Have you upgraded your engagement/wedding rings?

[Swirl]

If so, what did you do with your old ring or rings? Did you just put them away? Or have them made into something else? If so, what?

Edited December 17, 2010 by Swirl

[AlaskaGrownFamily]

Yes. I lost a diamond on my engagement ring, so I traded my old set in for a bigger and better version. :)

[Evergreen State Sue]

I haven't, but my sister just did. She decided she wanted just a gold band with some embellishments on it. She didn't want a diamond sticking up any more. She had the diamond made into a necklace. They sold the gold from the old rings.

[Swirl]

Yes. I lost a diamond on my engagement ring, so I traded my old set in for a bigger and better version. :)

 

Part of my wedding ring broke, and I lost some diamonds in it. We decided to take the bigger and better route too instead of fixing it.

[Swirl]

I haven't, but my sister just did. She decided she wanted just a gold band with some embellishments on it. She didn't want a diamond sticking up any more. She had the diamond made into a necklace. They sold the gold from the old rings.

 

A necklace is what I may do too. I just wish my old diamond was bigger though.

[Evergreen State Sue]

A necklace is what I may do too. I just wish my old diamond was bigger though.

 

My sister's diamond is quite small, but she is very proud to wear it as it special to her after 32 years of marriage.

[Mrs Mungo]

I have not.

 

BUT, my grandma did. She wanted a more modern setting. She had the first set if rings turned into a gold nugget pendant and had the diamonds set into it.

[Liza Q]

I wear a diamond anniversary type ring now (one ring with 5 little diamonds) instead of my original rings. They got too tight during my first pregnancy and have never fit again :001_huh:

 

I have my original rings in my jewelry box. While I could have had the rings resized, I am sentimental about them and don't want to alter them in any way.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Liza Q

[Mama Geek]

I had the setting changed for my diamond. The original had some broken prongs. The new setting was sturdier.

[susankenny]

Yes. My old band is saved, in case my daughter wants to have it one day. The diamond is in my new ring though. It's 3 stones now, instead of one. It was my 10 year anniversary gift. I love it.

 

 

Susan

 

 

ETA - my wedding band is the same, I just changed my engagement ring.

[fairytalemama]

I haven't, but my mom did. She kept the same stone (which originally was set in a plain band) and had it set into a thicker setting with lots of stones around it.

[Rhonda in TX]

I haven't. I even lost the diamond out of my engagement ring and honestly don't want a different one. I want THAT one. :( I loved that ring, and the fact that DH picked it out all on his own.

[LisaKinVA]

I've asked DH to do this for me for my birthday. I have two separate rings that don't quite fit together well. I would like them re-set (there are diamonds on both), so they are one ring (I liked the 2-ring style style where the wedding band wraps around the engagement ring when we got married, but the way the two rings are shaped, it makes the ring tight, and difficult to get off at night... well, unless I lose another 20 pounds ;-0

[susankenny]

I've asked DH to do this for me for my birthday. I have two separate rings that don't quite fit together well. I would like them re-set (there are diamonds on both), so they are one ring (I liked the 2-ring style style where the wedding band wraps around the engagement ring when we got married, but the way the two rings are shaped, it makes the ring tight, and difficult to get off at night... well, unless I lose another 20 pounds ;-0

 

 

My new ring is like this. I had the engagement ring soldered to my existing wedding band (which is two parts and fits on both side of the engagement ring). I love my new ring. Plus, I had the diamonds set as low as possible....my old ring had a high setting, and it often got caught on things.

 

 

Susan

[mysticamethyst]

I haven't worn a wedding ring for almost 10 yrs. 10 yrs ago my youngest was playin pirates and needed items for her treasure box--long story short my wedding set and gradmothers pearls were buried but she forgot to mark the spot with an "x". I can laugh about it now but at the time I promise it wasnt' funny at all. It didn't dawn on me to get a metal dector till after we had moved from that house.

I keep telling myself I will pick out a new set, but when I see the prices--I know I can spend that money better somewhere else.

