I let my wife choose.
I also let his wife choose.
Took along one of my best mates when ring shopping - utterly clueless we both were. Thankfully I was recommended a decent shop (within the Argyll Arcade in Glasgow - 30+ jewellers in a small area, in amongst the guff there's a couple of decent places) who recognised us as being typical utterly clueless blokes but didn't take the piss. Simple classic style, good quality single diamond, didn't cost the earth. I know her size roughly but resizing afterwards was part of the deal.
Best part of it - apart from her saying yes, obviously - was she bought me a very nice watch in return.
Gratuitous engagement ring shot. Bespoke titanium. https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/fresh-goods-friday-555-the-big-life-changes-edition/
@jimw – do you have a website/shop?
@fadda.
Not any more. Website expired last year, stopped selling in galleries and shops a couple of years earlier. I wasn’t making much from it and events (principally CFS) overtook me. I still do commissions for friends, neighbours and their contacts locally but not very often. To be honest, not being a specialist stone setter, I find working with large and/or expensive stones a bit stressful. I can and will do it but I have to psych myself up a bit before hand. I have not had a disaster yet so am probably just being a wuss but…
She doesn’t like gold so I’m thinking platinum.
Palladium. Thank me later.
You could try Kate Smith who is based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. Get something bespoke and a bit different.
I gave the now MrsTH a Lego one for the question popping, then went to a jewellers with her to get her one she actually wanted.
's what I'd do. A placeholder ring for the, uh, placeholder ring before the wedding ring. I'm all for surprise gifts but dropping that kind of wedge on a piece of jewellery it should be perfect, she / you both should choose it.
Honestly, I always found dropping thousands on an engagement ring and afterthought money on a wedding ring to be arse-backwards, but there you go.
I just took the plunge and bought my wife an eternity ring (after 36 years) the 'but it doesn't feel like an eternity yet' excuse finally wore a bit too thin.
We had a day out in the jewellery quarter in Birmingham, spoke to a few people and finally found a store that we liked and felt we could trust. We went down the custom route in the end and got a little spendy but not outrageous. The advantages over the high street were cost, choice, expertise and the design service.
We ended up with these guys https://sonnysjewellers.com but there are dozens to choose from. Well worth the day out.
Get her a thoughtful budget ring for the proposal and then go shopping for the "proper" engagement ring together. After all she may decide that a titanium *bicycle* is less likely to disappear down the sink one day and cost less...
I spontaneously (alcohol induced) proposed in Venice without a ring and when we got back from holiday we went to nearly every jeweller in Manchester city centre to get a ring. We ended up getting something completely different to what she thought she wanted at the start of the day. It was pre-loved too.
Tldr : go together and buy a ring that fits comfortably and is what she really wants and is also within your budget
The annoying thing is for me if I sit a £1000 ring next to a £10,000 ring I couldn’t tell the difference
You can't and I can't and obviously there's no real significant difference......but they will know, they will know!!!
Used a black cable-tie to actually propose (Taj Mahal, the Diana bench, sunset, chicks dig that kind of thing), then hit the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham when we got back to Blighty, so that Mrs Merman could choose exactly what she wanted which was far more sparkly.
I was in New York with mrs DOD for the millennium and we popped in Tiffanys, yep they really don’t do breakfasts.
We finally bought ‘the’ ring in an outlet village store an hour away from Manhattan 🙂
I did get my wedding ring from the bloke who did the Lord of Rings one ,if I had to wear a ring it had to be the ‘one’ ring to rule them all.
Silicone ring? Nothing says "I love you" like something that's hard to deglove yourself with...
Try snd get a rough idea of what she wants and then have a day out in the Jewellery Quarter in Brum.
There are a few suggestions above but to add:
Crystalink - we bought our wedding and engagement rings from there. Family owned, lovely people and were great when we needed them resized. They really helped me when choosing the engagement ring solo too. I can’t recommend them enough.
Bicknells - stunning show room, not the cheapest but very good service if you need assistance.
Marlow’s - a bit salesy but you’ll save a couple of quid there if you can deal with that.
Think carefully about big sticky out jobs. They will get in the way.
Choose something classy that means something to you. That’s what it’s about.
