Poll: Lab or Natural Gems for Engagement Rings

Which precious gem type would you go for an engagement ring?

  • 1) Natural (Earth's own creation over time)

    Votes: 58 55.2%
  • 2) Lab Created (Man's tech and knowledge in a tiny package)

    Votes: 17 16.2%
  • 3) Coal (Pressures of marriage will turn that into a gem eventually)

    Votes: 30 28.6%

  • Total voters
    105
Soldato
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Can a mod create a poll for me?

Which precious gem type would you go for an engagement ring?
1) Natural (Earth's own creation over time)
2) Lab Created (Man's tech and knowledge in a tiny package)
3) Coal (Pressures of marriage will turn that into a gem eventually)

Basically it's time for me to get down on one knee soon and I'm stumped by gems and rings. I know of the existence of man-made precious gems but to now be on the purchasing end of it, I am rather confused.

On the one hand, natural precious gem makes it flawed (nothing is perfect), but it took years, century, even millennia for these gems to form. The money spend on it represents the time it took to form naturally, to be dug, shaped and polished into the end product. The title of 'natural' gem as opposed to the general myth of "fake". Possibility of conflict gems, which is hard to proof unless buying certified ones.

On another hand, there's lab created gems that is almost always perfect and as a product, encompass the knowledge of Man's understanding of nature and building the technology to create one at will. The price is certainly cheaper but it also allows for bigger gem. No chance of conflict gems.

So which route did you go down, natural, lab created or you just bought it because it's shiny / what you could afford / WTF is a gem?
 
Has your prospective partner expressed any views on the matter?

Nope.
She does not wear any ring jewellery, minimal on the ear rings and and necklace, both of which I've gotten her before and they were novelty style or without gems.

Never complaint or made a specific comment.
 
I know stuff all about jewellery & wouldn't be able to tell the difference between diamond & glass most likely, so I got a £12 ring from Argos & then she could choose her own afterwards.

I don't even own a watch and do not personally want a wedding ring, although she has said just get a cheap £30-40 one for the church bit & then take it off after.
 
I wouldnt worry about how it was made tbh. Hard enough picking the right type of gem (my fiancée dislikes diamonds and finds them boring) and the style of engagement ring without adding a third factor in!

Also getting ring size can be tricky. There is the her ring finger up your bum technique but its not accurate :eek:
 
does the wife-to-be actually care?
I went for a ring that was something she liked!
(actually had a silver and sapphire one made for the proposal and to make sure it was the right size and that she liked it)
then had the platinum and diamond one made later (kept one sapphire from the proposal ring in there too)
I have no idea where the stones came from, or the metal for that matter, she liked it and it did it's job!

also had a friend that proposed with a haribo ring...
 
does the wife-to-be actually care?
I went for a ring that was something she liked!
(actually had a silver and sapphire one made for the proposal and to make sure it was the right size and that she liked it)
then had the platinum and diamond one made later (kept one sapphire from the proposal ring in there too)
I have no idea where the stones came from, or the metal for that matter, she liked it and it did it's job!

also had a friend that proposed with a haribo ring...

Yeah same here. She hated yellow gold so went platinum and also went sapphire on mine as well. You need to do your research!

She would have been gutted if I had got her a yellow gold diamond ring.
 
Also getting ring size can be tricky. There is the her ring finger up your bum technique but its not accurate :eek:

I've roped in a friend to help, subtle I hope.

also had a friend that proposed with a haribo ring...

I develop products for them, so I can make one more specific to my need. That should tick the thought into this proposal criteria? Though working here and knowing how many customers does this, it's almost a cliche tbh.

Cheapest that fulfills social criteria
We have a house deposit to save.

I am not going with the marketing nonsense of 2 or 3 months pay check.
I know she likes gems, she likes the colour and it's not too big a cost for something of sentiment.
 
I've roped in a friend to help, subtle I hope.



I develop products for them, so I can make one more specific to my need. That should tick the thought into this proposal criteria? Though working here and knowing how many customers does this, it's almost a cliche tbh.


We have a house deposit to save.

I am not going with the marketing nonsense of 2 or 3 months pay check.
I know she likes gems, she likes the colour and it's not too big a cost for something of sentiment.

can you not just use anything for the proposal and then let her pick something she likes?
Another friend bought a cheapo "vintage" ring to proposed with on the basis that she picked something she liked, turned out she liked the one he bought and kept it (she still doesn't know how much it cost!)

mine worked out a couple of months take home, but wasn't deliberate!
 
can you not just use anything for the proposal and then let her pick something she likes?
Another friend bought a cheapo "vintage" ring to proposed with on the basis that she picked something she liked, turned out she liked the one he bought and kept it (she still doesn't know how much it cost!)

mine worked out a couple of months take home, but wasn't deliberate!

Never beleived int he two months or even one month take home pay thing. Just get what she likes, money spent shouldnt come into it.

In my case I got the perfect 2nd hand old ring from a 2nd hand section at a jewellers. Cost me £189. So less than 10% of my monthly take home at the time. But she loved it.
 
I've roped in a friend to help, subtle I hope.



I develop products for them, so I can make one more specific to my need. That should tick the thought into this proposal criteria? Though working here and knowing how many customers does this, it's almost a cliche tbh.


We have a house deposit to save.

I am not going with the marketing nonsense of 2 or 3 months pay check.
I know she likes gems, she likes the colour and it's not too big a cost for something of sentiment.

A house is far more important that a wedding. Save the engagement til after you have paid off the mortgage. That way the money wasted on a ring and feeding 100 people you barely know can be put to better use putting a roof over your head.:p

Also it takes millions of years for natural diamonds and the cost is completely unrelated to the cost of extraction (diamonds are fairly common and cheap to extract).
 
Me and (now-ex) fiancée bought a pair of rings for about 10,000Yen (£50) which seemed suitable.

I'm about 95% sure the breakup wasn't due to the value of the rings, so you should be fine :p
 
i thought you were already married ?

Been sinners for the last 8.5 years.

Call her my missus once and it just stuck, so the assumption that we're married is there, but never really need to correct it as we both know where we stand.

I might just be getting myself wound up about being a traditionalist, asking the dad (going to), getting a ring and propose etc. House is important but a simple marriage and "oven baking" with a couple of kids is on the cards, so I thought, why not get the ball rolling.

Otherwise, I know we may just keep coasting it whilst saving for a house deposit and by the time the mortgage is paid, we're old and childless.

FYI, I wasn't going for diamonds. Too boring.
 
I knew exactly what my mrs wanted so didn't have this issue, however I know of someone that had a wooden one made and then they designed one together once she was engaged.

What's her birth stone? Does she wear gold or silver jewellery (if ever)?
 
Never beleived int he two months or even one month take home pay thing. Just get what she likes, money spent shouldnt come into it.

me either, it just happened to work out around that - the cost wasn't important and had savings to cover it but it was all about getting something that we liked
 
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