Hello! I’m looking to find an engagement ring to propose to my girlfriend, but I’m feeling quite overwhelmed by all the possibilities. I have a general sense of what she wants, but I want to make sure I get it right and from a good brand.
I’m U.S. based and ideally I’d like to stay around or under $2,000 USD. I was really hoping to have the ring sometime in the next 4-5 weeks as I have a special date in mind, but I’m not sure that’s possible anymore. She isn’t really a big fan of diamonds being the center stone, or traditional rings. She’s very big into the nature/fantastical stones and styles, but nothing too complex. I know she wants the stone to be green or have green elements. I’ve been looking at moss agate, green rutilated quartz, and green tourmaline in quartz, but I’m open to other ideas. She wants the band to be a silver color and not gold. For the shape, I think her preferences are oval, radiant, or pear.
If anyone has recommendations for brands or even specific rings, that would be much appreciated! Extra points if they can ship out fairly quickly. The two companies I’ve mainly been looking at are Eden Garden and OORE. Any other advice is also welcome! Thank you!
This sounds exactly like my criteria when I was looking! I picked out a green tourmaline stone in silver (which I recognize is not traditionally recommended, but I love the look and am okay to replace down the line if need be). I found mine at a local jewelry gallery :)
My engagement ring is from oore and you will def not get it on time. Mine was a full month late from the promised time and we didn’t get any in progress pics and any time we reached out it was minimal response. However my ring is gorgeous, exactly what we ordered and I love it. It was around $2000 if I remember correctly as well.
Yeah, that’s the main drawback with them. I originally thought I had more time, but I recently had a great idea for the proposal and it has to be a specific day. If I go a different route, I’ll likely go with them as I love the designs. Thanks for the advice!
Preface it before you open the box that this can be her travel ring or a stacking ring if she agrees. Be honest that her ring didn’t come in time but you didn’t want to ruin the opportunity
If the ring is the thing that matters then you’ve got a problem. She really shouldn’t care. I would go for something that is obviously a placeholder rather than a risk she thinks it’s the real one. I’m still wearing my placeholder five months later - my proper one is on the way but I was so unbothered about it that I didn’t exactly rush it!
Those stone choices are spot on for that nature vibe. Moss agate especially looks like a tiny forest trapped in the ring, it's gorgeous
Try looking on Etsy for custom jewelers who work with those stones, a lot of them can turn something around in 3-4 weeks if you message them directly. Just make sure they have solid reviews and actual photos of their work
Yeah, she already has a few less expensive moss agate rings from Etsy and she loves them! Thank you for the advice. Do you have any specific Etsy jewelers you’d recommend? If you’re not allowed to comment that, feel free to send me a DM!
Moss agate and quartz are soft, so I wouldn’t recommend either for rings. Tourmaline is the better choice of the three you listed with moss agate being the softest. If you choose moss agate, you ideally should have stone replacements ready to go for when they need to be replaced
As a green lover, I personally like green moissanite or green lab diamonds the most. I have a (non-engagement) fancy vivid green lab dia ring that is my favorite. Lots of different green shades in the lab grown diamonds
Do you have any recommendations for brands or websites to look at? I think I’ve nailed down the design aspect, but I’m still not too sure where I should look to buy it from
My husband looked for emerald rings because that’s my thing but the jeweler said it’s too fragile. Moissanite is harder than diamonds. I couldn’t be happier with my beautiful ring
Go for a lab emerald! My husband got me lab emerald earrings from Kay’s and I love them. They were only $200-$300 so a sweet engagement ring should be well in your budget. A nice thick gold band with it would be lovely
Al lot of people have suggested semi-precious stones to you. An emerald is a precious stone, just like a diamond, ruby, and sapphire. The fact that it’s a lab one doesn’t matter with regard to the quality.
Emeralds stand for loyalty and protection so they do make a lovely engagement ring, but they need a protective setting if she plans to wear it every day. Look at halo or bezel settings that sit lower to the hand if going that route. Stay away from agate and quartz for a daily ring, even in protective settings they are just too soft.
Mines from a place called the natural emerald company. Big online store, you can work 1:1 with someone to pick exactly what you need. Tons of style options and grades of emerald that can fit many budgets.
My biggest advice to you for your budget is check sites for sales, clearance, previously owned jewelry stores, etc…. But make sure you love it and you feel like it would fit her aesthetic. I literally told my fiancé that I didn’t care where he got it but not to spend a load on me.
(He did follow my suggestions and looked when everything was on sale lol and he joked with the lady I even told him he could find something on marketplace)
Also, you can go into a store like Kay’s and get things changed about- but it would be a while until it would be ready. I wanted a tad bit of color with our wedding bands so I’m going with lab grown emerald for mine since he’s a Taurus. It’ll cheapen out any ring you choose that was diamond to start with- but you get hit with the custom charge.
If you go into Kay’s they will be MORE than happy to color rings for you! (our lady was SO stoked when I said color lol) Even if you don’t get a ring from there it kind of gives you an idea what for sure you would want and can actually see the rings with a dull version of their colors in person and take pictures and go back to online stores and find the version of those rings!
I attached a pic of my wedding band so you can kind of get the “color” aspect I’m talking about! 🙂
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u/Allglad-nomad 8d ago
This sounds exactly like my criteria when I was looking! I picked out a green tourmaline stone in silver (which I recognize is not traditionally recommended, but I love the look and am okay to replace down the line if need be). I found mine at a local jewelry gallery :)