Diamonds aren't (always) a girl's best friend...

[VintageJess]

Your engagement ring sounds beautiful. I like the idea of the three stone ring and what it stands for. As for a wedding band, my sister has the same problem. She has a three stone engagement ring, and her wedding band is a pretty thick band of diamonds. It looks tacky to wear them together. So, now she wears her engagement ring on her right hand, and her wedding band on the left. My mom does the same thing. The two of them really like their "bling", but know it is too much to wear all of that on one finger.

I am a minimalist in my jewel wearing too. I wear more pieces, but prefer more delicate looking ones. A pretty pair of diamond earrings and a pave diamond heart necklace that was my moms. Sometimes I'll wear a bracelet, but usually just a silver one. I have a tennis bracelet, but I never wear it, it's just a little too much "bling" (wow, I like that word) for me.

Daisy,

Thank you! I had the exact same problem as your sister, a band paired with the engagement ring just looked way too flashy for me. I am actually considering getting a small band (maybe an eternity ring of some sort) and wearing it on the opposite hand or maybe by itself sometimes. Since I've had my son, there have been a couple of instances where my ring has accidentally scratched him (it has a high profile) or gotten pulled on something, not to mention being constantly dirty. I think a small band might be user friendly for me on a daily basis.

One day I would like to have a really nice mother's ring as well. I always think they look really special. My mom has one that she had done with four baguettes (in the birthstone colors of us four kids) and it is really unique. But, I like jewelry that means something like that. Like I said, I prefer to wear just a couple of pieces, and ones that are very special to me.

 

[Caledonia]

I like the notion of jewels. Always loved the idea of overflowing chests of rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and gold in the Aladdin and the Lamp stories when I was a kid, and had a wee lucky dip plastic ruby ring that I kept for years. But, I don't actually like buying or wearing real stuff. A bit political, a bit 'is it necessary' when I can buy fake for cheaper. I would wear really old vintage from in my family, but nothing else, and as my family doesn't have anything like that - I'm paste! But even then I prefer plain metals, fake pearls, and the occasional mexican inlay or similar. I do have a necklace, earrings, and a bracelet in rhinestone (all vintage and never all worn together), and an old family opal that I don't wear because I heard it was unlucky. Generally I think that jewels can wear the lady, when the lady should wear the jewels. Less is more whether its real or paste.

 

[Naama]

I couldn't care less about Diamonds! I don't know why, but I don't like them (politics aside). I don't like too much jewelery anyway. I have my long (faked ) pearl neklace and that's it!

Naama

 

[AllaboutEve]

Part of my work is for a high end bespoke London Jeweller and I sell diamonds all the time, whilst I am aware of the trouble and corruption surrounding stones from certain sources like Burma there is an increasing demand for ethically sourced stones.
Good jewellers will follow the Kimberley process which has been set in place to safeguard that that the stone/stones are from a conflict free source.
Rubies, emeralds and other precious stones can also be found from ethical sources.

As far as I am concerned there is nothing to compare with the brilliance of a good diamond,......especially set in platinum......it's that sparkle, just stops you dead in your tracks.

 

[mysterygal]

I love diamonds, but I don't like anything gaudy or tacky either. I agree, the sparkle is great...I still like the way my wedding ring sparkles in certain lights . I do have more costume jewelry than the real thing and I tend to wear my costume jewelry most of the time.

 

[Lena_Horne]

I would wear really old vintage from in my family, but nothing else, and as my family doesn't have anything like that - I'm paste!

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes! (the book, I keep avoiding the movie) A whole part in Paris is devoted to explaining why rich French women wore paste out in public versus the real thing. You struck a chord.

L_H

 

[jitterbugdoll]

I'm another one who prefers chunky bakelite and celluloid jewelry--I just love that stuff!

I do have a 1950s sapphire and diamond ring that I wear daily--I love its atomic shape and the sapphire stone. Someday I would like to find a similar vintage ring with a ruby stone, as Ruby was my grandmother's name.

 

[AllaboutEve]

I'm another one who prefers chunky bakelite and celluloid jewelry--I just love that stuff!

I do have a 1950s sapphire and diamond ring that I wear daily--I love its atomic shape and the sapphire stone. Someday I would like to find a similar vintage ring with a ruby stone, as Ruby was my grandmother's name.

Any chance you could post a pick of your 50's ring Jitterbug. Vintage jewellery is my number one collecting passion and I love to see other people's collections.
I'm intrigued by the "atomic shape".
Pretty please...

 

[jitterbugdoll]

I'd be happy to, Eve I'll try to take a photo this evening, but let me try to describe it a little better in the meantime...

It's a round sapphire surrounded by eight round diamonds; the white gold band forms a diamond shape on either side, with the "diamonds" etched on both sides (the jeweler told me this was a distinctly 50s-60s design feature, and the ring does have a real "mid-century" feel to it.)

