Engagement rings

As I have posted before, Geoff proposed to me with his mother's ring, with the auspice that we would pillage the oval diamond from that ring and put it in a new setting that was ours. Also, this ring is much too big for me because I told him the wrong size. It has taken quite a while to get around to fixing that, however. We went down to the jewelry district today and finally got down to looking.

This was an interesting experience. There are dozens of jewelry designers downtown, so you can really walk around and get a sense of different designs and also different sales styles. Three rings that appealed to me:

Shiny: This ring was designed by Mei Jewelry & Gem so we started calling it the Mei ring. It was definitely the nicest quality ring and it was also the most expensive, but only by a little bit. it was 18k white gold, and on each side of the center stone, there were three small diamonds, two baguettes, and a delicate triangle of pave. The feel of the ring was so comfortable, but I worry that it was maybe too much 'bling' -- still, it was tasteful, and will probably be the one I get.

Colored: I am apparently the only one, but I really like colored gem stones. Since oval diamonds are popular in multi-stone rings, I looked at one designer who had a simple ring with two small diamonds on the side of the centerstone, who was willing to swap those diamonds for blue diamonds. It was a really neat look, but everyone else seems to think that colored stones look "costumy" or whatever, and on second look, the ring itself was a little cheap -- it was not solid metal, it was hollowed out on the inside, like a ring you get at Target.

Asymmetrical: The ring right now has an asymmetrical design which is kind of neat, so I looked at some that were like this. One that I liked had a wrapped design, with a white gold band and then a string of small diamonds wrapping around it on each side, like an elongated S. There were things about this ring that looked cheap also, however, so while I liked the concept, I don't think I liked the result as well.

The jewelry market itself was a really interesting experience, and it made me wish you could buy wedding dresses that way (or reception halls). Just walk around some booths, like a street fair, and ask questions about the ones you like.