How many carats was your mother''s/grandmother''s (etc.) ring?

[beaujolais]

I inherited a beautiful engagement ring from my Mom, circa 1930''s. It''s small though, .30, but that''s fine. Just wondering, what size diamonds were common back then?

I think average nowadays (at least for my area) is about a carat.

Did they also do large ones back then or was small more common?

Thanks.

---

Also, thanks, Ellen, for all your help and kindness. I''m still new and not too familiar with some details of using this board and you''ve been a big help and with lots of understanding.

 

[CrookedRock]

I wear my Great Great Aunts engagement ring that has my Grandma''s stone in it everyday. I think it is about .50ct. My Mom''s ring is about 1.33cts.

What amuses me most is the stories about how my Dad and Grampsbought the diamonds.. It always starts with... There was this guy on the street...
LOL!

 

[Ellen]

My mom's center stone was a 1 ct. emerald cut (with baguettes) til the jeweler cracked a big piece off.

Don't remember granny's. I'd guess somewhere around a half carat round.

 

[lyra]

My mother and grandmothers only had gold bands, no diamond rings at all. My husband''s mother''s first ring (1950''s) had maybe a 10 pt. diamond in it that ended up cracked. I think she has a one carat plus 2 sidestones ring now.

 

[UCLABelle]

My Mom''s is nearly a carat. My grandmother''s ring was about 1/3 a carat......

 

[Odilia]

I don't know what the sizes are/were. My Mom's ring is definitely less than 1ct, as is DH's grandma's ring. I will try to post pics of them to show:

(Hope this pic is not huge; I did not resize it.) This is my Mom's e-ring (with my totally clashing wedding band -sorry!

)

To give a sense of scale, my wedding band is 4mm wide, and my ring size is 5.5 (WB). Of course the diamond is not as big as it may look, because you can probably see that there is extra metal around the perimeter of the stone to give the illusion that it's bigger than it is.

 

[Rhea]

Grandma got engaged/married in 1948 or 1949 and had a very small diamond, I''m guessing less than .05 carat with a plain yellow gold setting and matching yellow gold band. She was 16-18 when she was engaged.

Mom got engaged in 1973 and had a .25 (she''s unsure of exact carat weight but calls it a quarter carat) diamond set in a narrow 18K yellow gold setting with a 18K white gold head. Her wedding band had cut-outs in it in the shape of diamonds and matched my father''s. She was 23 when she got engaged and 24 when she got married.

I got engaged in 2004 and have a .47 diamond set in 14K white gold. I was 23 when I got engaged and 24 when I got married.

 

[diamondringlover]

My Mom didnt have a diamond only a small band, now she has a 2ct round, not sure about my Grandma, my first real ering was only .18 ct and that was in 1984, took me almost 20 years to get a 1 ct

I love to look on Ebay for old diamond rings, I just love to see how jewerly has changed over the years.

 

[Odilia]

I should have mentioned above, my Mom got married in 1959. (The photo of the EC above is hers.)

My DH''s grandmother got married in 1917, I think. Here is her e-ring, and I am wearing my 1.1ct RB next to it for scale.

 

[strmrdr]

Mom .25ct
Grandmas none, just band.

 

[mrssalvo]

mom- 1 ct. pear
grandmother- original appox. 1 carat princess...upgraded when she inherited a 2.2 OEC...

 

[Kaleigh]

Mom has a 3 stone ring, a 2 carat diamond with blue sapphire rounds as side stones. The diamond is very yellow but looks well cut. Mom never wore it much that I can recal. She likes wearing lots of eternity bands, stacking and such.

Nanny had a transitional cut that was surrounded by single cuts, in a flower design. I recently passed it down to my daughter. She just treasures it.

