- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee Blog
My daily commute into Chi-City is about an hour and fifteen minutes. I pass a Illinois Lottery billboard every day, so I daydream about what I’ll do with my millions when I win them, but I also listen to the radio to help pass the time.
Eric & Kathy on 101.9 is my go-to every morning, but during commercials or when it gets slow, I tend to flip to other morning shows.
I got really offended recently, because I heard that other morning show bring up what they thought was an interesting story. The radio hosts mentioned that there’s strange new trend going around, as a direct result of the royal engagement and Prince passing on Princess’s Di’s sapphire e-ring. Apparently, more and more people are now receiving gemstone rings for their engagement ring.
The three hosts then went on to talk about how awful and weird that trend is. One host said, “No way. Even if my girl said that’s what she wanted, I wouldn’t get that for her. It’s got to be a diamond ring.”
The female host said, “Maybe…if the girl didn’t like diamonds, but probably not.” And the main host chimed in that that there was no way he would buy someone an engagement ring that showcased a gemstone.
The three hosts went on for a while like this, and then they accepted one phone call. The caller said she had received a ruby necklace as her e-ring. That’s what she wanted, and that’s what she had asked her (future) fiance to get for her.
The radio hosts almost didn’t believe the caller, and they made it clear that they thought it was strange.
Lame.
Now, I’m a gemstone e-ring wearer myself. My e-ring is exactly what I wanted and I would not have picked anything different, if I had been able to choose it myself. I love my e-ring and Mr. Giraffe did an amazing job.
You’ve seen my ring before, but I can’t help sneaking it in there again.
Anyway, I find it hard to believe that people can’t accept gemstone rings as just as special and important as a standard diamond rings. I’ve gotten some comments about my ring in the past that definitely indicated that those people may have not thought about my ring the way I do. At the time, I was clearly flustered and didn’t know what to say.
With everything an engagement ring means and is supposed to represent, I find it a little offensive that people can just write them off as not quite e-ring worthy.
So, hive, I’m going to show you all, because you might not know, just how awesome a gemstone engagement ring can be. Enjoy :)…but don’t get too jealous, there’s enough to go around.
Has anyone else had a non-favorable reaction to their ring? What did you do about it?
I personally adore colored engagement rings. But man, you think the judgment is bad about having a slightly different style? Try not having one AT ALL.
We don’t have an engagement ring, for lots of reasons - mainly to do with fairness (I publicly display that I’m taken but you don’t? Hmpf!), money, and symbolism. But this seems to make people uncomfortable. I had one person say, “Wow, he must be a smooth talker!” Because…I couldn’t possibly love him enough to agree to marry him without the bribe of a shiny rock?
There’s so much baggage about engagement rings - that they symbolize how much the man loves you, that they prove he can “support” you, etc. That’s one reason I didn’t want one, but unfortunately it comes up anyway.
I love that you wrote about this. I just posted a board on this subject last week (http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/no-diamond). I didn’t even know what kind of ring the royal bought eaither. I guess I’m not as up to date on pop culture as I thought lol. Thanks for sharing I too do NOT want a diamond.
People can be mean w/o meaning to be when it comes to e-rings
Mine is my Grandmother’s ring. She passed away in 2001. It’s amazing, has a lot of character and charm from the 1940’s. It has a smallish diamond in it - I think it’s .40 carat? Every single time my father looks at it, his face glows with happiness and pride. That’s the point of this ring.
Two people said to me, “Oh, on one of your anniversaries, he can just buy you a bigger diamond ring!”
I really didn’t have an answer for them…honestly I probably said something jerky.
The point is not the size, the color, the type of stone, the setting, etc. What’s important is the ring is important to YOU. People get so freaking tied up in these jewelry store commercials that they forget what really matters.
I wanted a yellow diamond ring. But my FI was not too keen on the idea. So I told him we could go with a traditional diamond as long as he bought me a yellow diamond ring for my right hand later 
He agreed. I guess I’m getting the best of both worlds.
I always felt a bit like Anne of Green Gables when I was looking at wedding rings with diamonds. I thought they should be amethysts, something beautiful, and I was a little heartbroken to see a colorless diamond!
We ended up buying a robin’s egg blue, rose-cut diamond set in rose gold from an Etsy seller for an extremely reasonable price. It’s so beautiful and unique, completely us, and was so friendly to our budget. I know friends with rings in the 5 digits, but I don’t treasure my three figure ring any less. It was one WE loved, and we were so happy to be able to support an independent artisan with our purchase. This little ring is so important to us on so many levels.
Mine’s a ruby ring, with a setting similar to the yellow ring above. I think a lot of the unfavorable comments come from people not really knowing a lot about gemstones. Some of the rarer colored stones are actually worth as much as a diamond, if not more!!
