Elizabeth Says ([info]elizabethsays) wrote in [info]weddingplans,
2009-01-11 19:04:00
  • Previous
  • Memorize
  • Share
  • Next
  • Mood: cheerful

Non-Traditional Engagement Rings

Hi, ladies! I always love the show off your bling posts, but recently I've been thinking about the "non-traditional" engagement rings that many have. Whether it's non-traditional because diamonds aren't the main stone (or the ring is completely diamond-less) show them off!

Also, with non-diamond-centric rings becoming more commonplace, do you think there is still a stigma against those of us who have those instead of the usual diamond rings? Or do you think that even though we do live in a diamond-centric wedding culture that other ring types are becoming more mainstream and brag-worthy?

Anyway, let's see those rings!

I don't have a shot of mine but it's a ruby ring. It's stunning.
Tags: engagement ring: diamond alternatives

  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Comments allowed for members only

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    switch

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

     
    Help
  • 82 comments
Previous
← Ctrl← Alt
  • 1
  • 2
Next
Ctrl →Alt →

[info]in_vino_vanitas

January 12 2009, 00:12:01 UTC 3 years ago

my family is so bothered by the non-diamond ring that they are threatening to buy a 'more appropriate' one.

it doesn't help that i send them stuff about the diamond industry's marketing and mining practices as an explanation of why i didn't want that tradition. they keep telling me to get a conflict-free diamond or a canadian diamond or whatever. um, no? haha. i care way less about the e-ring than the wedding band - it's a personal preference. i guess the issue here is that their weddings were dictated by honouring every tradition and ours are more a la carte these days.

[info]elizabethsays

January 12 2009, 00:27:31 UTC 3 years ago

What does your ring look like?

[info]in_vino_vanitas

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]elizabethsays

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]in_vino_vanitas

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]snowmentality

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]in_vino_vanitas

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]snowmentality

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]dativesingular

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]gilneas

January 12 2009, 00:22:34 UTC 3 years ago

We're not doing an engagement ring, but this is my non-engagement engagement ring - he gave it to me as a gift this past summer, and I wear it on my left ring finger. And tell people I don't want to tell the whole story to that it's my engagement ring (because everyone looks for it when you mention a wedding).



It's a Mystic Topaz, and shifts between green and purple. I love it.

[info]elizabethsays

January 12 2009, 00:27:42 UTC 3 years ago

I loooove mystic topaz.

[info]sawyerlove

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]ice_wedding

January 12 2009, 00:33:58 UTC 3 years ago

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007498&l=2f31e&id=64100353
facebook album of my blue opal ring. My parents never made a big deal about me not having a "traditional" e-ring because my mom didn't have a diamond either, she had a sapphire :)

[info]elizabethsays

January 12 2009, 00:39:22 UTC 3 years ago

That's beautiful! Opal is my birthstone. :-)

[info]ice_wedding

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]unhappyunbroken

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]scaramoucher

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]ice_wedding

3 years ago

  • Loading...

Deleted comment

[info]deemystified

January 12 2009, 02:50:00 UTC 3 years ago

beautiful!!

[info]fireyirishangel

January 12 2009, 00:52:10 UTC 3 years ago


The main stone is a square-cut green tourmaline and the bezel-set diamond was my mother's. Were it not for her stone, there'd be no diamond involved in the ring, but that was more due to cost limitations than anything else. I wasn't attached to the idea of a diamond nor was I against it, but the prices are ghastly so it was quickly rejected. The green is more "me", anyway, and I got to pick out the stone from a huge glittery pile of gems, which was fun.

[info]thephishiegirl

January 12 2009, 00:53:57 UTC 3 years ago

I wanted a larger stone and knew that a large diamond would be way to expensive. I picked out this ring with an oval blue sapphire. I love being different and its beautiful. Also, its our relationship's birthstone (Our dating anniversary is 9/10).

[info]ice_wedding

January 12 2009, 01:37:42 UTC 3 years ago

That's something Ive never thought about doing before... a "relationship birthstone" Very cute idea :)

[info]deemystified

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]rooftopdesire

January 12 2009, 01:01:15 UTC 3 years ago



This is my e-ring. I've never been a jewelry girl so I don't care for the expensive, I just like this one because I'm of Irish heritage and it's nice and simple. Plus the black onyx matches the black tungsten carbide of our wedding bands.

