Engagement Ring advice

Or, as I like to refer to it, " The Ring O' Despair" . So, I picked out a ring last week and it'll be done Monday so I can give it to Mar at our baby shower / party next Saturday . And BTW, she doesn't know, so mums the word... Anyway, I've heard a lot of guidelines for picking a ring; " If it's less than a carat, it's only friendship" etc. I chose to go for a higher grade stone vs carat weight, still close to a carat, but not quite. Someone who I work with ( Female, beautiful, elegant with a great sense of taste) who's opinion I trust likes my choice, but she also attached an "acceptable" dollar amount, again, which I'm close to, but not quite...and the ring I've already picked aint cheap. Ladies, the question is, does the bottom line mean that much ??

To me.. it didnt matter if it was a ring from a gum ball machine or from a top notch jeweler. Cost means nothing to me... the size of "the rock" didnt matter.. only that it had to be comfortable. I love the ring Jonathan got me.. silver setting.. NOT real diamonds because he couldnt afford it at the time.. Once we decided to go get his band, we bought a matching set.. (so technically, I have 2 engagement rings and a band). I still wear my ring he gave me along with the other two... the thought is what matters most to me.

Thanks, that's what I'm thinking. I think I was starting to develop a little ring envy, I didn't want my girl to have the Cheap" ring, but your right, it's the love and thought that counts

I jokingly said one day as we were walking past the window at the mall.... "wow, look at that ring! It's all antiquey-like" 6 months later, I got the ring. I'm suprised he remembered. I originally asked for a diamondique on qvc. Dude those things are nice, and who the hell's gonna know if it's real or not. I showed Mike tons of them, he refused. "That's so cheap, I would never do that." Can't help ya man. Or maybe I did? Who knows.

Of course you helped Who do the Steelers have this weekend ?

Buy quality over size....the cut of the stone and clairty are what make a diamond sparkle so a smaller stone with a better cut and greater clarity are going to out shine a big honkin stone of poor cut and clarity. Color is important too just not as important as the other two. Here's a great website for learning about diamonds:www.pricescopes.com I was fortunate enough to be able to choose my engagement ring but not every girl wants to do that some like the surprise. I wanted an aquamarine center stone so I searched the web for a stone cutter who custom cuts his stones. Most aquas are very pale unless they are heat-treated. I wanted a deeper blue but not heat treated. After scouring the web for several months I found a raw stone that looked as if it would work. My aqua ended up a bit over 2 cts which is HUGE to me. Jay then had it set in a platinum diamond eternity band. My wedding band will be an exact match of my engagment band. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE LOVE LOVE my ring and get compliments all the time. See my profile for photos Bottom line don't buy more than you can afford to pay cash for. Don't buy for size, buy for quality. You both will be much happier in the long run. Congrats to both of you. I think she is going to be majorly surprised!

I don't see photos... I still see your old profile with a couple pics of you on the bottom.. did you ever switch over I wanna see your 2 carat aquamarine engagement ring

Oops my bad! I guess I uploaded the photos but never converted my profile..... DOH! Our invite is on there too...

it is BEAUTIFUL so is Jay's.. I'm old fashion and cant' think of wedding ring past being typical diamond.. altho.. it's beautiful.. and one I would wear proudly.. actually I still have my diamond ring from previous marriage.. I would have no qualms of re-sitting it in a white gold or platinum setting if I ever needed/wanted/desired.

I really wanted something sort of unique and since I'm such a blue jeans kind of girl, the aqua suited me color-wise. Some of the folklore surrounding the aquamarine so fit for me too. It is associated with sailors (Jay loves to sail.He's my sailor) and according to ancient traditions, carrying a aqua is supposed to guarantee the wearer a happy marriage and make it's owner happy and rich. So I figured I couldn't go wrong. Plus with the eternity bands I still got a few diamonds as well. I