 

[jcrow]

hum, my mom''s first is a one carat rb solitaire set in yellow gold. she wore it with a plain think yellow gold band. her next ring was maybe 1/4 carat in a yellow gold nugget-ish band soldered to a matching w-band.

my grandmother''s ring was three small diamonds (chips?) in a yellow gold band. i loooove love love it. i wore it every day for a long time. it''s dainty.

however, when my aunt''s marriage dissolved, i think she gave her ring to my grandmother. so she now wears it and the dainty original ring on her pinky

the gifted ring is a cluster style that sits up pretty high also in a yellow gold setting. she wears this with a yellow gold band that has three tiny clustered diamonds on top.

 

[milton333]

Mom - 1/3 carat
Grandmother - just a band

 

[iheartscience]

My paternal grandmother has a .52 carat diamond in a platinum setting with 2 small diamonds on each side (really more like chips). My twin sister has that ring and I have my grandmother''s 5 stone diamond anniversary band. (She''s still alive but passed them down to us because she doesn''t wear them anymore.)

My maternal grandmother passed away about 10 years ago and I am pretty sure she only wore a yellow gold band.

My mother has a 3/4 carat IF diamond. My dad said it was between that and a 1 carat that wasn''t flawless and he couldn''t decide, so he went home to sleep on it, decided on the bigger, but not flawless 1 carat diamond, and when he went back to buy it, the 1 carat was gone! So she got the 3/4 carat that is IF! (Not sure about the color, but it looks very, very white, so it very well could be a D/IF.)

I''m trying to get my dad to upgrade her diamond for their 40th anniversary this year, but I''m not sure he''ll go for it...we shall see!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Mom's e-ring was about a .33 ct. in a rose setting. My Father was a geology student, and kept going on field trips and would bring home rocks for my Mom. After one field trip, he told her he had another rock for her, and then he proposed.

Grandma's e-ring is probably about .25 ct. in platinum with 2 tiny side diamonds.

My Great-Grandma's ring was a .30 ct. in a delicate white gold filgree setting circa 1929, and I wear it quite often. I attached a pic of it.

 

[snlee]

My mom has a .50 round diamond. My grandmother had a .80 round diamond. When she passed away my dad reset her diamond into a ring and he wears it now.

 

[Logan Sapphire]

My mom got engaged in 1967 when she was 23 with a 1.25ct solitaire. She also got married with 2 wedding rings- a plain band and an eternity ring.

I''m not sure what my grandmother''s original ering was, but she eventually got a 2+ ct, with baguettes. Not too bad for a NYC firefighter!

 

[Clio]

I''m not sure how big my mother''s engagement ring is - maybe somewhere between .5-.75? It looks bigger than my 1/2 ct., but mine''s a princess so it''s hard to compare.

My father''s mother''s ring is about the same size as my mother''s. \

My mother''s mother''s original engagement ring had a 1.5 ct. diamond that dated from the late 19th century, but she lost that stone. She misplaced a number of other engagement rings before my grandfather stopped buying her replacements and got her a fabulously 1950s cocktail ring that lived most of its life in a safe.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

My GM wore a plain wedding band, and my Mom did too until she received a 2.17 RB solitaire. She wore that with her 10mm band which look fab on her hand.

cheers--Sharon

 

[Sparkalicious]

Mom - .25 ct diamond initially and that stone fell out of the setting and was lost ...

She just rec''d a .50 ct replacement.

 

[Miranda]

My mom has a beautiful .50 solitaire that she wears with a rose gold band and a white gold band. Her original ering was a .25 solitaire. My maternal grandma wore a ridged gold band. My paternal grandma had a 2+ ct oval/cushion/OEC (I''m not exactly sure) in a platinum halo setting. She wore it with a diamond band. That ring is phenomenal! I remember holding her hand and grilling her about it as a child. Who''d have guessed I would grow up and find Pricescope! My aunt now wears it as a RHR.

 

[rocks]

mom''s is 1.75 fvs with tapered baguettes set in platinum...married in 1956. grammy had a 3ct...got it for her 20th anniversary...not great quality. mother-in-law has a 5.25ct...decent quality...h/i si2....got it for her 30th anniversary. grammy and mil were married with plain bands and a diamond eternity....how things change!!!

