Was your ring bought online?

kerbohl

buttercup1958 said:

amelisha said:

CMGragain said:

amelisha said:

We bought mine online, from Etsy, because I won't wear or buy diamonds and found my ethically-sourced options in the the stone I wanted (aquamarine) in the metal I wanted were zero at physical stores. 

Be very careful with that ring!  Aquamarines are a very soft stone, and are easily scratched.

Uh, thanks for the admonishment, but I realise that as we researched our options thoroughly before making a purchase. I'd rather have a banged-up ethically-sourced and inexpensive aquamarine than have a (mined or lab-made) diamond on my finger, and I'll be happy to wear my cheap, scratched-up ring as long as it lasts as i'm not much into jewelry or symbolism. I'll be just as married if my ring doesn't last forever. I take it off to clean with chemicals or sleep, but other than that I'm really not willing to spend my life worrying for the sake of something worth only a couple hundred bucks. We're just not sentimental people. If it doesn't make it, we'll get another one or I'll wear a plain band.

Honestly, I wouldn't be too worried. Aquamarine is 7.5-8 on the Mohs hardness scale and only corundum and diamond are harder (9 for corundum, 10 for diamond) So unless you got into a ring war and use your ring for a weapon or something against diamond I think you should be safe.

Is it weird that I think this sounds awesome?  It's like a thumb war but sounds more intense!  Either that or like Lord of the Rings, which technically was a ring war.  It was just a war over the ring . . .

CMGragain

amelisha said:

That's actually exactly why we went with something in the beryl family, @buttercup1958‌ I would have considered a (lab) ruby as well but I ended up liking the watery blue colour too much, so aquamarine it was. It's certainly not the first or last time I've had someone try to tell me that my ring was a bad choice, though, lol. It's astonishing how many people have seemed to think they know better than I do about a purchase we made so carefully.

I never told you that you made a bad choice.  Don't put word in my mouth.  ;-( I said to be careful with it.  I have two aquamarine rings - one is badly scratched.  The other has a few minor chips and scratches on a very large stone.  I am careful when I wear them.

CMGragain

buttercup1958 said:

I know I could never wear a pearl ring because I'm way to clumsy! That does sound really pretty though. Oh trust me I know what you mean. V gave me an opal ring and there have been plenty of people telling me to be careful since its so soft, ect ect. I'm like yes I know all of this because wait for it....I researched this! I just secretly roll my eyes and laugh with my co-workers. In my experience, most people who say those things don't realize what it actually takes to create these minerals that are "gemstones".

Opals are not soft, but they are very fragile because of their structure.  They shatter easily.  I hope you already know that you don't put them in jewelry cleaner or other chemicals, or wear them when you do anything that would have shock vibrations.  They are my favorite stone.  It might help to rub baby oil on the opal stone once in a while to protect it.  If your stone is an opal doublet or triplet, you don't need to worry about this.

buttercup1958

CMGragain said:

buttercup1958 said:

I know I could never wear a pearl ring because I'm way to clumsy! That does sound really pretty though. Oh trust me I know what you mean. V gave me an opal ring and there have been plenty of people telling me to be careful since its so soft, ect ect. I'm like yes I know all of this because wait for it....I researched this! I just secretly roll my eyes and laugh with my co-workers. In my experience, most people who say those things don't realize what it actually takes to create these minerals that are "gemstones".

Opals are not soft, but they are very fragile because of their structure.  They shatter easily.  I hope you already know that you don't put them in jewelry cleaner or other chemicals, or wear them when you do anything that would have shock vibrations.  They are my favorite stone.  It might help to rub baby oil on the opal stone once in a while to protect it.  If your stone is an opal doublet or triplet, you don't need to worry about this.

Yes I already know this.

amelisha

CMGragain said:

amelisha said:

That's actually exactly why we went with something in the beryl family, @buttercup1958‌ I would have considered a (lab) ruby as well but I ended up liking the watery blue colour too much, so aquamarine it was. It's certainly not the first or last time I've had someone try to tell me that my ring was a bad choice, though, lol. It's astonishing how many people have seemed to think they know better than I do about a purchase we made so carefully.