[info]maideleh

January 12 2009, 01:03:31 UTC 3 years ago

We are not officially engaged yet...

But we have bought the rings already. Mine is sort of traditional, in that it is still a diamond, but it is jazzed up by pink sapphires as side stones. I originally didn't want a diamond at all, just a sapphire, but we went ahead with the traditional route so people wouldn't think anything negative about. My dad in particular would not have considered it a "real" ring without a diamond. I bought FH an engagement ring as well. I am giving it to him after he proposes. It's wooden.
MINE:


HIS:

[info]deemystified

January 12 2009, 02:54:01 UTC 3 years ago

Re: We are not officially engaged yet...

where did you get his wedding band? i've been looking at wooden rings with my honey (for him) also!

[info]maideleh

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]lacrimose

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]itsunofficial

January 12 2009, 01:07:35 UTC 3 years ago

let's see if this works... hopefully it's not too big!

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

[info]jessisfound

January 12 2009, 01:47:49 UTC 3 years ago

this is really pretty. What kind of wedding ring are you having?

[info]itsunofficial

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]itsunofficial

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]elizabethsays

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]itsunofficial

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]brree

January 12 2009, 01:13:26 UTC 3 years ago

The actual ring is custom and doesn't exist yet, but it will be an emerald in a claddagh setting, similar to this:

[info]faerie_mistress

January 12 2009, 01:21:25 UTC 3 years ago

Mine is brilliant cut blue sapphires and diamonds. I didn't want diamonds, I was looking for either blue sapphire or ruby in a relatively flat setting because I'm awful with my hands, this happened to catch my eye and it was perfect.



He actually proposed with this ring as a placeholder, however it is silver and black pearl and after a year of wearing it the silver was mangled and the pearl eventually fell out *sob* I still have it, one day I'll have it repaired so I can use it as a dress ring because I love it so much.

[info]snowmentality

January 12 2009, 01:42:47 UTC 3 years ago

Don't have mine yet -- it's coming in about 2 weeks, most likely -- but it'll look something like this (this is a shot of one of GreenKarat's custom rings, but it's similar in style to what my fiancé ordered):
Photobucket

The sapphires are lab created and the gold is recycled.

I've actually been surprised at the level of trouble I haven't gotten -- I don't even have a ring, traditional or otherwise, and I was expecting a lot more static and refusal to accept that I was engaged without a ring. I was kind of prepared for a fight, you know? But practically no one has even brought it up. The only thing that happened was that one of my aunts asked where my ring was, and I explained I'd proposed to my fiance, and she was like "Oh, okay." I didn't get so much as a glance when I went to put down the deposit on my ceremony location, and I've definitely heard horror stories of vendors giving women dirty looks if they're not sporting a diamond (okay, that was mostly bridal shops, and I haven't been to one of those yet). It's been a total non-issue so far.

Among my circle of friends, non-diamond engagement rings are -- well, not exactly common (more people still go for diamonds), but certainly no cause for comment. People seem to accept them as engagement rings without question. There aren't any remarks about "So when are you getting a REAL engagement ring?" or tutting about "Aww, doesn't he care enough to buy a diamond?" But I think it really depends -- there's still a lot of that floating around in the culture.

[info]somewoman

January 14 2009, 20:35:35 UTC 3 years ago

I was expecting a lot more static and refusal to accept that I was engaged without a ring.

I don't have an engagement ring at all and was also surprised that I didn't get any flack about it, and now that we're married I no longer get questions like "oh! Can I see the ring?!" People were much more accepting of my deviance from What Ought Be Done than I thought they were going to be. :^)

[info]snowmentality

3 years ago

  • Loading...

Deleted comment

[info]jessisfound

January 12 2009, 01:49:15 UTC 3 years ago

i love the fit of the rings. it looks like one ring!

Deleted comment

[info]jessisfound

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]manraysky

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]_lindz

January 12 2009, 01:58:33 UTC 3 years ago

Photobucket

Please excuse my fat fingers. The diamonds are on the other side, too. :)

[info]colleenabean

January 12 2009, 01:59:50 UTC 3 years ago

Peridot

DSC_0083

[info]bobinwales

January 12 2009, 12:26:23 UTC 3 years ago

Re: Peridot

That's gorgeous!

