Yeah, and they're pricey, too. But they are the most beautiful to me...I wouldn't want a sticky-out ring.

And my mom has a ton of opals and those damn things are a PITA.

Opals are super soft.

Not that they'll break! It's just that almost all of them have flaws and they should be protected more than other stones. I still covet my mom's gorgeous emerald (despite its huge flaw).

Heh. Actually, it's so tiny it's flat into the setting, which is just above the band, so there's nothing to see but green.

...of course, part of the story is that they decided they couldn't afford a diamond ring, but my father couldn't resist this emerald, which cost as much as an equivalent diamond. Oops.

Heh. Actually, it's so tiny it's flat into the setting, which is just above the band, so there's nothing to see but green.

Yeah, my mom's ring is that way. You have to really be looking at it to notice.

they couldn't afford a diamond ring, but my father couldn't resist this emerald, which cost as much as an equivalent diamond. Oops.

Once you reach a larger size, almost any emerald would be more expensive than a diamond. And rubies? Forget about it.

I'm looking into getting the diamond from my engagement ring reset along with the diamonds from a set of earring KCD had bought me. I don't think I would purchase diamonds now, but setting the ones I have so that I will wear them seems like a reasonable thing to do.

If I were purchasing something new, I'd probably lean toward sapphire.

are engagement rings REALLY supposed to be three months salary?!

I thought it was 2 months. It's 3 now?

God bless the parasitical marriage industry. Long may it continue to fleece people in the name of tradition.

The ring I wear now was my grandma's, and she willed it to me - only reason I wear a diamond.

The diamonds in it were in her original wedding ring, and my grandpa bought her a bigger one for their 25th and she had the diamonds from the first one set into this elaborate white gold 60's dinner ring. It's definitely unique!

I like sapphires, and it's my birth stone. I also loathe solitaire settings.

I remember having this conversation a few years ago... I think I ended up engaged to Plei b/c of a ring she linked.

For myriad reasons I'm pretty sure I'll never wear an engagement ring. Only one of those is that I've never seen a point and I've never gotten into the rhythm of any constant jewelry other than my two cartilage piercings.

One of the guys here is getting tattooed, and he asked someone else for tips about it. Poor guy got all these tales of terrible pain. I had to tell him the pain wasn't that bad. Well, not compared to the itching. I don't know if I helped, or even if my truth applies.

I've never had an engagement ring. My first wedding ring was a thin gold band I happened to have in my jewelry box. My current wedding ring is a silver Celtic weave pattern we saw at a New Age book store, it cost $25.