I never told you that you made a bad choice.  Don't put word in my mouth.  ;-( I said to be careful with it.  I have two aquamarine rings - one is badly scratched.  The other has a few minor chips and scratches on a very large stone.  I am careful when I wear them.

If that's your takeaway from all that, I really don't know what I'm supposed to say to you. I don't think I have enough eye rolls for this one this evening.

kerbohl

Yeah, I wouldn't take comments as to the softness of your ring as someone saying that you've made a bad ring choice.  My mother has an opal engagement ring, so I get that some engagement rings have soft stones.  That doesn't make them better or worse as engagement rings.  My wedding/engagement ring has a bezel setting, because I wanted a setting that wouldn't get damaged as easily.  That doesn't mean that I think everyone who doesn't have  a bezel setting is more likely to get loose stones or have their stones fall out. 

KatWAG

amelisha said:

CMGragain said:

amelisha said:

We bought mine online, from Etsy, because I won't wear or buy diamonds and found my ethically-sourced options in the the stone I wanted (aquamarine) in the metal I wanted were zero at physical stores. 

Be very careful with that ring!  Aquamarines are a very soft stone, and are easily scratched.

Uh, thanks for the admonishment, but I realise that as we researched our options thoroughly before making a purchase. I'd rather have a banged-up ethically-sourced and inexpensive aquamarine than have a (mined or lab-made) diamond on my finger, and I'll be happy to wear my cheap, scratched-up ring as long as it lasts as i'm not much into jewelry or symbolism. I'll be just as married if my ring doesn't last forever. I take it off to clean with chemicals or sleep, but other than that I'm really not willing to spend my life worrying for the sake of something worth only a couple hundred bucks. We're just not sentimental people. If it doesn't make it, we'll get another one or I'll wear a plain band.

Slow your roll @amelisha.   @CMGragain didnt suggest you buy a blood diamond.

amelisha

@KatWAG, nope, sorry, I've pretty much had it with people telling me what to do with my own damn ring, including "be careful with that!" Yep, thanks, I've got it handled, it's mine and I didn't just pick it up off the floor and decide to wear it.

Seriously. I am OVER people making snarky comments about it because the implication is always that it's inferior because it's soft/inexpensive/coloured/small/whatever. I get this every damn day from someone or other and I am tired of it. I like it. I chose it. And I did that after the appropriate research. And this was the comment that broke the camel's back on it, I'm afraid.

KatWAG

amelisha said:

@KatWAG, nope, sorry, I've pretty much had it with people telling me what to do with my own damn ring, including "be careful with that!" Yep, thanks, I've got it handled, it's mine and I didn't just pick it up off the floor and decide to wear it.

Seriously. I am OVER people making snarky comments about it because the implication is always that it's inferior because it's soft/inexpensive/coloured/small/whatever. I get this every damn day from someone or other and I am tired of it. I like it. I chose it. And I did that after the appropriate research. And this was the comment that broke the camel's back on it, I'm afraid.

I am sure the repetitve comments are annoying. But I think you are jumping down CMG's throat over a harmless comment that was intended to be helpful.

And if its the straw that broke the camel's back, you can probably see your own overreaction

edit: spelling

teddygirl9

amelisha said:

@KatWAG, nope, sorry, I've pretty much had it with people telling me what to do with my own damn ring, including "be careful with that!" Yep, thanks, I've got it handled, it's mine and I didn't just pick it up off the floor and decide to wear it.

Seriously. I am OVER people making snarky comments about it because the implication is always that it's inferior because it's soft/inexpensive/coloured/small/whatever. I get this every damn day from someone or other and I am tired of it. I like it. I chose it. And I did that after the appropriate research. And this was the comment that broke the camel's back on it, I'm afraid.

I think you're on the wrong board - snarky brides is just 2 doors to left.

[Deleted User]

Like @amelisha, we got my ring on Etsy because I wanted something ethically produced (and unique). My ring is a rose-cut, conflict-free diamond on recycled gold. We're very pleased with the jeweler we ordered from and will be ordering our bands from her, as well. 

As long as you do your reading and make sure the jeweler is reputable, I don't see why ordering online is a bad thing... especially if you're looking for something that you won't find in one of the big chain stores.

