Letruns Women - what do you think of this ring?

I hate that "ring dance" women do when they show off to their girlfriends.

What a bunch of sh*t.

Totally ego driven!!!

You can't tell the difference between the two unless you are a certified gemologist looking at the piece under a loop (jewelry microscope). So unless she takes it to a jeweler to have it appraised you are in the clear. I kicked that problems ass again!

I was kidding about the oil.

Diamonds are the world's biggest wastes of money.

It is sad that so many people still buy into this garbage.

It needs to start with the women.

Of course I bought a diamond for my wife - and a damn big one - years ago, but she would not let me do it today.

You women should start a new trend of asking for a house or something instead of a ring. If a guy starts anything other than a diamond, he just looks cheap.

i would get a better metal, should be at least 18k. Side diamonds aren't my favorite, I would pick either a ring with 3 diamonds, or a solitare with little side diamonds. But that's just my preference. Good luck!!

Having just gone through the whole engagement process myself, one thing I can tell you is that you need to find out whether those diamonds are natural or synthetic. I didn't take the time to browse that entire web site to see, but it makes a huge difference in the quality of the diamond. You do NOT want a synthetic one. Maybe in a few years, when the technology for making them is better or something, but in general synthetic diamonds are not as high of quality as naturally occurring ones and tend to chip more easily. A lot of online sites can offer ridiculously low prices because they are selling lower quality (synthetic) diamonds, but of course they're not going to put that in the bold print.

Congratulations.

The ring looks pretty.

I believe I would wear anything coming from someone I love, so don't feel too stressed about it. No need to spend too much money on it. It's just a symbol. I know someone who couldn't afford a ring at the time of his engagement, and just made one out of paper--something I found very romantic. He bought a ring later when his career took off.

That being said, I'm not too fond of diamond rings myself because it's a bit too common. I like colored gems and pearls better. I also like antiques.

I second the comment about trying to find out what your girlfriend likes. See what she thinks of her girlfriends' rings. Or go see that movie about diamonds and casually start a conversation about it. You also need to know her size.

I would try to be subtle though because the element of surprise is very important! Also when the time comes write a love letter to your fiancée.

The ring is very pretty, although that setting is very "trendy" right now....might want to go with something a little more classic. I have a lot of friends getting engaged that all have rings with a similar setting.

I would second doing some more research and possibly getting something with a smaller stone but higher quality. You can ALWAYS upgrade a stone and get a ring reset if your wife wants to later on.

So here's the deal. Don't blow your money on a diamond. They are horrible exploitive, line the pockets of the exploiter and worse yet, set a standard that you will regret for the rest of your life. My wife and I, both runners, agreed on a cubic zarwhatsitsname in advance. We travelled the world and did some pretty cool things with "our" extra spending cash. Those experiences set us up for many happily married years. We now have two little future world beaters (steeplechase and 5k) filling our days. And for all our friends who bent over backwards to buy the real deal? They're all divorced.

I hope you're marrying a runner and if you are then she won't care what you get her as long as you're as committed to her as you are to your running 'career'.

Have fun with it.

that ring looks like it came from someone with a small dick.

The disarming trend seems to be everyone getting married these days has an enormous rock on their finger (I'm talking well over one carat). It just seems superfluous, but I guess how much you love someone is gauged on the size of ring you buy them. Is that what all women think?

The Chick wrote:

I didn't take the time to browse that entire web site to see, but it makes a huge difference in the quality of the diamond. You do NOT want a synthetic one. Maybe in a few years, when the technology for making them is better or something, but in general synthetic diamonds are not as high of quality as naturally occurring ones and tend to chip more easily.

Since the CZ vs. real diamond issue to the untrained eye was already cleared up, I will go ahead and say the chick can not tell the difference between man-made and natural yellow diamond (generally regarded to be the most rare type) unless of course she has an x-ray or FTIR spectrometeter handy in the jewelry store.

In fact yellow synthetic diamonds have a much lower nitrogen defect density than natural diamond, I believe <10 ppm compared to 1000 ppm for yellow diamonds.

The fracture toughness of a man-made diamond is ~5 to 6 MPa. The fracture toughness or natural diamond is....5.3 MPa.

There's nothing that says "I love you" quite like a low nitrogen defect density.

txRUNNERgirl wrote:

Most women can tell the difference. Unless she's blind, then it might work.

And women are shallow bitches to even care.

It's a f***ing ring. Why people feel the need to spend so much money on something like that is beyond me. There are so many better ways to spend it.

And yeah, I'll probably propose somewhere in the near future and sell out and get an expensive ring, just because jackasses across the world for years and years and years have set such a ridiculous precedent.

Gee, I didn't know people still proposed marriage without discussing it first. If you have discussed it, then why not go ring shopping together? DO NOT BUY an engagement ring off the internet!!

I would suggest that you find a local jeweler somewhere around. Drive to a larger area if needed. They can show you the diamonds and give you suggestions within your budget. I did that and got my wife a great ring. You will be happy you did if you talk to a more local jeweler.

merry=marry wrote:

Well the price is nice, and the only jewelry stores around where I live are the "commercial" type - Kays, Friedmans, etc - and I've been disappointed. Very plain, normal, and they seem overpriced.

If you have to buy a wedding ring online at a bargain price than I don't think you are mature enough mentally and financially to get married.

You can get a holiday part-time job at Tiffany's and get a 20% discount. That is what my sister's husband did. After they got married, he then got a job at Restoration Hardware to get 40% off to furnish their new home. They are so tight.

Charles Taylor wrote:

Take her to see Blood Diamond, then propose to her with a plain gold band.

this is the correct answer.

Marriage is a fine institution

But who would want to live in an institution?