The future SMA set her heart on a Tanzanite ring (with some small diamonds), so we got it made in a local jewellers. It has bene through the wars - a few small diamonds have had to be reset and the ring was totally redone when it was cut off her after breaking her shoulder skiing! However the stones are lovely. So much so, that I got an eternity ring from the same jewellers about 30 years later with another set of tanzanite stones.
Dont pass off a good antique shop as long as you know her size. Found my other halves perfect ring in one for a fraction of the cost it would have been at a jewelers. Recently had it valued when she got it stuck in a car door and had to be repaired (saved her finger at aleast), despite the repair work its worth 6x the value I bought it for. She actually considered selling it to pay for a huge greenhouse...
Although not a standard engagement ring, more of an eternity ring (18ct white gold I think with diamonds and sapphires around it), presented to her at the top of Mam tor in 60mph winds and horizontal rain, good times
I took my fiance (now wife) along to pick the ring.
Firstly we picked the diamond. Size isn't always the most important thing. Try to buy one that's certified, a nice colour and cut. Then pick the band and have the diamond set in the ring of choice.
If she helps pick the ring then she should be happy with the it plus helps take the pressure off you.
Good luck!
What a bunch of soppy romantics we all are.
Best part of it – apart from her saying yes, obviously – was she bought me a very nice watch in return.
I was laughed at when I said I felt a bit jealous she gets to wear something.
I'm thinking a massive ruby set in platinum with a ring of smallish diamonds on a yellow gold band would suit me.
Give her a Scandal instead.
@stwhannah
I’m not a lover of jewellery, but that is a great looking ring.
Plutonium for the win...
Mr Toast took me to the Jewellery Quarter to look at rings. He got a good idea of what I liked, then chose one. It's beautiful - I don't like big rings (fnar, fnar), so it's just a single diamond in a gold twist setting. The diamond has a small flaw in the middle of it, but that's part of its charm and uniqueness.
Obviously not a great plan if you want it to be a surprise!
I proposed sooner than I’d planned on top of a hill, so didn’t have a ring ready.
On the way home we dropped in to a shopping centre and bought a £25 ring for her to wear before getting something proper.
A quick look around a few places in Glasgow, mostly uninspiring tbh, every time she tried anything on the staff said it was perfect & definitely the one for her. After that we dropped in to the Ringmaker, found one on display that was very similar to what I had in my head & had them design one with us. It was actually quite enjoyable and surprisingly quick (the design part, it took a few weeks to have it made along with our wedding bands).
She loves it, I love it and it wasn’t any more expensive than off the shelf.
If you're going for the white/silver colour, there's a bit of a difference in the metals:
Platinum is darker, not quite grey but I always think it has a kind of dark hint to it somewhere, almost like it's reflecting something black. It's hard and won't tarnish or scratch so easily.
White gold is a brighter/lighter colour, it can fade to a yellower tinge over time as the rhodium plating wears off. Easily sorted though.
With gold you also have the option of going for the cheap 9ct version!
Silver is also a lighter shade, probably the brightest, tarnishing can happen but unlikely with a ring as it's always rubbed clean by your fingers. You won't find silver with a diamond but there's some nice CZ stuff.
Much cheaper than the others of course.
Disclaimer:
I sell jewellery online 😉
Don't think we have much in the way of platinum engagement rings but if when you're after a good value good quality wedding ring... 😁
20 years and neither of us can be bothered to fill in the form.
I went with Mrs Weeksy and her mate to town, of course she wasn't Mrs Weeksy yet... but you know what i mean.
Anyway, i gave her the bank card and a budget, "see you later, i'm going to the pub to watch the football" and i went to the Walkabout and she went to a shiny shop and bought herself a ring.
Romantic, not really... but she got the ring she wanted and i got to watch Liverpool win 2-0.
My dad was a silversmith who occasionally made jewellery and he took us to a stone dealer in the Brum jewellery quarter where we bought an opal and a couple of small sapphires. We'd talked with him about designs we liked and he made the 18 carat engagement ring and later our wedding rings. My mum used to teach dress-making and she made the wedding dress!
Thanks for all the top tips everyone. Some good info here, I just haven't had time to reply to every good comment.
I think I'm going to start at Tiago as it's 5 minutes away from my house so thanks for that recommendation.