[MamaT]

I did. My dh gave me a bigger one, set in platinum for our 20th wedding anniversary. My old one is gold and I had started buying/wearing white gold or silver jewelry. I gave my old one to my oldest ds to give to his now wife when they got engaged.

[snickelfritz]

I got a "wrap" to replace the plain gold wedding band for an anniversary. My original engagement diamond sits in the middle of the new circle of diamonds. This is a good way to go when you want to upsize, but keep the original.

[momofkhm]

No, I still have the original rings. I even lost the diamond out of the engagement ring. Found it the same day though! DH had it re-set in the same ring.

 

The wedding bands belonged to his grandparents. His grandfather died in WWII so he never knew him. But his grandmother died only shorty after we got engaged and lived with him his whole life. By the engraving on the rings, we made it so I have his grandfather's ring and he has his grandmother's ring. Then we may do the German thing when one of us dies. You take the ring from the deceased and weld it (?) to the other one. The living spouse wears both. That's how we have both of them now.

[Mom2J112903]

I got a "wrap" to replace the plain gold wedding band for an anniversary. My original engagement diamond sits in the middle of the new circle of diamonds. This is a good way to go when you want to upsize, but keep the original.

 

This is what I would like to do. My entire set cost my DH less than $500, and he has not liked it from the day he bought it. I picked it out, had no idea he was even thinking about a proposal. I am a very simple person when it comes to jewlery but he thinks my diamond is too small. I look at it as *my* diamond, my one and only diamond I have ever owned (I don't even have a pair of diamond earings) and remeber what it was like when we first were married. The band has diamonds set in it but the total weight of the set is like 1/4 karat.

 

He said my family ring will cost more than my bridal set!

[rwjx2khsmj]

The diamond is in my new ring though. It's 3 stones now, instead of one. It was my 10 year anniversary gift. I love it.

 

 

Susan

 

 

ETA - my wedding band is the same, I just changed my engagement ring.

 

This is what we did too. The jeweler matched my original diamond then put a larger diamond between the original and it's match. I love that my new ring incorporates the old one.

[delaney]

I guess I am the oddball. Yes, twice. I had a small pear shaped 1/4 ct, then got a 3/4 round, now I have a 1 1/4 square cut but this one is set in white gold with channel set diamonds and the band matches. There is a story behind how I got that gorgeous set.....but let's just say my sister got rid of a stupid fiance and earned some serious cash from my DH:D

[NanceXToo]

I haven't. I also hardly ever wear my rings. I never really liked wearing jewelry, it makes my hands feel claustrophobic or something lol. When we are dressing up or going somewhere nice or some such I try to remember to put them on but I hardly ever wear them.

[HollyDay]

Yes. Dh lost his snorkeling about 3 years into the marriage. We replaced/upgraded both of ours. I still have mine in my jewelry box in case one of the dc want it.

 

I did not replace my engagement ring. But, I did get an anniversary ring with the same stone for our 15th anniversary. I still wear my engagement ring periodically, but I also wear the anniversary ring.

[JVA]

Funny you should ask!

 

We're picking up my new rings today. My center diamond was re-set in a whole new ring. Upgraded in style and size. Can't wait to see the finished product :) My dh has been secretly saving $ for a year and this was for my birthday! We've been married for 32 years and the original ring was an antique even when we bought it. Time for a new one.

[BikeBookBread]

Nope. Even though my tastes have changed a bit (we both agree that we would now just go with plain thick platinum bands, probably without a stone even for me), I don't think I could do it.

 

I had a conversation with an older gentleman years ago that really, really stuck with me. He and his wife had been very poor when they were married, and he had given her a little chip of a diamond.

 

Upon the occasion of their 25th anniversary, when they were very, very well off, he gave her a beautiful diamond necklace -- a big fat stone. She secretly had it re-set into a new ring. It had hurt him so much. I'm sure the secrecy was a part of the hurt, too, but... well, it just really made an impression on me.

 

My engagement ring represents where we were when we were engaged, and the promise of things to come. DH worked very, very hard doing odd jobs to pay for it, and I'm sure if we were engaged now, things would be different, but now isn't then. I think you know what I mean!

