishing I could reset my halo'd EC right now.
 
Everything about my engagement ring was backwards and not thought through. After having it for about 4 months I really didnt like it at all. I even picked it out. Now I love it very much. I love everything about it. I of course would like a larger diamond one day, but there are too many things that make me not even want to daydream about it. For example I do not like the look of solitaires on my hand, I also do not like the look of bags on either side of a solitaire. I think having a large (3-4ct) and then adding to the sides would look like a monstrosity.

I told DH that I wanted a 5 year upgrade and he is fine with that, but I will never change my ering. Ever. I think I may end up with RB 5 stone. My ering is square shaped including the setting, my custom ring I am having made is asscher 3 stone so I cannot do square again so the only thing I am left to choose is RB is a 5 stone. I think it fits with 5 year anny.

Wow, long explanation to say that at first I settled, but in the end I wouldnt be happier with anything else.
 
It's so nice to hear that almost everyone ended up with what they really wanted, or realized they loved something they weren't sure about!

I'm so grateful to have discovered this site. The info I've received in Colored Stones alone is astounding. I'm going into this ring buying game feeling much better equipped.
 
In concept, style, design, and quality, my ring is everything I could have ever dreamed of. Sure, I could have been just as happy with another mm in spread, but it just wasn't in the cards for the amount of time and $ we had before the wedding.
 
DH got me a bigger stone than I expected, so I didn't settle. I initially wasn't entirely pleased with the setting, so I supposed I "settled" in that way. I eventually changed it out for a slightly lower setting that had a lot less metal and was more well crafted. I'm pretty pleased as a plum now :)


Of course, if DH wanted to give me an upgrade to a 2+ carat AVC in the future, I wouldn't turn that down! But we are a long way off from that.
 
It's really all about the guy! I remember discussing marriage with a boyfriend before I met my husband. To my friends, I said, "If he gives me the 3-carat emerald-cut Cartier that I love, then I'd marry him. Something smaller and it's not worth it." Clearly, that was a doomed relationship. My now husband could have given me a CZ and it wouldn't have mattered.
 
I'm going to be really honest and say that I don't feel as though I settled at all in any way.

SO and I were both looking at rings one day on a website and I found one that my heart was skipping beats for. He found one that HIS heart was skipping beats for. I made a bet that mine would look better in person so we had a jeweler bring both in. When I saw the ring that SO's heart was skipping for...I was completely speechless. I told him that someday, that would be the ring I would want for my E-ring (that was two years ago when we weren't even seriously looking for a ring). After seeing that ring, there was no ring that made me feel the way that ring did. Now that it is officially mine, I can't picture ever changing or altering it in any way at all. This is my absolute dream ring...no lie.
 
I don't feel like I settled at all. When we got engaged we were 22 and still in school. I told him that I wanted at least a 1/2 carat and I would be happy. All he knew was that I wanted a RB. I had no part in picking out my setting or stone. He surprised me with a little over 1 carat stone and a platinum setting with bags on the sides.

I truly loved that ring until I saw my current setting last year. After that I knew that I would never be able to love my original setting as much again. Being the wonderful man he is, (and since I had no say in my first setting), DH had my diamond reset as a 5 year anni present. I am now completely thrilled with the whole ring.

That being said, would I have said no to a bigger, higher quality stone? Of course not, but at this point I would never get a new stone because it always reminds me of that sweet college boy who spent all his money to get me the diamond of my dreams.
 
Good question. If I could feed my diamond miracle grow, I admittedly would. I generally think life is about compromise though, and everything other than the size of it is perfect. So... in some ways, yes I did. But in most ways no, because it suits my life (too much bigger wouldn't be feasible for everyday, but... since it is an asscher I would happily 'feed' it up to another carat), my husband REALLY put serious effort into it and it is from him (which makes it perfect), and when it see it I smile and play with it in the light and enjoy it on my hand.

I also don't wear it everyday anymore, which helps the DSS as it always looks so big when I take it out and put it on.
 
No, when I got my ering, I loved it it was perfect for me at the time and I actually thought it might be too big!! ( it was a half carat)

Fast forward 5 years I got a new stone , bigger picked a stunning tension set, and just loved it too!

