Engagement ring

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Do something corny like giving her a ring box with a note that says "Baby, I wanna take you shopping for the ring of your dreams. But you'll have to marry me".

Get her a Ring Pop!

[You Need a Thneed]

I went shopping with my (now) wife for her engagement ring. If your girlfriend is the sort of person that would like that, do it.

My wife has fairly small hands, and 95% (or more) of the rings available would have looked terrible on her hands, as they would be way too big. We found a nice small ring that looks great on her hand, and then we got her wedding band custom made that snugly fits up against the engagement ring.

My wife knew the proposal was coming, and knew what the ring looked like, but didn't know when it would happen.

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

My wife knew the proposal was coming, and knew what the ring looked like, but didn't know when it would happen.

Sigh. I had mine planned out so well. I had booked a trip to Banff a while back and said a few months prior "oh, this is my only weekend off, lets do something."

Everything was great, until I went and asked her dad a few days before we left. And keep in mind we had been dating for 7 years at that time, so it wasn't really expected because I still had 2 years remaining in my school.

Her mom promptly called my fiancee and said "James went to lunch with your dad today, why would he do that?"

*facepalm*

[Claeren]

Originally Posted by Russic

Tis true ... their diamonds are all Canadian (my wife's sole request).

Are you sure? They are not conflict diamonds I agree, but I am pretty sure they are not Canadian diamonds. All of Spence diamond purchasing is done through an office in Antwerp Belgium I believe, which is where all the Russian and African diamonds are traded through?

In my experience Canadian Diamonds are considerably more expensive, to the point they would not fit into Spence's business/pricing model.

I think Spence does sell them for extra if you want them though?


As for the Kimberly Process that ensures the first world buys/sells conflict free diamonds (and as talked about in the movie Blood Diamond that many girls are thinking of when they request a non-blood diamond), there are many accusations that those conflict free diamonds are actually blood diamonds smuggled into the larger pool of diamonds, and then resold as legit diamonds.

So, in short, there is a good chance that a conflict free diamond really is a blood diamond (sadly, although I have no idea what the ratio is? 1 in 10, 1 in 100?). And there is no way to tell either way, other than perhaps paying a lot extra for a Canadian diamond. (Don't tell the wife?)




Claeren.

[Jayems]

I specifically asked for blood diamonds to save money.


Ok I didn't.

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by Jayems

I specifically asked for blood diamonds to save money.


Ok I didn't.

You didn't save any money? That's too bad

[Peanut]

Contrary to someone's positive experience above, we had a terrible experience at Jewel's by Maximes and I would never recommend it to anyone. Long story short, they lied to my husband about his deposit being refundable and screwed us out of about $2,500. Very shady place, if you ask me. But it could depend on the salesperson you get, I suppose.

And I agree with Claeren - Spence is definitely not selling only Canadian diamonds.

[Edward Soye]

I would be happy to discuss different stones and pros and cons on jewellery with anyone interested, I can help with straight talk on diamonds with certs and share my experiences as a jeweller.

[troutman]

1. Engagement Ring

2. Wedding Ring

3. Suffer-Ring

[Flashpoint]

I went through this at Easter. My advice is to buy a nice cubic zirconia "placeholder" ring that you can surprise her with - and then go shopping with her for the actual engagement ring that she gets to pick out.

She gets to choose the perfect ring, and you still get to surprise her. My fiancee loved it.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by troutman

1. Engagement Ring

2. Wedding Ring

3. Suffer-Ring

lol so true.

[Flash]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

I went through this at Easter. My advice is to buy a nice cubic zirconia "placeholder" ring that you can surprise her with - and then go shopping with her for the actual engagement ring that she gets to pick out.

She gets to choose the perfect ring, and you still get to surprise her. My fiancee loved it.

I have a buddy who did the same thing...bought a cubic zirconia from a place up in Westhills, I think it's called Rocks. The ring looks pretty authentic in my opinion, but I don't know much about diamonds.

[Edward Soye]

Cubics don't look good for long

Many jewellers will supply you with a presentation mount if needed at a reasonable cost with the purchase of the diamond, then once you pop the question you can have the stone set in the ring she wants.