CMGragain

Many years ago, I worked for one of the largest jewelry corporations in the USA.  Every time a couple wanted a soft stone ring, I explained that they would need to be careful with it.  About half heeded my advice.  I saw many of the others come back, angry and disappointed because their soft stone ring did not hold up to hard wear.  I was sad for them.

JennyColada

I thought about it topic yesterday: I work for a Tiffany and we had someone order an $80,000 diamond engagement ring online via the "click here to chat!" system.

Sounded kind of odd to me.

porkchops926

FI bought my ring on Blue Nile. I get the idea of wanting to go to a jewelry store and see things in person, but we both liked the idea of being able to choose the loose diamond from their lists based on the criteria that was important to us without pressure. Plus, they get new ones in every day. 

We had a great experience with them. You can always call and ask as many questions as you want without them trying to sell you something, they will send pictures and hold as many stones as you want while you decide, and they have a free 30 day return policy. Plus, you can usually get a good quality stone for less than you would pay in a jewelry store. 

I didn't know about them before the whole engagement ring shopping process, but would recommend to anyone who is looking for a diamond. I don't have any experience with them for other precious stones, though.

Knottie27338595

We found the whole ring thing to be very overwhelming. He took my preferences from rings I looked at online and went to the stores but was having a lot of trouble. So he asked me to go with him and give him better suggestions. The things I liked online were not the same as what I liked on my finger. After that, we decided it was too risky to buy online because we were both very fickle and didn't want to deal with returning things back to the online store if the ring that showed up didn't fit our tastes. It is also very important to me, working in a hospital, to have a flat setting with soft edges that don't get caught. Hard to tell that online. So in our case, it was worth the extra money to purchase at the store. Other than that, I would definitely recommend to others to shop online to get the better prices (bigger and better diamonds for your budget!)

JennyColada

porkchops926 said:

FI bought my ring on Blue Nile. I get the idea of wanting to go to a jewelry store and see things in person, but we both liked the idea of being able to choose the loose diamond from their lists based on the criteria that was important to us without pressure. Plus, they get new ones in every day. 

We had a great experience with them. You can always call and ask as many questions as you want without them trying to sell you something, they will send pictures and hold as many stones as you want while you decide, and they have a free 30 day return policy. Plus, you can usually get a good quality stone for less than you would pay in a jewelry store. 

I didn't know about them before the whole engagement ring shopping process, but would recommend to anyone who is looking for a diamond. I don't have any experience with them for other precious stones, though.

My diamond is a Blue Nile diamond as well, but DH was able to see it in person from our family jeweler.

amelisha

CMGragain said:

Many years ago, I worked for one of the largest jewelry corporations in the USA.  Every time a couple wanted a soft stone ring, I explained that they would need to be careful with it.  About half heeded my advice.  I saw many of the others come back, angry and disappointed because their soft stone ring did not hold up to hard wear.  I was sad for them.

I swear. I am not your customer and I didn't ask for your advice, so I'm not sure why you're still giving it (especially as my ring isn't even a particularly soft stone...) My ring is plenty durable for daily wear, so thank you but no thank you on the comments.

CMGragain

Get over yourself.

climbingsingle

I have an opal engagement ring. I had people telling me all the time how careful I needed to be with it. I was very aware, and people's warnings tended to really get on my nerves. 

mikenberger

buttercup1958 said:

amelisha said:

CMGragain said:

amelisha said:

We bought mine online, from Etsy, because I won't wear or buy diamonds and found my ethically-sourced options in the the stone I wanted (aquamarine) in the metal I wanted were zero at physical stores. 

Be very careful with that ring!  Aquamarines are a very soft stone, and are easily scratched.

Uh, thanks for the admonishment, but I realise that as we researched our options thoroughly before making a purchase. I'd rather have a banged-up ethically-sourced and inexpensive aquamarine than have a (mined or lab-made) diamond on my finger, and I'll be happy to wear my cheap, scratched-up ring as long as it lasts as i'm not much into jewelry or symbolism. I'll be just as married if my ring doesn't last forever. I take it off to clean with chemicals or sleep, but other than that I'm really not willing to spend my life worrying for the sake of something worth only a couple hundred bucks. We're just not sentimental people. If it doesn't make it, we'll get another one or I'll wear a plain band.