I absolutely love my ring..especially because of the fact that it’s not common
Gemstone rings are gorgeous! I would totally have gotten one myself, except I couldn’t decide on a color I knew I’d love forever (I’m a little flaky that way.) I think my fave of the samples you showed (which are all gorgeous) is the emerald cut emerald. So classy. Though I do love me some aquamarine.
oh how i adore gemstone rings. i’ll be sprinkling sapphires in my wedding band, because i love them so. your e ring still makes my heart skip a beat every time i see it!
Those hosts are ridiculous. Gemstone rings are gorgeous and so much fun. What idiots!
Awesome post! You had the right to be offended. I have a diamond e-ring but I think gemstone e-rings are equally gorgeous! Plus, its all about the meaning behind the ring anyways. The symboly of love and committment is what matters.
Ditto to Mrs. Knitting, those hosts are ridiculous. My fiance and I got engaged back in October, and I told him that I wanted a Sapphire engagement ring and he was more than happy to oblige. I find diamonds terribly boring. Plus, sapphires are much more valuable than diamonds. when you throw that tidbit around, people are always quick to judge and say how much more expensive diamonds are. expensive does not equal valuable. Sapphires are much rarer and the only reason diamonds are so expensive is because of the monopoly on the mining market. Anyway, I digress. Colored gemstones are awesome. I think it’s also a good way to say that we’re independent and comfortable with ourselves by not having to do what nearly every other bride does.
Booyah to colored gemstone rings and booyah to Prince William and Kate for letting everyone else know that it is just fine.
I love gemstone rings! Diamonds aren’t even the traditional stone for them anyway. I believe they didn’t start becoming the main stone until the early 1900’s anyway? I do love diamonds, but size, stone, material….none of that should matter. What matters is the meaning.
I’ve told my s/o I honestly don’t care about an engagement ring. He can always buy me a ring in the future. But right now I want money to go toward our future, not a piece of jewelry. I’m okay with a simple band for our ceremony. I know he loves me…and I don’t need a huge diamond to show it.
[...] Colored Gems are Special, Too | Weddingbee weddingbee.com/2011/01/25/colored-gemstones-engagement-rings/ – view page – cached My daily commute into Chi-City is about an hour and fifteen minutes. I pass a Illinois Lottery billboard every day, so I daydream about what I’ll do with my [...]
I’ve known since I was young that I wanted a sapphire ring because the stone is so classy and has a certain depth to the colour! There is nothing trendy about coloured stones, they’ve been around for hundreds of years! It was really Debeers that started the whole marketing of diamonds a few decades ago. Guess diamonds are more ‘trendy’.
To each their own, I suppose! But yes, people should really learn to be more polite with their comments
I always wanted a sapphire ring because I love the color blue, and I liked the idea of having something different. I ended up with a diamond ring because my fiance wanted to use his grandmother’s diamond. I definitely love the ring he gave me, but before him I had a totally different picture in my head.
Blue is actually one of the original colors associated with engagement rings, because blue symbolizes fidelity. It’s one of the reasons we wear “something blue” on our wedding days!
I’m actually surprised I haven’t had any naysayers trying to undermine my gorgeous gem because it’s not a diamond.
What I DO get all the time is, “Ooooooh…what kind of stone is that? It’s beautiful!” and then I get to rave about my green tourmaline. Guess I chose something unusual enough that it knocks the whole diamond idea right out of their heads!
I LOVE coloured stones. In fact, I love them so much that I’m now on the hunt for one to wear on my RIGHT hand … the ones you posted are beautiful!
I wanted a sapphire!!! Blue is my favorite color! But Mr TM insisted on a diamond…I still long for a pretty sapphire someday, I might change the stones on the band of my e-ring to sapphires or blue topaz instead…
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Mrs. Giraffe, Chicago Age and Occupation: 23, Graphic Designer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Music Student Teacher Engagement Date: October 23, 2008 Wedding Date: May 2011 Venue: Trinity Lutheran Church & Idlewild Country Club About Me: Coming from the suburbs of the Windy City, you'll often find me with my foot in my mouth while laughing for no reason or telling bad knock knock jokes. I've been crafty for as long as I can remember, and will DIY something twice over before I have someone do it for me. I'm a semi-awkward, typeface obsessed, design junkie and have been know to break out my dance moves for no reason as well as try my best to be ridiculous at all times. My love of pop culture, wordplay, and graph paper almost rivals my love of Mr. Giraffe (who is just the bee's knees). After a 2.5 year engagement, we're planning a modern-in-disguise traditional wedding, and cannot wait!
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
source
Latest Gallery Pics