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Lately I’ve found that a lot of my free time is spent reading other people’s wedding blogs and going on wedding forums, giving and getting advice, and seeing how other people are planning their big day.
Most things I’ve come across are pretty standard when it comes to planning – finding a dress, coming up with a color scheme, food tastings, etc.
A few things have surprised me – I learned all about the Diva Cup which I’ve never heard of before. If you are like me and haven’t heard of this apparatus, feel free to Google it.
Then I stumbled upon an idea that makes total perfect sense, but I never thought of it before… the stand-in ring (or clone, or twin, or whatever you want to call it)!
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A fellow wedding blogger talked about her stand-in that she picked up for around $20.
The purpose of the stand-in is so you have something that you can wear in situations where you could potentially damage or lose your real engagement ring. Perfect for when you may have to get your real ring sized and don’t want your hand to feel naked, or when you’re honeymoon snorkeling, exercising (ha!), climbing trees, scaling tall buildings, putting out fires, and alligator wrestling. This girl will use any excuse to get some bling in the mail every once in a while! On an average day, my heart stops every time one of my prongs gets stuck on something, so I can’t imagine how I’d be during our trip if I was wearing my ring in a ring-risky situation.
So I went online and looked around for an e-ring clone. I thought about getting something hugely obnoxious just for fun.
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But then I was worried that if I got something bigger, I’d fall in love and want to upgrade my real one to a 6 carat and put Mr. Nachos in the poor house. I also thought about getting something really small so I’d appreciate my ring that much more every time I’d put it back on.
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The best option in my eyes was something as close to identical as I could find. I picked one that looked pretty darn close to my real one but is just a little smaller, sterling silver, cubic zirconia, and it was only $25 on eBay!
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OK, here are pics of the real vs the fake…
RING 1 :
RING 2:
The 1st one is the imposter 
I love the second ring picture! I wonder if I can justify getting that sometime soon… hmm.
PS - Divacup???? EWWWWWWWWW
Darn, I thought the filigree would be on the fake one…. I don’t know why….
So pretty!
Miss Nachos! I agree that you can learn all sorts of things, but you’re doing yourself and others a huge disservice. “Disgusting” is the worst world to describe the Diva Cup. When you think about it, what is really disgusting is the cost and the amount of materials needed to produce the tampons/pads needed by the typical woman over her lifetime. Let’s see–if I spend $7 on a box of Tampons and another $5 on pads, per month, that’s $12/month or $122/yr. Say I am fertile for, oh, 40 yrs of my life, that would be THOUSANDS of dollars, and way more raw materials going down the toilet and into landfills than I want to think of. In contrast, the diva cup is very effective, it can stay in all day w/o leaks, and you reuse it (after washing). Meaning that you send nothing into the trash cycle except your own fluids. So, before you knock it, consider the disgusting waste you impose on nature (and your city’s trash & water cleanup costs) via what you throw away or flush each month.
hey! Divacup is really great for a lot of women and not particularly something to make fun of just b/c it’s not right for you.
Have to back up KD2009. If you think that the Dive Cup is disgusting you must think all forms of period control are! (Think about what a tampon REALLY is.)
I’ve got the cup and it’s the cheapest, safest, and most practical solution I’ve found. I LOVE it. It might be weird to think about at first, but most new ideas are! Try is before you knock it!
Also I think Ring 1 is the fake. It’s a good close match though!
Agreed, KD2009!
Miss Nachos, don’t bash the diva cup for being disgusting when perhaps you haven’t thought about the truly disgusting amounts of tampons and pads that are filling up our landfills/flushed every day!
Just fyi on the raw materials, I buy the same materials that go into feminine products but mine go into spill absorbants and such. The disposal of such chemicals are VERY environmentally friendly, we are watched by the EPA closely and our water coming out of where the things are produced is a heck of a lot cleaner than what you dump down the drain.
Sorry for the vent I am just really sick of “environmentally concious” people who probably drive SUVs and use more chemicals daily than our manufacturing plant does.
Impressive clone you got there!
