Diamond and ? rings. What would you want? Help me choose?

[mrscumberbatch]

I need to replace a ring, I have a sapphire and diamond target ring that is now too fragile to wear. Short of replacing absolutely everything about it, it's unavoidable.

So I'm going to hide it in a drawer and look at it wistfully. But it means I need a new ring.

I like having diamonds to add a bit of sparkle but like having another stone in there as well. I'm into antique settings and uber modern contemporary out there typey things too.

What would you have/choose?

it's important to me that my jewellery is ethical so I'd get one from here:
www.ingleandrhode.co.uk/art-deco-sapphire-diamond-ring?filters=sapphire,,,,

I think that ruby and diamond stonker is the one.

I wonder how much it is? we should start a lotto, pay a fiver, guess the price!

gatheringlilac- that was absolutely my thought. It's previous owner must have been a helluva broad

Mini- Father and Mother both jewellers. Met working in the same shop and then went into business themselves. Its sort of romantic as they kept having to melt down their wedding bands to make bands for customers as things were so tight!

I think that jewellery is more tangible than a pension Mini so you're probably doing the right thing. I have no doubts that the value can only increase.

I could get the ruby/diamond ring made. Money-wise, I wish I could afford a white sapphire (that would be truly lovely!) but I think I'm going to have to compromise on the stone. Going to put the feelers out for some marquise cuts in as many stones as I can lay my hands on (diamonds/rubys/blue sapphire most likely.) and maybe switch about the main stone and replace the rubies with diamonds if necessary. Would be more contemporary probably but still good fun to look at!

AKissIsNotaContract- I understand the need for ethical jewellery but I tend to mostly buy vintage jewellery or stones. I consider it be be ethical in it's own way as it's making use of old materials rather than purchasing new.

Mini- I'm not even sure that I can accurately price that one! I'm not sure why no guide price is given. Maybe it has decent provenance? I think that I could get a decent replica knocked up for about £3-4k.

Your parents sound great.

My grandmother had three or four (I can't remember exactly, may have been more) jewellers trays full of rings. My grandfather had been a very naughty boy when they first married, so my grandmother made a deal with him, he could move back in to the house if he bought her a ring of her choice every birthday, she lived to be 89!

I think your idea sounds great, I have always liked the harlequin look with several different stones, very unusual and fun.

Actually I'm going to be a bit cheeky, are you able to tell if a gem has been heat treated, are there certain things that distinguish them. I had a look on the net but the jargon was so technical my brain melted.

I have lots of jewellery experience - was 4+ years in the trade. Just a thought, but have you thought about having stones in original ring reset into a new ring by a working jeweller rather than paying through the nose for a new one? It would probably work out cheaper, you'd still have your stones and you would probably see a quicker return on your money.

The prices are shocking right now, particularly in platinum where the average price has pretty much doubled in the past 3 years. This is a trend that will continue. If you want to make good investments and see a return on your money, screw savings accounts buy sparkly things!

Oh dear, good for her, but grandfather must have been rueing the day that he ever stepped a foot out of line! Lol.

When it comes to heat treating gems, you can sometimes tell if you get in there with a microscope. The process happens naturally as well so it's nigh on impossible to differentiate whether it happened naturally or was forced.

Heat treating is acceptable in a gem. It doesn't affect the price or quality of the stone (apart from the fact that the treatment can sometimes improve the inclusions/colour of the stone itself!)

Hope that makes some sort of sense

Mini a professional usually can. There are only certain stones they heat treat as it doesn't alter the colour of them all - do you know what stone it is?

X-post with mrscumberbatch who is spot on

Bella, I love the original ring, and if I replace the setting and the shank it just won't be the same, I wouldn't feel the same way towards it. I'd rather keep it aside as one of my special 'favourite' rings and add another to my personal collection

Prices are grim indeed. I've seen a lot of businesses close, at one point my only income was out of scrap. Which is ridiculous! Lifted the carpets in the workshop and sent them to the scrappers to extract all of the filings/gold dust etc. Normally only get about £100-£200 out of it. Nuh huh, £1200. For gold dust. Literally.

Don't worry though, I never pay through the nose for jewellery always have an eye out for a bargain!

How about going for your hankering for opals? I have a lovely ring Dh bought me for DD's birth which has four opals interspaced with sappires in a flower pattern. I love it.

IKWYM mrsc it's crazy. The company I worked for had a lot of old gold stock that was broken or was a little old fashioned, they took it to the scrappies cause it made them more money than trying to sell it at a sale price.

I am currently in a similar predicament. Have been given lovely ring by MIL but is too small and has bloody awful thin hollowed out shank and channel set shoulders so no jeweller will touch it. But the stones are stunning and it seems such a shame to put it on a chain round my neck. Thinking of getting whole thing reset into an eternity ring to match my wedding ring but it's still £££££

My DP is a jeweller. I hope this isn't too cheeky but he has some beautiful rings. There are lots of old fashioned traditional ones () but also loads of lovely really modern ones he's designed. Worth a look anyway. Victoria James.