[fairfarmhand]

ummm actually, I've downgraded my wedding ring to an engraved gold band. When we got married we didn't have a farm. Now that we do, I've found it is really hard on diamonds. I was too scared that my $5000 diamond would end up in a cow pie, so I asked my dh for something simpler.

 

So my ring and wrap sit in my jewel box and I wear them to church on Sundays.

[FeFe]

No but I have a couple of prongs with tiny cracks so I don't wear it right now. The jeweler explained that to fix that just about the whole thing will have to be redone so if I am thinking about having anything different this is the time to do it.

 

I'm pretty sentimental about it so I'm not sure what I'll do. Part of me wants to keep it the exact same but I know when they fix it everything but the diamond will be new. The other part of me would like something a little different.

 

Then there's the OTHER part of me that would like my hubby to go ahead and buy that 3-carat three stone anniversary ring I've been wanting and I can just keep my wedding ring as is and put it somewhere for safe keeping :) Maybe when we win the lottery that we don't play!

[GVD22]

Yes, I'm on my 4th ring and I think this is it.:tongue_smilie: With 1-2 I traded them in for the next ring since it was the same jewelry store. I still have #3 because #4 came from a different jewelry store. I now prefer white gold or platinum so I don't know what I'll do with #3 which is yellow gold.

[LarlaB]

Nope. Even though my tastes have changed a bit (we both agree that we would now just go with plain thick platinum bands, probably without a stone even for me), I don't think I could do it.

 

 

My engagement ring represents where we were when we were engaged, and the promise of things to come. DH worked very, very hard doing odd jobs to pay for it, and I'm sure if we were engaged now, things would be different, but now isn't then. I think you know what I mean!

 

Same here :) We were 19 yrs old when we got engaged, in Bible school and dirt poor. :) So, my set is dated (15 yrs old, yellow gold, marquis setting), and the center stone is a CZ. Though we've talked about replacing it, I've opted to keep it 'as is' because it reminds me of who we were when we committed to spend our lives together.

 

Maybe on our 20th, we'll both get new bands. But, I don't know....I'm oddly sentimental about them.

[amy g.]

I have a 1 ct emerald-cut solitaire and thin, plain band that I love.

 

Next year, for my 20th anniversary, I'm having a ring guard made with 2 emerald-cut emeralds and baguettes.

 

I'm going to look awful fancy milking my cow now.

[clementine]

I really love my ring :) My dh picked it out himself, it wasn't really 'my style' or what I would have picked, but that he put so much thought into it made me love it.

 

The only thing I'd like to change is to go from yellow gold to white gold, since I wear more silver than gold. It'll probably never happen though :tongue_smilie:

[Lorien]

If so, what did you do with your old ring or rings? Did you just put them away? Or have them made into something else? If so, what?

 

No, I haven't. However, the band on my MIL's original engagement ring wore through, so she had her engagement ring replaced. She kept the old ring and when Dh proposed, my ILs asked if we would like to use the old diamond in my ring. We both thought that was a lovely idea, and my ring is very special to me because it's been (almost) handed down.

 

Dh replaced his band a couple of years ago, buying a smaller size ring that didn't slide off during the winter.

[nukeswife]

I haven't and don't plan too, because he got me exactly what I wanted.

 

I have actually had the diamond in my engagement ring 3 times, the first was in a Wal-mart parking lot, the 2nd was in a bowling alley and the third was at home, but every time I found it within 10 minutes and had it reset. The fact that I was able to find it always made me feel like it was the one I was meant to have.

[Veritaserum]

No. We've been married nearly 12 years. I think I might want to add an anniversary band at some point. I still like my little $400 engagement ring and $30 band. :) Dh lost his ring a few years ago and bought an upgraded replacement. It doesn't match mine at all, but it suits him.

[Mom in High Heels]

I have. The first time we bought a diamond wrap (.75c) to go around my original engagement ring (.5c), then James Bond bought me a small diamond band to go with it (.5c). For our 10th anniversary he bought me a huge diamond ring (2.5c) to replace my engagement ring and wrap. At 13 years he replaced the diamond band with a larger (and nicer diamond band-1c). I still have the original rings in case Indy (or the new baby) wants them when they get older.

