Weddingbee Blog

Mr. D proposed with a simple white sapphire solitaire, and he had every intention of upgrading it to a ring that we both liked. Well, hive, that day has finally come. But, it took us quite a while to find something that we both liked.

We knew that we were going to have to look for diamond alternatives since I do not like to wear diamonds (it’s a personal decision). We considered going with a colored gemstone, but Mr. D said that he would prefer something a little bit more traditional looking (meaning, a white stone). So we started looking at those alternatives. After a lot of deliberation, we were stuck between moissanites and Asha simulated diamonds. I told Mr. D that he got to make the final decision since he was the one paying for it. He ended up picking the Ashas because he felt they were more “blingy.”

Before we could order the loose stones, we had to find a setting that we liked. We both have pretty classic tastes when it comes to jewelry—at least women’s jewelry. We knew we wanted something vintage inspired, and something with white metal.

I really, really love halos. I think they are so beautiful! I really liked this one from Knox Jewelers:

Image via Knox Jewelers

Unfortunately, Mr. D did not like halos as much as I did. So our search continued. Then Mr. D found Tacori and started showing me all of the rings excitedly. He said he loved the craftsmanship and the vintage style of the rings. However, when Mr. D found out how much just a setting cost, he was very disappointed. It simply is outside of our budget right now. I’m working full-time, but I’m also going to school full-time, which is where a chunk of my salary goes towards. Plus, we are paying for the entire wedding ourselves, not to mention the costs of day to day living. I tried to tell him that I was happy with the ring that I had, but he said that he knew it was just a ring, not a ring that I look at everyday and blissfully sigh at. So I put the forward the idea of waiting until our first year anniversary to buy the new ring. He reluctantly agreed, disappointed that we would have to wait and I would not have my rest-of-my-life ring on the day that we got married. He then told me to pick a style so he knew exactly how much he was saving for.

I started looking for Tacori settings online when I came across this setting:

Image via QVC

I clicked it and went to QVC of all places. It turns out that Tacori does a line of lower-priced rings with QVC. The stones are CZ and the band is sterling silver that is platinum clad. I contacted Tacori to see how much it would cost to custom make this band in white gold. It was even more than the regular settings, and  I just couldn’t justify paying that much for a ring, no matter how much I loved it and what it represented. I was disappointed; I really loved the setting.

I told Mr. D about it and he loved the ring as much as I did. I told him that there was no way that we could afford to get the ring custom made and that I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing the ring as it was because I was worried about the durability of the plating and the prongs on the stones. As luck would have it, Mr. D has a friend that has a lot of experience in jewelry making, and does it as a hobby (he only does as a hobby because he said if he did it as a living he would grow bored with it and eventually hate it).

He then declared that he would find out if the friend had any suggestions and if would make the ring work. The friend took one look at the ring and said that it was too complicated for him to recreate. He did however say that he could do some modifications to the ring to make it more durable if we wanted to go that direction. He also said he could switch out the CZs in the ring for other stones, just as long as they were the same size. Since Tacori used 1 carat for the center stone and .25 carats for the side stones, it would be easy to get the exact sized stones. So we went for it. We purchased the ring from QVC and then handed it off to the jeweler friend. The jeweler friend switched out the stones and put several more layers of platinum on the ring, ensuring that the plating would last a long time. He said that with normal wear and tear, the plating should last about 8 years. I don’t mind getting my ring re-plated every 8 years if it means getting my dream ring.

Yes, we purchased our engagement ring from a shopping channel, but the sentiment that we picked it out together, that we both loved it, and that it was then lovingly strengthened by a friend meant more than any price tag. And so I got my upgrade (and a Tacori at that!)!

Did you have a placeholder ring? Did you get an upgrade? Was it easy or hard to find?