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His&her engagement rings

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fel

Shiny_Rock
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My son is planning to become engaged, and he and the young lady hope to eliminate the "gendered" component of the process. Hence they plan to give each other engagement rings. I am helping them because they know nothing about gems, and I have, ahem, quite a few. I am seeking suggestions for what a male engagement ring might look like. Has anyone seen nice ones? He particularly likes cornflower blue (presumably sapphire) and geometric shapes.
 
:wavey: I think a masculine tension setting with a square blue sapphire or spinel would be a nice mangagement ring.
 
The_mother_thing: That's a great idea. I found this on ebay -- in a slighter wider (male) style he may love it. Who makes tension rings like that?

sapphire tension ring.PNG
 
* * * I am seeking suggestions for what a male engagement ring might look like. Has anyone seen nice ones? He particularly likes cornflower blue (presumably sapphire) and geometric shapes.
Don't know if you've already given the link to your son, but I bet more than one ring in the eclectic medley found in this Men's thread on the Show Me the Bling board will provide inspiration:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/mens-bling-eyecandy-folder.116617/

I suggest he start on the current page and work backwards; if he has any questions, it's the more recent posters in that thread who are more likely to see his queries, plus some of the vendors/jewelers in the early posts may no longer be business.
 
That's so cool they are both giving rings! My fiance and I recently did the same thing. We felt similar about wanting to make it an equal decision between both partners. I think he was also jealous while we were designing my ring and didn't want to wait for his! My guy didn't want a stone, but I made his band with a geometric design that represented his culture.
Can't wait to see what they come up with!
 
Thanks for your support ellebelle. And thanks Mollymalone -- I am just looking through the men's bling thread -- didn't know it existed! Do tension rings hold up over time? I have never had one. Love the men's asscher diamond ring!
 
Caysie van Bebber had a unique men’s yogo sapphire band the other day.
 
JewelrybyGaro (blue diamonds) and DavidKDesigns (sapphires), both on Etsy, have some neat men’s solitaire/engagement ring designs.
 
* * * Do tension rings hold up over time? I have never had one. Love the men's asscher diamond ring!
Well, I'd only consider getting one from a "bench"/jeweler who has a track record with them; your son wouldn't want his diamond ring to be somebody's pilot project. But a cousin-in-law has had his Niessing tension-set band for about 25 years.

The one downside to tension-settings is if the ring needs to be re-sized; see this page from the Steven Kretchmer, who actually holds the patents on Tension-Set™, website as to why re-sizing is so problematic:
https://stevenkretchmer.com/blogs/discover/about-tension-settings

SK warns,
Steven Kretchmer Design does NOT recommend any bands that are not a Steven Kretchmer product to be worn against our rings unless they are lasered together at our studios, as wearing away metal could compromise the security of our products. Failure to do so will void our warranty.
I don't know if that's marketing hype or whether wearing another band with tension-set ring does pose danger to the integrity of the tension-set ring. My cousin-in-law & his wife opted for wedding bands only, skipped the e-ring(s) altogether.
 
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For a more price-friendly alternative to Kretchmer, people on PS have had good luck with Bruce Boone https://www.boonerings.com/stone.htm. He does tensions settings in titanium and I think they are gorgeous.

Another options would be something like this (in the style of a signet ring, but with a stone). The stone was cut by Doug Menaude, and the ring was made by Alistair Kelsey. doug-menadue-alistair-kelsey-lado-shvili-collaboration-1a.jpg
 
Lovely idea. How traditionally masculine does he want it? My dad had his great grandmother's swirly floral gypsy ring as his wedder but he is a 60's hippie-turned corporate-now eccentric retiree. Sorry for the pic overload, but do any of elements of these styles appeal, but with square sapphire stones instead of round diamonds for some? IMG_20180808_091819.png IMG_20180808_091805.png IMG_20180808_091426.png IMG_20180808_091403.png IMG_20180808_091300.png
 

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How much are they looking to spend?

I am male and I have thought about a couple of Gemconcepts miniature asscher or peruzzi cuts in a tension setting recently!
 
Looks like the CvB one is gone -- or at least I couldn't find it on etsy. So he looked at the male bling thread, and so far he likes: star sapphires, and Mokume gane. He hasn't seen any tension settings yet, but they are going to stores today to look around (not to purchase anything). OoohShiny -- how about some pictures?
 
Looks like the CvB one is gone -- or at least I couldn't find it on etsy. So he looked at the male bling thread, and so far he likes: star sapphires, and Mokume gane. He hasn't seen any tension settings yet, but they are going to stores today to look around (not to purchase anything). OoohShiny -- how about some pictures?

The CVB one is custom, so he would have to get one made. It’s probably somewhat expensive too, but she is worth it IMO.
 
Great find, Molly! :)

Not many 'high street' jewellers will carry tension settings. You will need to check out some websites:

https://stevenkretchmer.com/collections/engagement

https://niessing.com/en/niessingring/

https://www.boonerings.com/stone.htm

@kenny has had a couple of Boone rings and also a Gelin Abaci:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/all-four-tension-settings.139063/#post-136423
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/the-worlds-first-octavia-ring.136357/#post-133723

As already mentioned, Gelin Abaci has sadly gone out of business, but @Dancing Fire had one as well:
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...in-abaci-tension-setting.210548/#post-3830638

If he likes Mokume Gane, he may also like Damascus Steel. There are a few sellers on Etsy that have good eye candy :) but also look at Chris Ploof:
http://www.chrisploof.com/
 
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