Honestly, I wouldn't be too worried. Aquamarine is 7.5-8 on the Mohs hardness scale and only corundum and diamond are harder (9 for corundum, 10 for diamond) So unless you got into a ring war and use your ring for a weapon or something against diamond I think you should be safe.

If you got into a ring war, please help it find it's way to YouTube. It would be very "West Side Story"

KatWAG

amelisha said:

CMGragain said:

Many years ago, I worked for one of the largest jewelry corporations in the USA.  Every time a couple wanted a soft stone ring, I explained that they would need to be careful with it.  About half heeded my advice.  I saw many of the others come back, angry and disappointed because their soft stone ring did not hold up to hard wear.  I was sad for them.

I swear. I am not your customer and I didn't ask for your advice, so I'm not sure why you're still giving it (especially as my ring isn't even a particularly soft stone...) My ring is plenty durable for daily wear, so thank you but no thank you on the comments.

She can post however she wants. If you don't it, press the ignore button. 

I seriously don't understand why this is chapping your ass so much. 

Knottie80113285

My fiancé bought mine on brilliantearth.com. Lovely selection and then you choose exactly which diamond you want and where its from.

Also, the store is based in California so if you're not in Cali (or have someone outside of Cali you can ship it to) you can several hundred dollars in sales tax.

caseyphough

Buying rings online is in trend nowadays, I work with Cut Rate Diamonds and we receive a lot of queries regarding sales of loose diamonds to customize the rings on their own. Large amount of diamonds are there and many new are added everyday.

classicalandedgy

My FI also bought my vintage art deco ring online. We were unable to find anything like it for the price in stores. I love it and it has been appraised for much more than we purchased it for and because it was a California based store, and we live in CT we did not have to pay sales tax and when your spending thousands as it is, every penny counts!

brideiguess

We got engaged a couple weeks ago. My ring was bought from Etsy. My fiance would have been completely lost trying to pick something to my particular tastes - so I shopped around, found one I liked, emailed him the link, and it was on his desk a couple weeks later. Hooray for 21st century romance! I'm all for buying the ring online, especially if money is tight. We did walk into a jewelry shop together to shop for a ring, but it was kind of an overwhelming experience for both of us, especially trying to find something non-diamond and relatively inexpensive.

I got a morganite set in rose gold, which cost a quarter of our monthly rent payment. Ordering online was painless, and got us exactly what I wanted at an agreeable price. I love my ring! I realize that it's a softer stone than a diamond, but if it gets scratched or chipped 15 years down the line, I can get a new stone set in it - maybe even a diamond if that's what I want later. 

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a diamond ring online either, as long as I were able to get a GIA certificate with it. Saving money is always good. 

morewineplease

My FI purchased my ring online from http://www.jamesallen.com and he said he loved the way the site lets you compare each stone up to 40x magnification. The ring is perfect and the stone is fabulous. I would not be worried about online shopping if it is a reputable place. 

mrsk616

my FI went to many different jewelers but none had the exact ring he wanted. if you go on gelin abaci website you cant find my exact ring but some pretty close to it. i think he ordered it online because i remember him picking something up at fedex last year and telling me he was going to return it if i peeked. (he is so funny sometimes)

porkchops926

classicalandedgy said:

My FI also bought my vintage art deco ring online. We were unable to find anything like it for the price in stores. I love it and it has been appraised for much more than we purchased it for and because it was a California based store, and we live in CT we did not have to pay sales tax and when your spending thousands as it is, every penny counts!

I love that ring @classicalandedgy it's so cool.

[Deleted User]

Yes.  My fiance purchased from Brilliant Earth so we could get recycled gold and ethically sourced stones- two things that were important to us.

[Deleted User]

ClimbingBrideNY said:

I have an opal engagement ring. I had people telling me all the time how careful I needed to be with it. I was very aware, and people's warnings tended to really get on my nerves. 

I love opals.  Thinking of maybe incorporating them into my wedding band.