Wedding band/engagement ring

[Danini]

DH and I married with short notice, not the conventional one year in advance type of wedding. He's not the romantic type in regards to gifts but shows love in other ways, and I'm the same. We were never engaged, so there was no engagement ring. I wore the wedding band until my eczema came back, but now that it's improved I'm starting to think it would be nice to wear something a bit fancier than just a plain wedding band. The problem is neither of us like to splash money on it. Personally I'd be fine with something that looks expensive but isn't but I'm worried others will tell. We're considering the CZ rather than a real stone. Will people around me be able to tell the difference?

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! 🙂

QVC Diamonique
They have silver / platinum plated silver/rhodium plated silver/ gpld plated on silver/ gold (more ££ obvs)

If you go for the smaller stones they're nicer .
DD and I wear these and we're not careful with them (I cannot wear at work though )

That ring looks beautiful!

You don't want to pay for a flashy ring, so want a ring that is cheap, but doesn't look cheap, because you'll worry that people will think its cheap. Okaaaaay.
Dower & Hall do nice affordable rings.
www.dowerandhall.com/collections/rings

Swelling caused by arthritis made it difficult sometimes for me to wear my engagement/wedding rings, in fact I had to have my original wedding ring cut off by a jeweller because it became so tight my finger turned blue. So I had that safely removed (the ring not the finger 😆) and eventually bought a new one. Unfortunately the same thing happened - one very hot day my hands swelled like balloons and though I eventually managed to get the engagement ring off, I could not get the wedding ring to budge. My neighbour's husband was able to help me by using metal cutters to free the ring (he felt awful cutting it off). I personally wouldn't have replaced my original wedding ring because I knew the arthritis was likely only going to get worse over time, but my DH wanted to replace it for me. It was gold and just a plain band, as was the original, but that meant I'd had two wedding rings and had to have both of them cut. I told my husband I wasn't willing to get another as it was my finger/hand that swelled and me who struggled with the pain of that. He accepted the truth of it and for years I didn't bother. Anyway, DH wanted to buy me a new set for our 25th anniversary so I looked around and found these online and bought the white gold versions, with the wedding band the next size up to allow for swelling. I'm frequently asked where I got them and when I say 'Amazon' people don't believe me. But that's where I got them, and haven't had any problems whatsoever.

The company offers good selection of styles and stones in white/yellow gold and sterling silver. I sent for and tried several styles before finally opting for the ones I chose, and all were great quality and properly hallmarked. I liked the fact that they offered the bigger sizes, too, as people whose hands swell like mine do struggle to find rings that fit comfortably. I found the company very easy to deal with.

My engagement ring and my wedding band - both white gold. My rings but in the sterling silver option (engagement and wedding) - much cheaper in price but not in look - you can see there's really no difference!

I hope you can find something you really like as engagement/wedding rings are important and mean a lot, but as other posters have said and my own experience has shown, you don't have to spend a fortune to get them. Good luck!

Another vote for moissanite- looks like diamond (in fact more sparkly) and almost as hard for a fraction of the price - I’ve had my moissanite engagement ring for over 2 years and it still looks brand new and I love it.

Have a look at TruDiamonds

trudiamonds.com/collections/eternity-ring/products/2-2-ct-t-w-eternity-ring_2056?variant=40084371013806

Agree that a £17 ring is unlikely to withstand the knocks and bumps that sometimes happen when you wear a ring 24/7. If you don’t want to spend a lot I would look at second hand rings or lab grown diamonds that are designed to be worn full time.

I wouldn’t worry what others think. But if you’re going to wear it always; it might be worth investing in something good quality. I have an engagement ring with a lab grown diamond, much cheaper and looks the same. From The Diamond Store website

One thing to consider: if you've got excema, you need a ring you can keep clean otherwise it might irritate your skin, and it's likely to get full of hand cream. Unfortunately, a really cheap ring won't survive cleaning because the stones will be glued in. I've got a cheap silver CZ and sapphire ring that has them set rather than glued and cost about £40. A jeweller will have more choice of such things than Monsoon.

Wow GreenYrees00 they look fantastic.