Most recently I had a custom ring made, it is much larger, but I really think this is as big as I will go, and since I designed the setting, of course I think it is awesome!
I find when I get the ring I just love it, but I do get dss.. Knock on wood no more dss for me now ! :naughty:
 
Yes, I feel like I did settle. When Dh andi started talking marriage we did not have a lot of money, we used my previous diamond from past marriage and traded it in towards my current diamond to save some$ . At the time there were only a few stones to choose from so I picked my current one. Now that I am an educated consumer I would never in a million years pick the diamond I have. I do love my setting, just not my diamond.
 
Yes, I feel like I settled. The size is okay (0.47 carat), but I wanted a showier setting. The setting is very plain and not at all antique-looking, which is what I wanted. When we picked it out together I thought it was important to get something that he liked so I ended up with something he loves and I just kind of like.

It's not well cut, we didn't have a good experience buying it, and it has several things wrong with it (it was bought second-hand from an antique jeweller). I still wear it sometimes though! I like it more now that I have a new wedding band to go with...over 4 years after the wedding!
 
I do feel like I settled on my original e-ring. It was .80/G/SI2 Leo from the maul. We picked out an illusion setting for it because I love that style and to DH, that was that. To me, I knew deep down that I wanted something better. I found PS after I was married and "upgraded" to an ideal cut .84/K/SI1 last year. We picked out the stone together and I picked out the setting. I love my new ring, but I don't know if this is it :halo: :devil: I have tiny 3.75 fingers so the size is pretty good but I still feel like I could go up to a 1.25ish and still have the ring look good and not too big/flashy for my tastes.
 
I did not settle with my e-ring... because I don't have one yet! We skipped that and went straight for the marriage at the courthouse :cheeky: I had the hardest time picking my wedding ring out because I didn't have anything to judge it against, but eventually I found one that I loved (half-eternity with channel set vertical baguettes). We are saving up for a house so the e-ring is on the backburner for the time being. Doesn't stop me from constantly reading PS in anticipation and looking at different vendors sites! I've definitely discovered a lot of new cuts and settings that I never would have considered in the past.

I inherited a RB set in 18k yg with 10 carre cut diamonds (5 on each side of the RB) from my grandmother which I absolutely love. It's got a fairly large table (little over 5mm) and a shallow pavillion, so it faces up much larger than it actually is, probably less than .5 ct but I love it to bits and looks great with my wedding ring. DH has already given me free reign to choose whatever I want (hellooo Octavia), just a matter of time until we have the funds :bigsmile:
 
No. That was pre-Pricescope, of course, and if it had been post-PS I might have ended up with a better cut stone and may have wanted a larger one, but I love my wedding set and a larger stone actually wouldn't have worked with the setting. As it was, my ignorance at the time was lucky.
 
Sure. But I'd settle for it any day :appl: .
 
what an interesting topic! i love reading everyone's answers. my answer is long, you've been warned!

i did not settle for my ering. i thought i would get engaged with a semi precious stone b/c DH was in school at the time. i'm gonna be honest, most girls i know wanted a big wedding, but all i ever cared for/dreamed about was a big diamond engagement ring. i was fortunate/unfortunate enough to have worked in the jewelry industry for a bit, trying on 5ct+ plus diamonds on a regular basis sure makes a girl dream BIG. but one has to stay in reality. well we had been dating for 6 yrs and marriage was a topic we disgussed frequently. one day at work a beautiful 1ct diamond was marked down and was w/in his budget. it was so beautiful to my eyes that i had to tell BF about it. he agreed that we would get it.

i loved loved loved my ering, and never thought i'd get a 1ct diamond. however somewhere in me i always felt i/we chose that ring because of its value and the super deal we received. if i had a choice of any style ring with an unlimited budget, that would not have been the style of ring i chose.

about 2 years after we got married i found THE RING that made my heart skip every time i looked at it. i was obsessed. DH was sweet enough to be convinced that i needed an upgrade. (he always knew my love for diamonds and accepted that about me). that's how i ended up w/ my current ering which i still love & stare at every single day! the end!
 
Fabulous, Starburst!! Upgrades are a magical thing :naughty:
 
Hmm... in a way I did for a while. I went without any diamond at all for 15 years because we couldn't afford what I wanted. When I did finally buy a diamond I exceeded my budget about 10 fold and got something I felt like I would never, ever need to upgrade. I still feel like I never will need to upgrade or change my diamond. I spent a lot of time and money on my ring and yet I did feel like I ended up settling just to get it overwith. I ignored warning flags because I didn't want to disappoint people and yet I ended up disappointing them and myself in the end. When we married we could have spent about $200 on a ring and I felt too proud for a ring like that. What a fool I was! I wish I had that ring even if it just sat in my jewelbox. I planned to get a 3/4 carat oval and ended up with a 2 3/4 carat cushion.
 
