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Original poster

Eternity rings

51 replies

PeanutButterLovey · 16/01/2019 19:39

I love the idea of getting an eternity ring at some point but know the tradition is to get it after the birth of your first child well we aren't having anymore children. I have DS7 already and my DH doesn't want babies. So was wondering at what other occasions did u receive eternity rings

OP posts:
itsbritbeybiatches · 17/01/2019 09:07

I got one as a surprise the Christmas after we got engaged.

We get married soon.

We've done it all in the wrong order lol.

SarahAndQuack · 17/01/2019 09:10

I only ever hear of this 'tradition' on MN. I don't think it's a real thing - just a marketing ploy some people fall for. In the same way your engagement ring doesn't 'have' to be diamonds (but de Beers made a clever marketing campaign to push them).

Do what you like!

Gotstuckwiththisname · 17/01/2019 09:53

I've not got one yet. We had our first child before we'd been married a year and we both felt that a year wasn't long enough to get something so symbolic in any case.

10 years later, I do want one, but we want more work doing to the house first, so I'd rather spend the money on that!

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Clothing
caperplips · 17/01/2019 10:04

I don't have one but I am getting increasingly interested in them! We are 15 years married, 1 dc.

Think I may get one this year! I would like a full band of decent sized diamonds - better let dh know so he can start saving Wink

kalefire · 17/01/2019 11:36

@Mulberryandthyme And I bought myself a bigger one when I went to the dentist

Eh? Grin

UtterlyDesperate · 17/01/2019 12:05

I've bought myself three: A diamond one celebrating a new job, a sapphire one for a different new job and a citrine one as I'd never seen one before (or since).

I'm very picky: it has to be 9ct as 18 gets too damaged on my hands, it has to be a full eternity AND it has to have claw settings. Surprisingly challenging, even with diamonds Grin

OP if you want one - buy one.

DontCallMeCharlotte · 17/01/2019 12:08

DH bought me a very pretty ring for a non-significant birthday. I lost a stone from it and it was eventually repaired as we were approaching our tenth anniversary so I said I would wear it as an eternity ring as it goes perfectly with my engagement and wedding rings and I didn't think he needed to buy one (no DC).

He has bought me another eternity-style ring which I wear on my right hand.

Tonightstheteriyakichicken · 17/01/2019 12:10

I got mine on a family holiday celebrating my 40th birthday, my DC1 was 10 by then so not connected with having a baby.

CinnamonToaster · 17/01/2019 12:11

Very prosaically, when we had the disposable income - once we'd bought a 4 bed house and both our cars were good for a few more years. I think it was tied to a birthday, but not a significant one.

I agree with PPs - these "traditions" are not ones my parents would recognise.

Florries · 17/01/2019 12:18

DH presented me with my eternity ring after DS was born. It was a beautiful moment and a beautiful ring.

However my fingers are still far too fat for my engagement, wedding or eternity ring to fit yet. Even 8 months postpartum...

RiverTam · 17/01/2019 12:22

I got mine for our 5th wedding anniversary, which is after DD was born.

I had no idea there was any tradition attached to them.

I wear mine most days instead of my wedding ring (because I prefer the look of it, not for any other reason).

SgtFredColon · 17/01/2019 12:30

Cinnamon my mam had an eternity ring - bought for their first anniversary so 1966?

SgtFredColon · 17/01/2019 12:31

Sarah Debeers invented the eternity ring too!

SgtFredColon · 17/01/2019 12:32

The diamond one I mean

Buddyelf · 17/01/2019 12:43

I was given one for our 5th wedding anniversary but I don't wear it. I'm not sure DH put much thought into it if I'm honest. Its really wide and I have really stubby fingers so I can't wear it with my other wedding rings, its not really my taste and the band is quite sharp so is uncomfortable to wear. I must say I was a tad disappointed. (I am fully aware of how ungrateful I sound right now by the way)

TulipsInbloom1 · 17/01/2019 12:47

I don't have one as I don't understand what they are for. Not in a snippy way just genuinely don't know what they are meant to represent that isn't covered by the wedding ring.

CinnamonToaster · 17/01/2019 13:00

SgtFed that's kind of my point. The tradition OP mentions is it's given on birth of first child. Your mum didn't get hers then did she? Neither did mine, she got hers for her 25th wedding anniversary. I thought 5 or 10 years of marriage was usual. It's a nice thing to be given, but it's not a well defined tradition like wedding rings.

SgtFredColon · 17/01/2019 13:03

Oh I see Cinnamon I thought you meant that your parents wouldn’t have heard of the tradition of eternity rings at all! Yes I always thought it was on anniversaries rather than to do with children but people my age have gotten them when they had children.

Bluesheep8 · 17/01/2019 13:13

I got mine for my 30th birthday. We've been together 23 yrs this year but never married. If we do decide to marry, I will have that same ring as my wedding band.

recently · 17/01/2019 13:17

I got one after having children but it was prompted by needing repair work on my engagement ring - the solution was to have it made into an eternity ring, thrifty!

CinnamonToaster · 17/01/2019 13:25

I'm not so sure they would have done really. The fact that your mum had one doesn't make it obvious that it was a popularly known and understood tradition. If it had been, I think we've have a clearer agreed tradition by now (and my mum wouldn't have had to wait until the 90s for hers).

We all know when Christmas is, when advent calendars start, that we buy chocolate eggs for Easter. When a tradition is really a tradition, there is much more consensus on it than there is on eternity rings IMO.

And Tulipsinbloom1 that's a fair challenge for those of us who are married.

Cutesbabasmummy · 17/01/2019 13:40

My DH bought me one for my 40th birthday. We went to the jewellery quarter in Birmingham and chose it together.I had had DS in the January and had turned 40 in the November. I absolutely love it and we're not having any more children so the timing seemed good.

Mulberryandthyme · 17/01/2019 14:49

@kalefire - it's all quite logical ... I had a particularly gruelling dental appointment, and there was a lovely jewellery shop that I had to walk past on the way back to the car.. Smile

KurriKurri · 17/01/2019 15:23

My H bought me one for our 25th wedding anniversary. Sadly just before our 30th he ran off with someone he found on the internet. Seems he thought 'eternity' meant four years. Hey ho.

But get one if you want one - I enjoyed mine while I wore it.

ememem84 · 17/01/2019 16:33

I wear mine on my right hand though. Because my wedding and engagement rings dh bought for me. I wanted something that would balance things.

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