[cin]

I had chipped the diamon in my engagement ring, while we were engaged in a biking accident. I ran my body down a cement wall. :001_huh: I wore it like that for a long time, as you really couldn't see the chip. It bothered DH more than me. Then, after about 5 yrs we went through a simplicity stage and had matching claudaugh bands. (I know I spelled that wrong, but after 4 times and none of them looked right, I gave up!).

 

THEN, about 10 years later, we had a low spot in our marriage. As a recommitment, we both got new wedding rings/bands. Mine is a half carat (well, .48, I think) solitare with a jacket and some little diamonds in the jacket.

 

My original diamond is set in a necklace. It's very simple and I do wear it alot. The jeweler kept saying, but it's chipped. I told him it's the thought that counts. I am NOT buying another diamond. Do this or I will find somebody who will. :tongue_smilie: I think he was single, for starters, and then just that whole male brain thing.

[mcconnellboys]

My diamond is chipped around the edges and I'd rather have platinum now than gold, so at some point I'm going to have mine made into a nuggest pendant with the diamond inset so the chipped edges won't show and switch to a platinum set....

[i.love.lucy]

I did. When we got engaged we were college students and dh had no job. Not sure what we were thinking. Anyways I got a ring that my aunt helped me get that was a CZ. DH always felt bad about it. Then we upgraded at year 10 to a nicer type of CZ, called Moissanite, that is almost impossible even for jewelers to tell. It's really lovely. But still a gold band and all. Anyways a few years ago I inherited my great-aunt Louise's set. It's a flawless stone, emerald cut, with small stones around it. I believe it was made around 1915. Platinum of course. I absolutely love it, and dh does too. That's what I wear now and he's fine with it. We are both really sentimental about inherited things and so long as I am wearing a ring, he didn't care that it wasn't one he gave me originally. He always said that if he had an old family ring to pass down, he would have. Our hope is that by the time dd is old enough to get married we can give her fiance my MILs ring to give to her.

[Paintedlady]

DH surprised me for our 9 yr anniversary with an updated set, which he knew I wanted. We basically traded in the old engagement ring and I kept the band. I had picked out the first set and he picked these on his own, so the new set actually means more to me than the original. I've had the new set for about 8 years with no desire for another. This one's a keeper.

[mom4him]

We did about, umm, 23 yrs ago for our 20th. We had my diamond set in a Black Hills Gold ring with birthstones of our children set in also. We later had my wedding band removed from the original set and attached to the BHG set.

 

I love it as my diamond is set down thus not sticking up for the setting to ware off. That was always happening with my original set. I would have to have it reset every 3 yrs or so and that got expensive. Besides I really really like BHG.

[Night Elf]

If so, what did you do with your old ring or rings? Did you just put them away? Or have them made into something else? If so, what?

 

Yes. I traded in my diamond for a larger diamond and bought a platinum setting. I put my old white gold setting away. Later, I put the diamond back into the original setting and have been wearing that. Now I'm about to put the diamond back into the platinum set. So yes, I just save the setting because obviously I want to use it again. :)

 

I saved my rings from my first marriage. I gave them to my dd18 but she asked me to hold onto them. She doesn't know what she's going to do with them yet. They don't mean a thing to me other than something I can hand down to her.

 

When my mom divorced my dad, she took the diamonds from her wedding ring set and had them set into a necklace.

[Swirl]

Yes. My old band is saved, in case my daughter wants to have it one day. The diamond is in my new ring though. It's 3 stones now, instead of one. It was my 10 year anniversary gift. I love it.

 

 

Susan

 

 

ETA - my wedding band is the same, I just changed my engagement ring.

 

I had strongly considered putting my old diamond into my new ring as a sidestone too. My new one is a three stone, but I wanted pears for sides and my old diamond is round.

