Engagement rings

if you buy from a mom and pop jewelry store they will undoubtedly resize for free, at least initially.

Spend a few hours on the Blue Nile website to get a feel for how the various factors of a diamond effect it's price. You can play around with their sliders to find the sweet spot for your budget. There's always a certain level of carat, cut, clarity, etc where a diamond starts to get exponentially more expensive and the price skyrockets with every small improvement.

That being said, I agree with Neph, buy a diamond in person once you have a good feel for what quality range you want out of the gem. When ring shopping I saw many diamonds with the exact same measurable ratings, that looked drastically different in person. 2 diamonds may have the same amount of flaws, but if one has most of them right in the center of the diamond while another has them more off to the sides, they're going to look a lot different in direct light.

And stay away from chains. Zales, Helzburg, etc. all sell total shit diamonds for way, way too much.

Also, keep an eye on Craigslist, you could also get lucky there with a pissed off woman hocking her nice ring for cheap because she just got divorced or whatever. Most people selling jewelry on craigslist are willing to meet at a jeweler to have the gem confirmed.

joeboo_sl said:

A raw chunk of iron ore, smithed by hand by a member of ABANA(Artists Blacksmiths' Association of North America) is the only thing that will be socially acceptable around here. And you better hope to god they use at least a 500 year old anvil, or else your (future) wife is a dumb whore.

I think that about sums up this thread.

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Just saw this and LOL'd. Make sure you PAY THE IRON PRICE and murder someone for the ore.

I went to a $2 shop and got a ring.
Did the marry me bit, then measured her up and machined a ring out of Titanium at work.

Get a cheap one and ask her, then let her pick the one she wants.
If she's a cool chick she wont care about the ring that you have on the day.

just bought this for the lady - think she's gonna like it:



Certified Canadian mined, and I have the paper work. Probably cost me an extra 20%... fuck that movie.

Quaid_sl said:

Certified Canadian mined

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Right on, bro.

http://youtu.be/yS2WcAU8SCA?t=1m54s

Quaid_sl said:

just bought this for the lady - think she's gonna like it:

Certified Canadian mined, and I have the paper work. Probably cost me an extra 20%... fuck that movie.

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I'd be damned happy with that one! Are the side stones yellow sapphires, yellow topaz, or fancy yellow (canary) diamonds?

I bought a salvaged 1.15 carat diamond with a small chip in it at an insurance sale. It was a closed bid system i paid $500. It was graded so i researched what that meant, found out that one in question was a reasonable grade and it look good to me. My jeweler had it cut by a diamond cutter for around $200-$300, after the cut it was down to 1.09 carat, i was shocked it they had been able to keep so much after removing the chip. I bought a setting and had it set for i think $800 which put me in just around $1500. It ended up being appraised for $10,500 (i know these appraisals are super inflated, but still). One of my proudest moments. I debated for a while about telling my wife the true origins of the ring, as I was worried about looking cheap. The ring looked great and went over really well. A month or so later i caved and told her. To her it ended up meaning so much more than going and picking it out from a store. She still talks about how cool it was that I built it and of course the money saved really helped our down payment on our first home.

Heck of a deal, but most jewelry stores sell rings at about 50?60%of appraised value so at the very least you still got a $5000 ring for $1500. Nice!

Dudes, what about your rings? The lady and I have been on and off searching for one for me. I'm not a ring person, but I want one.
Show some pictures of yours, ideally while wearing them.

Mine pretty much exactly looks like this:


Mostly Titanium with a small gold stripe. Was like $150. I wanted about the cheapest ring I could find, because I knew I wouldn't wear it much, and when I did I would be clumsy with it and smack it on things. That's why I didn't go with pure gold or platinum, didn't want to beat the hell out of something that was worth some money. The titanium holds up well to smacking on things and not scratching or scuffing too bad. I'm not a jewelery person, I don't wear necklaces, watches, or anything of the sort, so my ring only goes on when I leave the house, I basically treat it like my wallet, set it down on the dresser when I get home, and it stays there until I leave again.

Cad_sl said:

I think I'd rather get the money I was going to spend on a big ring, pile it up, light it on fire, and do an evil Gargamel laugh

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For half of these dudes, they might as well.

joeboo_sl said:

I wanted about the cheapest ring I could find, because I knew I wouldn't wear it much, and when I did I would be clumsy with it and smack it on things.

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Same here. And I wore it for maybe 7 years, then after catching it on various things several times over those years, said 'fuck it'. Haven't worn it in 16 years, and the wife is totally cool with it.

I got a 14k white gold ring off of Blue Nile for $500. Not even a year later and it's $35 cheaper, go figure (Comfort Fit Wedding Ring in 14k White Gold (5mm)). I thought about getting a Tungsten Carbide ring, but I didn't like the thought of it shattering if I hit it too hard on something.

I have a very plain white gold ring. I'd never worn and hate jewelry so I wanted something as plain as possible.