Canadian diamonds are going to be the same pricing if all the grading and size are the same, the main reason you will see price differences is the original suppliers of Canadian diamonds tried to cut most of their diamonds to Ideal cuts this costs more and loses more rough.
Now we are seeing the Canadian cutting facilities and mines slowing production and operating with skeleton staff. Too bad for the industry

as for buying online be sure you can get your money back

I have seen diamonds sold as certified and they were the wrong grades and I am not talking 1 grade these were far off "oops we sent you the wrong stone"

these massive companies expect a certain small percentage of customers will check out what they have been sold and the majority will just assume what they ordered is what they received

[megatron]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

I went through this at Easter. My advice is to buy a nice cubic zirconia "placeholder" ring that you can surprise her with - and then go shopping with her for the actual engagement ring that she gets to pick out.

She gets to choose the perfect ring, and you still get to surprise her. My fiancee loved it.

As I stated in an earlier post, I was going to get a ring with her birthstone, then shop for the real ring afterward.

I couldn't find a ring that I liked, so I got her a pair of diamond earrings as a substitute. I was really limited because:

1) She was out of town, so I wanted to buy something before she came back. (She was back last Wednesday).

2) We're going on vacation this Friday to Hawaii (Oahu and the Big Island) -- which is where I'm going to propose (not sure where/when yet on the trip).

She's not materialistic, so I doubt she'd even care if I proposed with anything -- but I didn't want to show up empty handed.

She has no idea that I'm going to ask -- wish me luck!!

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by megatron

As I stated in an earlier post, I was going to get a ring with her birthstone, then shop for the real ring afterward.

I couldn't find a ring that I liked, so I got her a pair of diamond earrings as a substitute. I was really limited because:

1) She was out of town, so I wanted to buy something before she came back. (She was back last Wednesday).

2) We're going on vacation this Friday to Hawaii (Oahu and the Big Island) -- which is where I'm going to propose (not sure where/when yet on the trip).

She's not materialistic, so I doubt she'd even care if I proposed with anything -- but I didn't want to show up empty handed.

She has no idea that I'm going to ask -- wish me luck!!

Good luck.

[Edward Soye]

Good Luck,
Enjoy Hawaii

When you get back and if you are interested have a look at my website, we can get pretty much anything or make it.

[llama64]

I got the hints that if I bought the standard solitare on a band (ie Spence), or if I proposed without a ring -- the answer would be "hell no".

So I found a vintage jewelery shop and found the perfect ring. It's pretty much unique (made in 1920 or so the marking says). It's not the biggest diamond in the world (main one is just under .5 carats), but it's flanked by at least 16 small diamonds with a high clarity and set in white gold.

Lets just say my wife was floored and still comments on how awesome the ring is (4 years later). Had I dragged her to shops, she would have hated me a bit for the rest of our lives. Because I found it on my own and surprised her with the proposal, I gave her something she cherishes: a story to tell. Don't discount that part!

And btw... the ear-rings subsitute on Hawaii... Perfect story! Good luck!

[Ironhorse]

I had my wife's engagement ring custom made, which isn't as expensive as you might think if you have a good jeweler / goldsmith. I had a basic understanding of what style she would be looking for; I took a day off work without telling her, picked up her best friend and together we went shopping for the ring.

She loves her ring, and when I proposed she had no forewarning at all. It was a great moment for both of us, and talk about picking up her day a few notches. That was 12 years ago, and it has been a great ride thus far.

Edit:

Originally Posted by llama64

Lets just say my wife was floored and still comments on how awesome the ring is (4 years later). Had I dragged her to shops, she would have hated me a bit for the rest of our lives. Because I found it on my own and surprised her with the proposal, I gave her something she cherishes: a story to tell. Don't discount that part!

x 2. My wife still loves the story. I tied her ring to a ribbon, and put it around the neck of a Windstone (?) horse figurine. The figurine has a place of honor in our curio cabinet, and I'm sure she reflects on the story now and then.

[bomber317]

So I've been looking around for diamonds the past few months.

I've picked out a setting from Blue nile and now am in the process of picking out the diamond.

Does anybody know what the Polish/symmetry are for? Also for table% of the diamond, is it better to have a lower ratio or a higher ratio?

[IliketoPuck]

Troy Shoppe Jewlers in Bridgeland was great for me. Very relaxed and professional, and really helped me to find the right ring.