Engagement ring designers

cu97tiger

Hi all! My bf and I have gone to look at rings, and this weekend we saw a couple ads for engagement rings that looked interesting. He asked me this morning which ones I liked, and I told him I'd take a closer look to see which were more my style.

For a little background, I have given him my grandmother's diamond engagement ring which has ~1/2 carat stone and 14 diamond chips. He'll use those stones if he can, but I'm into 'different' looking engagement sets...

Does anyone have any suggestions for designers to look at? They don't have to be engagement rings, the ones we've been looking at would probably qualify as 'right-hand' rings.

PS I know you all have been super-helpful for me because when he brought up the rings this morning I didn't completely freak out and go into crazy wedding mode.

niknik15

My BF and I started actively looking at rings this week too! We went to two stores this week but didn't really like what they had. So we searched through local jewelers that do custom work. Maybe you should look into some in your area.

The one that I am really excited about in my area is Stone Oak Jewelers. I absolutely love most of their styles and if you decide on a custom piece they show you a 3D rendering, then give you a plastic model before they make the actual piece.

Now my BF wants to take over from here and doesn't even want to let me go to this jeweler  Oh well, he knows what styles I like and he wants it to be a suprise. My favorite is #150 in their antique section, but with a square moissanite instead.

http://stoneoakjewelers.com/galleries/antique/Index.html

calindi

I'd suggesting going and trying things on - I had an idea in my head what I liked, but when I saw it on my finger, my tastes were totally different than I thought.

If you can give us some visuals of the style you like, we might be able to steer you towards different designers.

He could also get it custom designed.  You could put together a "cheat sheet" with pictures of rings you like, with notes about which aspects you like about them.  Then he can have a ring custom designed using your grandmother's stones.  It's usually cheaper than going for a designer name.  Several girls on this board had their rings custom designed - the three who spring to mind as being particularly beautiful are Sunbird, Ana, and Kat.

SKP82

Hey Tiger!  We live in FL, but BF travels a lot to AZ for business.  He was looking at this place before I told him it wasn't really my style.  Very modern, different stuff.  He did some research and everyone had very good things to say about it.  I've also looked at some of their reviews online and they are all very good.  They do custom work, too. 

Check it out

So exciting!  Good luck finding just what you're looking for. 

cu97tiger

We went to one jewelry store and I tried on some of the right-hand rings. The only 'traditional' style I like is the bezel setting, where the diamond is in the ring. Other than that, I'm kind of wide-open. I trust my boyfriend, he has great taste in clothes, watches, etc. Here's one I tried on and loved:





Here's one we're going to go see this weekend:





And one of the more traditional ones:





He's pretty much against the 'big-box' jewelry stores, and he has a jeweler he's used before that is out of town, so I think he'll either design it himself, or go with one that we've seen before. I'm just asking about designers so i can check out the designs and use them as 'examples' of what I like for him!

leia1979

Your tastes run a bit different than mine, but my ring is from Simon G, and I thought they had nice designs. I also liked Mark Schneider. Doesn't hurt to look.

jilld82

for you girls looking at rings, they also have the Neil Lane collection at Jared now.  We were in there getting our wedding bands the other day and the collection looked fabulous. 

musikbx

I was drooling over some Mark Schneider rings for a while, they are pretty unique.

I also discovered this website that does custom designs. They have a really extensive library of rings that they've designed.  I definitely suggest you check it out, might give you some ideas:

http://www.greenlakejewelry.com/

cu97tiger

Leia - that first one is actually a Simon G ring!

Jill - my BF won't let me step foot in Jared because he hates the commercials, but I'll have to check them out online.

Musik - A couple of those Mark Schneider rings were really cool...

Thanks everyone for the suggestions... keep 'em coming!

niknik15

Thanks musikbx now I'm drooling! That website is really neat.

katanne9

I would look and see if there are any Jewelry artisans near you. My ring was a custom design too, and DH worked with the jeweler to design the ring.

PS - love the rings you posted!

saritak

This site has a ton of different styles. So many pretty things!

http://www.stuller.com/

cu97tiger

Thanks all. I need to have a conversation with my BF about how involved he wants me to be in the process. I'm fine whether he wants me to practically design it myself, or if he wants to surprise me with something he's picked out. Right now, he can't have more than a two minute conversation about it without getting anxious. He's putting so much pressure on himself... I wish he knew how easy I'll be to please!

JMM4208

I really like some different styled rings too. Definitely try on things, It makes all the difference in the world to see it on. Don't just look at designers (although its tempting) I would check out some department stores also because they offer different things that also have a cheaper price tag but just as much sparkle. I stumbled upon the ring of my dreams at JCPenney, I never in a million years thought that they would have something I love.