So what does a nice diamond ring actually look like?

[larkstar]

I was thinking of buying my wife a ring buy she is difficult to buy for - she doesn't wear much jewellery - a silver cross and a platinum wedding ring but she did used to wear her grandmothers engagement ring - I really can't remember what it looked like - she lost it a long time ago and was upset about it so I always wanted to buy her something special to replace it with - I could ask her about it but I'd probably be giving the game away. I really wouldn't trust my own judgement but it would have to be something quite special - something with class. Can you make some suggestions - I'll need some pictures.

Does she have any family members or are there old photos of the ring?

What's the budget?

https://instagram.com/londondiamondsofficial?utmmedium=copyy_link

Most things here! I'm their biggest fan . They make to suit all budgets

What a lovely and thoughtful gift!

I would suggest giving her a card telling her what the gift is, but perhaps letting her choose or design it herself?

Or you could consider buying a loose diamond - try Hatton Gardens or Blue Nile - and giving it to her and then paying for her to have a jeweller make it into a ring in a style she likes?

@MintyCedric - I only have a couple of snaps of "Grom" from the 80's - can't see a thing sadly.

My wife never told her mum about losing it! She took it off, put it in her lap for moment to put some handcream on while sitting in the car - then got out of the car and it must have fallen out of her lap and on to the car park.

We have a birthday and wedding anniversary coming up in November - having looked at single simple solitaire rings I was thinking something around £2-4K - too expensive and she probably won't want to wear it and she doesn't like anything that draws attention so a "big rock" ala-Liz Taylor is definitely not her style. It's got to be practical - she wore her grandmother ring quite happily - I can't really remember it at all - it must have been lost in the mid-late 90's. She is far too practical to think about spending money on herself - I'm sure she'd think of something really mundane instead - I don't buy her jewellery because she doesn't wear much but I think I know she'd wear a simple diamond as we never went through the engagement phase - we decided to get married after 5 years of living together in a house we'd bought together after being together for 18-19 years - proposal to marriage was 6 weeks!

@unim - I like that idea.

Maybe I should just be upfront and we can look together - she never gets surprises because she is so hard to buy for and maybe this is the one time where a surprise isn't the smartest way to go about it - I just think she'd rather spend the money on something else because that what she/we have always done - I have some inherited and saved money that could easily stand the spend - after all this time I just think - why not? I'll see if I can get her on board with it.

That's a shame.

From the timeline though I'm guessing grandma's ring might have been about 1920s so that's something to work from.

How about something like this...simple, art deco and with a bit of an eternity ring vibe that would work well as an anniversary gift.

I like the idea of buying a diamond as a surprise and then going together to a jeweller to design something bespoke. Lots of jewellers do this now. The design process can be part of the fun.

It depends what you want — most women in my family have trilogies as an engagement ring, so three diamonds across. You don't have that "single massive rock" look.

I think it might be worth asking her what she wants, but if you were going to buy one as a surprise I'd probably think about a half eternity. More practical than a full eternity ring with diamonds all around (they're terrible for scratching things), and because you have multiple small diamonds they sit flatter. I don't know whether you'd consider it "special" though, it's probably more of a "safe bet".

The problem with buying the diamond is that restricts her to an engagement style ring, when she may prefer an eternity style with lots of smaller diamonds. For something so personal that you hope she will wear all the time, I think she needs to be totally involved in the choice. But I’m sure you can talk to a good jewellers in advance and then arrange to say take her out to lunch and then call in for the appointment- that would still be a surprise.

My engagement ring and wedding band was custom made by Justin Duance: https://instagram.com/justinduancejewellery?utmmedium=copyy_link

They do a really wide variety of designs, from simple to quirky, and can supply stones, or make using a stone you have bought separately. They cast in sand which can which adds interest. Rings suit a variety of budgets.

@larkstar do you have family that could ask her about her grandmother's engagement ring on the qt and report back to you? I do this regularly for my stepdad when it comes to gift buying for my mum.

My engagement ring has channel-set diamonds (one larger, two small either side and teeny ones next to them). We chose that design because I wanted to be able to wear it as a medical student without it catching or always having to be taken off under gloves. It's lasted well and nowadays doesn't get taken off at all (not in a clinical job).

Good luck finding something lovely.

This is similar to my engagement ring which I love it has no claws just a rub over setting so it never catches on anything.

gardinerbrothers.co.uk/products/diamond-cluster-ring

@aftonwater

I like the idea of buying a diamond as a surprise and then going together to a jeweller to design something bespoke. Lots of jewellers do this now. The design process can be part of the fun.

This is perfect