[PinkInTheBlue]

We bought my rings in 2006. The ring I had before was my mother's ring from when she and my daddy got engaged and married. They divorced in 1998 and I always felt a little weird knowing the diamond came from an unsuccessful marriage. You know? Is that too weird? It's not like I felt the rings had any jinx on them but I was just aware.

 

We were SO broke when we got married that it was impossible to buy any rings at all. In 2006 we were a few months from having our 3rd boy and in a much, much better financial position. It was the first time I had ever been able to look at rings together and choose a diamond. We picked out what we liked together and he chose when to buy it and surprise me with it. My ring means very, very much to me because it means so much to us; completing our family, finally reaching a financial stability after much work, etc. I can't imagine ever replacing this ring. Fortunately it's my "dream ring" anyway. :)

[Dinsfamily]

Mine's in the shop getting repaired right now. I'd lost another baguette and it was determined that there is some damage that is causing the baguettes to fall out. They aren't resetting it but they do have to fix and replace some stuff. I'm hoping it comes out looking the same. It's platinum so not as easy to repair as gold.

 

At first, they thought my center diamond was chipped and would need to be replaced which was tough for me. Thankfully, it was just a prong out of place and the diamond is fine. Whew.

 

I don't plan of ever upgrading. I'm wearing my 10 yr anniversary band in place of my engagement/wedding rings right now and would love a birthstone band some day. I don't wear much jewelry but am sentimental about what I have.

[katemary63]

My DH bought me a new set of rings for our 20th. My first diamond was tiny. We bought it at a place that allows trade ins/ ups. I said no way. I would never part with my first set for anything. He just bought me a new set (platinum, big ol' diamond) and I've got the first set in my jewelry box. LOVE the new set. LOVE the old set even more. :001_smile:

[Swirl]

I really love my ring :) My dh picked it out himself, it wasn't really 'my style' or what I would have picked, but that he put so much thought into it made me love it.

 

The only thing I'd like to change is to go from yellow gold to white gold, since I wear more silver than gold. It'll probably never happen though :tongue_smilie:

 

This is another reason that we decided to go with a whole new set. I only wear white gold, platinum, or silver now. BUT, I found out that there is really no such thing a white gold. Gold is not white, it is still gold colored. They take gold and add some other metals to it. (This tones down the gold color some.) Then they plate it with rhodium to give it that shiny chrome like appearance. Except for a few pieces you will find here and there, most white gold has been rhodium plated. This is done to 10K, 14K, and 18K white gold routinely. I had no idea about this before my three month ring buying adventure. Google rhodium it is very interesting- I had no idea.

 

Anyway, now to my point. A lot of people take their gold rings to a good bench jeweler and have them polish out the scratches and rhodium dip them. $35 dollars at our local jeweler. It is not quite as white as the white gold you see at the stores, and it may have to be dipped a little more often.

 

Google it for more information. I was just shocked. Had no idea.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Swirl

[Swirl]

My ring means very, very much to me because it means so much to us; completing our family, finally reaching a financial stability after much work, etc. :)

 

I feel the same way. It meant so much for me that my husband of 20 years wanted to buy me my dream ring. It was all his idea. I would have been fine with a plain gold band. My son on on the other hand was less than trilled. He'd been lobbying for a new bass boat for a year. Poor child, I'm wearing his bass boat. :angry:

[Faithseed]

I have been hinting for an upgraded ring or an anniversary ring for 4 years now (married 14 years). Husband says he'll never buy another diamond because of the child labor stuff...so I think I'm stuck.

 

I guess I'm a snot...Yes, I feel terrible about the children, but I'd like my diamonds too! I suggested a used ring, (antique maybe), but no go.

 

I've started hinting about other stones now. :tongue_smilie:Or pearls, maybe? Obviously I'm more into jewelry than he is!

[Swirl]

My old diamand is around .25 I think. A necklace would be my first choice. Do you think that is too small for a single pendant? Would it look weird?

[HRAAB]

No. I love my ring; it's very special and could never be replaced in my heart. I remember the night we picked it out. It's not large or fancy, but it is perfect. I do have a beautiful full carat diamond from my mom that I wear (haven't for awhile because it needs repaired), but my wedding ring is just fine.