 

[AllaboutEve]

Sounds lovely, looking foward to the pic!

 

[Kaela]

Diamonds are still my friend--
I would say though, I only have one diamond piece I wear, or that I ever bought, a 1920s white gold ring that's 1/4k, so it's just a sweet little understated piece, too much more of those sparkles is too much. My fiancee got me a ring with two small diamonds on the side and a larger saphire for the center stone. I can't imagine having any more diamonds than this! But I do love the ones I have!

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

As far as I am concerned there is nothing to compare with the brilliance of a good diamond,......especially set in platinum......it's that sparkle, just stops you dead in your tracks.

I completely agree. Platinum just makes the stones sparkle. I have a diamond and saphire ring that I had re-set in platinum. For some reason the stones kept breaking free when it was set in white gold. When I put it on for the first time, wow, was all I could say. My sister and my mom both had their engagement rings re-set as well. They look incredible, and very elegant.

Jess, I think the idea of a mother ring is great. I also like the necklace with the child pendant on it. Very sweet sentiments of something very special.

I heard that opals were bad luck if they aren't your birthstone. I have one that is nearly 20 years old, and have never had anything happen to it, but it is my birthstone. They are a beautiful stone, you should wear it, definitely not too flashy.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

I heard that opals were bad luck if they aren't your birthstone. I have one that is nearly 20 years old, and have never had anything happen to it, but it is my birthstone. They are a beautiful stone, you should wear it, definitely not too flashy.

My aunt swears this is true as well. It is her birthstone and she has never had problems with opal stones, but other women she knows with different birthstones have lost their opal jewelry, or the opal has fallen out and disappeared [huh]

 

[fortworthgal]

I'm not a big diamond person, either. Overall, I'm just not a jewelry person! I do wear my wedding set (which has a nice size diamond), and usually a bracelet or a watch, but that is really all I wear on a daily basis. Occasionally I will wear a simple necklace, I have a nice strand of pearls, or a thin beaded necklace that I'm wearing today. My birthstone is sapphire, so I have some sapphire jewelry that I occasionally wear. My favorite stone is probably the garnet, because I love the color.

In general I much prefer the celluloid and bakelite jewelry, as some of you mentioned. I have very simple tastes. I do sometimes envy the people who can wear the big "Moulin Rouge" type jewelry, though. Whenever I have tried to wear anything big or flashy, I always feel awkward and ridiculous. lol

 

[AllaboutEve]

I have a diamond and saphire ring that I had re-set in platinum. For some reason the stones kept breaking free when it was set in white gold. When I put it on for the first time, wow, was all I could say. My sister and my mom both had their engagement rings re-set as well. They look incredible, and very elegant.

Hi Daisy!
It depends what Carat/Karat the White Gold was as to how resilient the setting would have been 18ct White is a tough metal to use so is usually the best choice of the White Golds. You may have just been unlucky in having it set badly.
Platinum is unsurpassed in it's durability and it just sets diamonds on fire.
You have to see it to believe it don't you!!
I'm so glad you managed to get yours re-set it really makes all the difference.
For the record, it's advisable to get any fine jewellery settings checked over every now and then. This way you can avoid stones suddenly coming loose. This is particularly so with the older style "claw" settings as the tips of the claw that hold onto your stone can eventually get worn clean away!! I would aim for at getting them checked about once a year.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

This isn't the best photo, but I had a terrible time taking a halfway decent pic of my ring:

 

[Tomasso]

Platinum is unsurpassed in it's durability and it just set diamonds on fire.

 

[AllaboutEve]

This isn't the best photo, but I had a terrible time taking a halfway decent pic of my ring:

That looks like a really eye catching design Jitterbug! The sapphire is a great colour too.
Your a very lucky girl!

 

[Viola]

Well I would hope if I ever got married that my wedding band would be plain yellow gold in a simple band, that's the Jewish tradition and what I'm used to. Others are prettier but not more wedding-y, to me. Possibly I'm insane, heh.

I'm not mad for or against diamonds, I just I don't know about a colored-stone engagement ring? I've never seen one. Sounds like you'd have to pare certain colors out of your wardrobe to prevent clashing. And I'd need it in yellow gold. That platinum is just too dang fancy for me, ha.

Not that I have to worry about it just now, without a man in sight. [huh]

 

[LizzieMaine]

Not insane at all -- I've always thought a plain gold band was the way to go for weddings, and save the flash for the engagement. When I got married, I insisted on the simplest plain gold band we could find, and we ended up getting a matched pair at a pawnshop for $99.75. (And I still have the quarter change we got back from the $100 glued into my scrapbook...)

Jitterbugdoll -- that's a really lovely ring!