Freshletticia, I always have an eye out for nice Opals. The price is eye watering though!

Bella, there was a shop near us that (I'd guessed for a while) had gotten their market all wrong and couldn't shift their stock. They were scrapping new season stock to keep afloat. Utter lunacy.
That's such a pity about your MIL's ring. Can it be stretched rather than pieced? Or is it a fair few sizes you need put in?

You could always give it to a jewellery and say, "Puhlease can you try,I accept that it is a big ask and a huge pain in the arse but if you pull it off it'll make my day and if you don't then it just gives me more impetus to get it remodelled!"

If they can be absolutely sure that you're aware of all the risks then I'm sure they'll give it a go. At worst it all goes wrong and they have first dibs on giving you a quote for a remodel?

Thanks ItsMyLastOne, I'm in the trade so only buy wholesale!

I love all the chat about about jewellery being an investment - I am adding this to my "list of reasons why I need new bling"

I had to laugh, I glanced in the window of Ernest Jones earlier (considering a pair of diamond studs and was looking at the different sizes although would not buy there) and they had a huge display of Tolkowsky diamonds with big signs proclaiming how these were the finest diamonds, changing the industry bla bla bla - then on the smaller cards "clarity, I, Colour, I"

WTF? And the prices were bloody outrageous - 1/2ct white gold solitaire of that spec, £2500. Bargain..

Lol. DP is sick of hearing, "Honestly, it was a bargain and think about it? It's an investment piece!"

He can't complain though, it's paying the bills!

Ohhh diamond advertising drives me mental Statistically! I had a friend who kept commenting that it was a shame that a necklace I was gifted was Sapphire as if it were diamond it would have been so much more classy and expensive.

My eyes just about popped out of my head. She thought that all diamonds were dearer and 'better' than any coloured stone. Regardless of quality. Seems to be quite common though.

I used to do repairs for Ernest Jones (they would take them in and say that repairs were being done in house and then courier them over to me.) and their jewellery on the whole is ridiculous pricewise.
They do have alright deals on watches in their sales though.

Oh sorry MrsC I didn't read past your OP!

DP will be annoyed I read this because I've just seen a few things I want him to give me! I used to work in his shop but now just work in a back office and never look at the jewellery. I think it's saved him loads of money.... Until now!

at an I I "changing the industry"! I don't think I've ever seen anything like that, surely it'd be pretty yellow, sorry champagne!

Haha don't worry Itsmylastone. He does have some lovely bits on his website!

He can't be annoyed with you, in theory you're saving him money by buying jewellery from elsewhere because you have to stick to a price- if he was doing it inhouse theres always the temptation to upgrade the stones a bit

Also he should be greatful to you for being the backbone of his business. That's worth a few bob surely? Lol.

They still looked relatively white- well, under all their super duper lights. But then they were beside the "so dull we won't even publish their grading" studs - even my DH said "but they don't even sparkle"

Although the difference was mighty obvious when we looked at my engagement ring - it's not a massive rock but it has lots of sparkle!

I have a ruby and diamond eternity ring and have had a few funny comments about it not being all diamonds.

Your DH has some lovely stuff itsmylastone - and I did the same, recommending websites to a jeweler!

I can imagine the poor shop assistants face must have been crestfallen lol.

I find the diamond 'snobbery' thing really weird. It doesn't make any sense.
I am always sneaking a look at peoples rings on the train or in queues etc and the lack of coloured stones is depressing!
I don't think diamonds will ever decrease in popularity per se but I think there's going to be a HUGE revival for coloured stones.

It's actually great being recommended websites because I rarely look at jewellery online and if I do it's through a auctioneers. It's nice seeing what trends other jewellers have picked up on and it gives you a good idea of the market in their area.

I forgot that I made my profile private, it was public and stated that I'm an antiques dealer. I got an absolute pasting on aibu the other night (lol) and didn't want to give the horrors any more fuel to light their fire! (T'was regarding child discipline and I'm 27 and reasonably non-conformist looking. I could just see where it was going.......!)
Thread is done and dusted now though so I can put it back up

He he, she wasn't too impressed. But winding up their assistants is virtually a sport for me, my DH's wedding ring was from there - he was unbelievably fussy and somehow found one he like in there - and it broke. Three flipping times the stones fell out of it and they still wanted to repair it again so I went a little mad at them.

Funnily enough when I got my eternity ring ( 2 years ago) I really had to trawl to find a ring - I actually ended up getting it custom made. All I wanted was a simple eternity ring with a mix of diamonds and rubies (DH's and my birth stones, seemed appropriate to combine as it was to celebrate our DD's birth) and whilst there were a few sapphire versions, I literally saw one or two with rubies and always in yellow gold settings. But looking just now for rings I am seeing an awful lot more coloured stones - rubies galore!