[info]itsunofficial

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]pizza_assassin

January 12 2009, 02:08:05 UTC 3 years ago



Mine's tanzanite with tiny little diamonds. We were planning on a black diamond solitaire, but this one fell into our laps. I absolutely love it, even if I am going to have to get a pretty weird wedding band for it.

[info]pizza_assassin

January 12 2009, 02:12:07 UTC 3 years ago

Well that was silly of me to pick a photo that doesn't show it from top down. Here, have this one showing off FH's steel e-ring too.

[info]poppins17

January 12 2009, 02:19:23 UTC 3 years ago

My ring is next to impossible to photograph, which is a shame because it's gorgeous!

The center stone is purple sapphire and it has two very small side diamonds at the center of an engraved spiral.

[info]theredsqrl

January 12 2009, 02:32:45 UTC 3 years ago

I don't have a photo of mine yet, but I found a similar ring online:



It's sapphire and diamond in platinum (mine has pear-shaped diamonds, though, rather than trilliant as in the picture). I absolutely love it, and I frequently receive compliments.

[info]arbus

January 15 2009, 06:40:40 UTC 3 years ago

this looks just like mine too! except my sapphire is round.

[info]ofgreenapples

January 12 2009, 03:26:38 UTC 3 years ago

Photobucket

this is a bad picture of my ring, but it gives the general idea. originally i didn't plan on getting a diamond, but ended up falling in love with this ring. i wanted something unique and non-traditional because i knew i wouldn't feel comfortable wearing a large diamond and also because it better reflects my personal style. i haven't gotten any negative feedback on it, rather everyone gushes over it and says "its so you!"

[info]projectxray

January 12 2009, 20:22:36 UTC 3 years ago

i love your ring. It's beautiful.

[info]publius513

January 12 2009, 03:37:32 UTC 3 years ago

This is a terrible picture of my ring, but you get the basic idea. It's a purple sapphire with little diamonds along the sides.

The Ring

[info]zeekster

January 12 2009, 21:40:56 UTC 3 years ago

It looks like we have similar settings. My center stone is a square orange sapphire.

[info]a_dream_weaver

January 12 2009, 03:48:57 UTC 3 years ago

I have an amethyst e-ring with two diamond bands to make a wedding set.

Photobucket Photobucket

Excuse the pudgy fingers, I just took them sitting here watching the Golden Globes.

[info]peechee

January 12 2009, 03:58:40 UTC 3 years ago

it's not the fingers that bother me, it's the fingerprint on the stone!! (crazy OCD self jumps off a cliff)

[info]a_dream_weaver

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]peechee

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]peechee

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]somewoman

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]a_dream_weaver

3 years ago

  • Loading...

[info]scaramoucher

January 12 2009, 04:08:04 UTC 3 years ago



Black Opal flanked by two diamonds in a white gold band. We bought the stone seperately and had it made. I love it so much!

[info]kissokomes

January 12 2009, 04:46:43 UTC 3 years ago

Stock photo from the site, but it's on my hand right now :



I love it. It's garnet, my very favorite stone, and so delicate and lovely in white gold. His grandmother had the rudest reaction to it : "Is THAT an engagement ring? Hm. It's cute."

RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGE

[info]chapstickqueen

January 12 2009, 06:49:44 UTC 3 years ago

Oooh I really like that!

[info]dark_blue_mania

January 12 2009, 04:51:57 UTC 3 years ago

My center stone is a garnet with diamonds on each side and a tiny one on each side of the band below the prongs. Not only is garnet my favorite gemstone, but the ring has both of our birthstones (he's January, I'm April). I really have no concern about a stigma or anything else negative someone might think. I think it's gorgeous and I love it.

[info]tater1112

January 12 2009, 04:52:24 UTC 3 years ago



Mine's a sapphire solitaire - it was originally FH's grandmother's engagement ring, and had a diamond, but that fell out and was replaced at some point. I love it.

No one who knows me has shown anything but enthusiasm for my ring. I've gotten a bad vibe from just a couple of strangers, one of whom was recently engaged with a large diamond of her own. I got a little bit of a "oh, poor you" feeling from her. On the other hand, after we'd been engaged a few weeks, I was waiting in line at the drive-through and admiring my ring in the sunshine, and the woman at the drive-through window stuck her head out and yelled at me because she thought my ring was pretty! :)
Previous
← Ctrl← Alt
  • 1
  • 2
Next
Ctrl →Alt →
Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Facebook Twitter More login options
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…