@KD2009, C.M.E, Taylor4: I think Nachos is just trying to contrast new ideas, one that made her squirm and one that she jumped on board with. I didn’t read it as an attack on anyone who uses a Divacup- I read it that she found the concept a little disturbing. I certainly wouldn’t begrudge her that opinion- even though personally I am intrigued by the Divacup.
I think #1 is the fake! This is such a great idea! I’m not on the hunt for my own ring “stand in”!
I’m on Nacho’s side. The diva cup is a gross thought. Not that tampons aren’t. To each their own, but that doesn’t give anyone any right to jump on another person for posting what they think on a blog. Get a life.
From Diva Cup website: “The DivaCup is reusable and made from silicone. …Women, on average, experience a lifetime menstruation span of 41 years (11-52). From use of disposable feminine hygiene, an estimated 12 billion sanitary pads and 7 billion tampons are dumped into the North American environment each year (1998). More than 170,000 tampon applicators were collected along U.S. coastal areas between 1998 and 1999… Most tampons and pads contain surfactants, adhesives and additives. In addition, most pads contain polyethylene plastic whose production is a pollutant. Also, dioxin, a known carcinogen, is a by-product of the bleaching process of tampons containing rayon. In landfills, many of these substances can leach into the environment (groundwater, streams and lakes) causing serious pollution and health concerns.”
@ Amanda: Your dismissal of environmentally minded people as causing more pollution than your manufacturing plant is incredibly ignorant. Go watch Food, Inc., read Grist.com, pay attention to climate change and then eat some crow.
@ Pretzel: Good mediation, I know that’s what Nachos was doing.
I find it hard to believe “threw up in my mouth” and “frightening” can be read as finding the concept “a little disturbing”… I read it as an attack.
In addition to the cost benefits, the diva cup is so much better for you and the environment. It’s easy to use, smells less than regular feminine hygiene products, and generally is the best option out there for any woman who is fed up of leaks, messy tampons or pads, and contributing to the growing amount of landfill on this planet.
The DivaCup is anything but disgusting. Try it out for yourself before making a judgement call. Your line of thinking goes along with the ‘periods are gross’ immaturity of a pre-teen. Grow up!! What is gross is your attitude towards a sustainable, comfortable, easy to use, environmentally and budget friendly monthly accessory for a modern, busy, thoughtful woman.
I got a fake not long after we got engaged because I was scared of damaging my ring. I teach swimming lessons year-round, and while short term effects of chlorine will not affect most rings, I wasn’t sure what 8 hours a week would do to the stone and the setting… It was a $30 well spent!
Honestly, I have no idea which is the fake! So…I declined to vote. But it’s great that you found something so close for only $25! I got a “stand-in” ring when I had to leave my ring at the jewelers for 2 weeks. My ring finger felt a little naked!
As for everyone’s discussion about the Diva Cup — Miss Nachos has the right to have her opinion, just like you have the right to yours. (And let’s remember, it wasn’t even the main point of this post!)
I don’t think it was Miss Nachos intention to ‘attack’ the Diva cup - everyone is entitled to their own opinions as you have so eloquintly stated above. So lets get back to ring voting!!
I was thinking of doing this, but decided to just wait until after the wedding and get a “stunt double” (rather than an impostor) for the wedding band itself. I couldn’t find a fakey that looked anything like my ring!
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Mrs. Nachos, Chicago/St. Thomas Age and Occupation: 33, Commercial Real Estate & Hairstylist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 36, Radio Producer Engagement Date: May 22, 2009 Wedding Date: April 2010 Venue: Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort, St. Thomas About Me: I'm a happy, laid back city girl that can find the silver lining in any situation. An optimist at heart, my motto is to turn your "what ifs?" into "so whats!". My fiance is a radio producer and the biggest Cubs fan you'll meet - our apartment decor definitely shows it. He and I grew up next door to each other and because of it, we have the best home videos and easiest holiday dinners. We are planning an intimate wedding in the Virgin Islands and a cocktail party in June for 150 of our closest friends.
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