 

[bee*]

both of my grannies only had a plain band.My mother''s first e-ring was about .4ct but she upgraded it last year and got a 1.03 princess cut.

 

[isis~goddess]

my mother has a .3 marquise, it looks like an i1. my grandmother had something, but i never saw it as she gave it to her daughter before i was born. i am sure it was small though. i have a friend who inheirited a 2 ct omc solitare and very wide diamond covered band. i asked what grandpa did for a living to have provided his wife with such nice ice. she said grandpa had nothing to do with it. her grandmother starved, wore rags and lived in a shack to save up enough money to buy that ring for herself. well, at least she had her priorities straight!

ps. around my area, local jewelers say that 3/4 ct is the most common size for engagment.

 

[surfgirl]

My mother's ering I never saw because when I was very little, an ex-con plumber stole it off her dresser when he was at the house working (found out he was an ex-con after reporting it to the police). I've never even seen a photo of it...weird now that I think about it...She always wore a wband when I was growing up, it looked like three bands in brushed gold with a diagonal diamond ribbony thing in white gold across the top. No ering though. But she's got quite the jewelry collection, ering notwithstanding!

My maternal grandmother's original ering was a .50ct OEC, I think it's an M VS? It's quite warm toned but amazing clarity. She got an upgrade later in her marriage and that ering is a round (I'm not sure if it's a Transitional Cut or RB as I've not seen in it a long time, it lives in a vault) center about 3-5cts. (again, I cannot remember but it's very big), with baguette sides set in platinum. My grandfather got it for her after his business was well established and successful and the original stone went into a men's pinkie ring that he wore after the upgrade. I have the original stone set into a necklace. My mother recently told me I could have had the big honker as my ering if I'd asked...

Oh, and all I remember was my grandmother wearing her wband, which was a yellow gold wide band with etruscan type gold beading on it. I used to have it but it fits my sister better so I she has it now. Sadly, I think Grandma only wore her mongo ering for going out and special occasions as I really dont remember it on her at all.

My paternal grandmother had an ering that was a 1.25ct I SI2 OEC or Transitional Cut which she gave to me many years ago. I have the original setting but I took the center stone out years ago and re set it with two sapphire sides. She also had a lovely platinum and diamond eternity band, Art Deco style, box setting, that fit my sister, so she got married with that ring and uses it as her wband.

ETA: I just wanted to say that everyday I feel like I read the same posts over and over since people are always coming on fresh, but asking questions that have been asked many times before...This is the first time in a long time that I remember seeing a topic where I dont recall it being asked before...What a refreshing thread! Thanks...It's so interesting to hear what other PSers family had as rings before them and even more so to see photos of those old rings!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

My mom has a little over a carat (which is actually my great grandmother''s ring). My grandmother also has a little over a carat. Both have PLT settings. My mom''s setting is pave/engraved. My grandmother has tapered baguettes (matching wedding band which acts like a wrap).

 

[isaku5]

My mom: ~.30c.

My maternal and paternal grandmothers as well as MIL: gold bands

 

[Italiahaircolor]

My maternal grandmother has a 2.0ct EC with two EC sidestones and a matching wedding band.

My paternal grandmother had a 6.75ct pear with two smaller pears (each were over 1ct) set on a slight downward angle and a pave eternity band.

My mother has a 2ct RB in a thin gold band and a 3cttw pave wedding band

My aunt has an 11ct princess cut with a thin plat. band

 

[Diamond*Dana]

My mom never had an e-ring, she just wore a plain 8mm gold band (it looked beautiful on her, but my parents are now divorced).

My paternal grandmother also wore a plaing gold band, around 6mm. After she passed away, my father had it sized to fit his pinky and he has been wearing it ever since (about 17 years mow).

My maternal grandma...not sure because my grandparents divorced before I was born. I have seen her wear a gorgeous diamond to weddings and other dressy events, it is pretty big...I am guessing that it was her e-ring, but I have never really asked her (shocking, I know)!