I had an Accessorize engagement ring while waiting for my real one to be made. Lots of people thought it was real (it looked like a yellow gold solitaire - very traditional) until it started turning my finger green!

Echoing many others, get the ring you love and don't worry what others think, but something like that won't last very long. You can get gorgeous rings secondhand.

If you're wearing it all the time a super cheap one might not hold up, but you don't have to spend a huge amount for a nice ring. I get compliments all the time on my moissanite one, it's gorgeous and cheaper than diamonds

How about moissanite in a silver setting? Moissanite is almost as hard and durable as diamond and is ethically far sounder being lab-created. Imo it's prettier too - much shinier and sparkler! Have a look at TJC for ideas, their moissanite is lovely.

Trilogy

Subtle solitaire

Eternity

They have loads more though!

No-one would ever think that was expensive. I was going to say "Sorry!" but I can’t work out whether you think that’s good or bad!

I don’t like that ring myself but it’s your taste that matters, not mine.

Have a look at the Diamonique range on QVC. Rings from about £20 upwards, hugely pretty and indistinguishable from the real thing, especially the 100 facet clear stones. I bought a lot for my pretendy jewellery box and frankly my real stuff doesn’t see the light of day any more!

Oops…it’s qvcuk.com if you want to have a look see

Engagement rings come in all styles and price points but as well as you loving how it looks m, it is important that it is comfortable, practical and has longevity. I would strongly advise against cubic zirconia! Some people may not notice the difference when the ring is new (I would notice but I have more experience than most). But, when you’ve been wearing it for a while (6 months, a year, sometime depending on how hard you wear your jewellery) it’s going to be very obvious it’s not diamond- it is no where near as hard and will get lots of small surface abrasions given it a worn out, dull look. Engagement rings don’t need to be diamond but I imagine you would like it to still look nice in the future. Diamond (lab or natural), moissanite or Sapphire/Ruby are best for daily wear due to their hardness.
Lab diamond wholesale prices have come right down over the last year so don’t get caught out on price if you choose this. They are cheaper than moissanite now at wholesale so seems like a better option. Some retailers are making a killing on lab as they have kept retail prices the same even though the wholesale is so much lower-shop around and choose to shop small business if you can - often the service is much better than chains or online vendors. A reputable independent that offers a bespoke service may be able to give you a great custom design service at lab diamond prices.

I have several ring I don’t like, so bought CZ ones that I do. Some lat, and some don’t, so you can choose all over again.
My latest ones from somone at TK Maxx have lasted a long time

Several rings, and some last and some don’t

Silver and gold are about the same hardness, depending on what alloy they are, platinum is the only one that's harder. Sterling silver will absolutely last a very long time if you look after it.

Try an Independent high jewellers that sells second hand rings. Fraction of the price and something that will last

Personally, given the symbolism of a ring that represents the permanence of your relationship, I'd look for something that will stand up to a lifetime of daily wear. That means real gemstones, even if they're small or not of the highest clarity grades.

The advice to look at vintage/antique jewellery is good. Good quality older rings will most probably be in yellow gold though, which is great but isn't everyone's preferred look.

If you prefer the appearance of a white metal (i.e., silver-coloured), I'd personally look for a ring in a solid material. Finishes like the rhodium plating on a lot of white gold will wear off and need re-doing, leaving you without a ring to wear while you get that sorted. Personally I'd also avoid silver, which tarnishes and would need regular polishing.

My wife's ring is platinum, mine is palladium which gives a similar look to platinum, just as hard wearing, but cheaper - important for mine as my fingers are so much bigger and the cost of platinum was higher. There are also titanium alloy rings, which I don't personally have experience of but might be worth looking into.

In the past palladium was much cheaper, but now I'm pretty sure it isn't, now. It is more suitable for wedding bands rather than gem-set rings because its quite hard to work with.

Platinum (and palladium) is less allergenic than gold because it is a purer metal (95% pure platinum) compared to 18ct gold (75% gold) or 9ct (37.5% gold)

I would proceed with caution on getting an antique ring, to be worn every day. Ive worked for some shops that sell antiques and in the small print the guarantee is for 3 months. The settings securing the stones will (potentially) have had a lot of wear over time.

QVC doe some nice diamonique. Not cheap but not bank busting.