I absolutely didn't settle on the stone. My stone was inherited, via a YG man's ring, from DH's family. I think it's been passed down through the men in his family for 3 or 4 generations. It's a 1.7ct OEC/transitional which faces up at 2cts. It's beautifully cut and plenty large for me - I have never had DSS and often feel that it is actually too large. I tend to dress simply and so do my friends, so occasionally I am self-conscious of it, but mostly I love it to death and I wouldn't change it for the world. It has a large chip on the pavilion, and I've had a few jewelers recommend I recut it (Including Ari of Singlestone), but I feel like it's not really my stone, it's a family stone, and if anything were to happen to it I would never forgive myself. Plus, the chip gives it character. It's not eye clean, but most people I show it to can't see the chip even when I point it out. Having a non-eye clean stone has made me far more tolerant of owning another non-eye clean OEC in the future.

I sometimes have mixed feelings on my setting. I love the overall design (a trellis, with beadset stones on the shank) but I wish I had the shank made much thinner. I had it made by a local custom jeweler and at the time (pre-PS) I just didn't know I wanted a really thin setting. It was 3.5mm, but very recently (within the last 2 weeks) I took it into them for some tweaking. They were able to take away some metal on the shank and give me claw prongs and it looks great. It's still not a super delicate 2mm shank, but at 3mm, and with claw prongs, it's really beautiful and I love it fully now.
 
Yes and no. I got what we could afford, and I spent no time pining away for more. We were 21 year old college students, and I really wanted a diamond solitaire, and that's what I got. To stay in budget, the stone was only 0.21 ct, but it was white and sparkly. There were other priorities during the next 25 years, but eventually I got a larger diamond ring. All of this was eons pre-PS (pre-Internet, too!)
 
Not really. I wanted something in the 2ct range. Of course I had salespeople that had me try on 3 and 4 ct rings that looked fan-freaking-tastic, but I knew that unless DH won the lottery, I wouldn't be owning a diamond of that size any time soon. So when I saw that GOG had a beautiful 1.94 actually BELOW what DH had budgeted for, we jumped on it. I love my diamond and for what I see in our area (Midwest) and in our age group (28), I'm not complaining.

DH makes comments all the time about "someday, you'll have an even BIGGER diamond!" He's all about the upgrade (and I love him for that). But for now, I love my stone. I love that it's a J and shows some warmth. I love that it's VS2. I just love the damn thing.
 
Let's see... I got the type/size of center stone that I wanted most, but never got to see a step-cut trillion, and suspect that I would lust after one if I saw it IRL. :Up_to_something: (maybe I will treat myself one day) The setting the FI chose gives the visual impression of the setting that I loved the most, but is much less dainty. I have a big thing about delicate bands, and now that I am choosing a wedding band, I am a little remiss not to have the other setting, because it was much easier to pair with. It seems a little silly to replace the setting, because I would probably be the only one who noticed the difference, and I know that it would offend FI. I do love my ring though, and I get compliments more and more these days. I was practically blinding the person next to me on my last flight (had no idea I talked so much with my hands!), and was almost embarassed by the rainbow light show my ring was causing. So, I feel that I have nothing to complain about really. I do hate that it is set in a basket head setting, only because it is extraordinarily difficult to clean. I hate when my ring commands attention, but I think I just am awkward with compliments. I do enjoy introducing people to Trillions though. Such a catch-22... I also love to flatter FI with compliments about the ring he chose. :appl: That makes it hard to consider changing anything about it...


ETA: I guess I don't feel that I settled... I think I just feel that I would have chosen differently. I am thrilled, ultimately, that he chose a lovely ring, and tried so hard to match my tastes. I love that he is so proud of it too. He is more sentimental about these things than most PSers... we love a good upgrade, lol, and to try new settings. :naughty:
 
I didn't settle, not a bit!
I knew I wnated a 2 ct center stone and that's what I got. I was actually suprised we could do it!

I LOVE :love: my E-ring!
 
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