CARAT London engagement ring?

[Namehunting001]

Have anyone got a carat London, or similar, engagement ring ie Sterling silver with lab grown CZ? There’s a lifetime guarantee on the sparkle and wondered whether you’d recommend as engagement ring?

Sorry that should have read “there’s a lifetime guarantee on the sparkle at carat London”, which is why I’m considering - keen to get your thoughts. Many thanks in advance

Carat do lab grown diamonds - which are identical to diamonds apparently. They also do CZ.

CZ is not a diamond.
The CZ earrings I bought from Carat look amazing. I can't tell the difference vs diamond.

I would love the lab grown diamonds but they are still very expensive.

Both options are beautiful.
I wouldn't really have my eye on the guarantee. Your marriage will hopefully be around for longer than most high street shops...

No but I do have an ethical diamond alternative which is Moissanite. Also made in a lab.

Mine is 1ct set in sterling silver and cost less than £75 on Etsy. I bought it in silver first to see how good a Moissanite was and I can get it made in white gold if I wanted. It is absolutely stunning, almost as hard as a diamond and looks incredibly like a diamond. It just throws off a little bit more "fire" which I personally like when in sunlight.

Here is a comparison between Moissanite, lab grown diamond and natural diamond. Moissanites are a fraction of the cost of any diamond.

Thank you so much both.
And yes indeed - cheers to a long lasting mariage!

Thank you for the link @JohnAteTheSilver - really interesting.

@BlackSwan - I heard this about their earrings but I did wonder about wearing a ring day in/ day out and whether it would fare well!
And great suggestion from PP too about later on changing the metal within which the stone is!

I probably wouldn’t opt for silver for daily wear, but there are certainly some great CZ and diamond alternatives out there. I think if you keep it subtle and don’t have a huge rock, nobody will be able to tell the difference.

I bought a replacement wedding band from this Etsy seller - www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheAladdinsCave which is moissanite set in titanium and I’ve worn it constantly for nearly 2 years, and it still looks like new! I was broke at the time and lost my old ring, so replaced it with a £60 from that seller and I haven’t bothered buying a fancy one yet as I really like it.

I'm a jeweller. I would say the sterling silver shank is likely to break over time with daily wear - it's quite a soft metal. Cz used to dull over time but modern czs will probably outlast the silver shank. The best cost effective diamond alternative would be moissanite - a moissanite set in 9ct gold would be a forever ring and could be quite cost effective. You could buy the ring mount and the stones separately for the best value for money and have a jeweller set the stone (if you go for this approach just make sure the mount you buy fits the dimensions of the stone in mm). Search "loose moissanite stone" and "semi mount gold" on Etsy for some ideas.

I agree silver isn't that hard wearing. Which ring are you thinking of op? There's some lovely stuff on there. I've not heard of them before

Thank you everyone - lots of great advice and food for thought. I very much appreciate it! I was also looking at moissanite so that’s also great to hear from a jeweller
@OtherPlans I’ve actually not made up my mind yet!! Which was your favourite when you looked?

@kwiksavenofrillsusername - thank you for sharing the link! Some great rings there!

The build a ring function looks interesting OP.
This is also nice and 9 carat white gold
www.caratlondon.com/collections/all-rings/products/princess-trilogy

I have some earrings from Carat that have definitely lost their sparkle, I didn’t realise they did a guarantee, will have to contact them.

I had my engagement ring from carat… and had three replacements of the same style. Then a completely different style, and that lost a stone out of it. I loved my original ring, but the claws on all of them were faulty. Mine was a white gold band with a trilogy setting. They weren’t the best at dealing with the issues I had either.

@Hereforthelaughs2020 did they replace your original ring 3 times for free or do you mean you had to buy the same ring 3 times because you loved it so much?
I’m sorry to hear that this happened though - so rubbish for such a precious piece of jewellery.

@OtherPlans love this! I hadn’t even seen this one

They replaced them for me, first style I had was the same problem with the claws breaking each time. So I then swapped for another style and one of the smaller stones come out. So took that one back and then just had the money back and we went somewhere else. It’s a shame that I had such a bad time with them as I still love all of their rings and two of my friends have rings from there and have had no problems. Might have just been the style I had at the time. I hope you find the perfect ring xx

Thank you @Hereforthelaughs2020 and thank you everyone for such thoughtful and considered responses x

@kwiksavenofrillsusername

I probably wouldn’t opt for silver for daily wear, but there are certainly some great CZ and diamond alternatives out there. I think if you keep it subtle and don’t have a huge rock, nobody will be able to tell the difference.

I bought a replacement wedding band from this Etsy seller - www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheAladdinsCave which is moissanite set in titanium and I’ve worn it constantly for nearly 2 years, and it still looks like new! I was broke at the time and lost my old ring, so replaced it with a £60 from that seller and I haven’t bothered buying a fancy one yet as I really like it.

Oooh thank you for the recommendation of this etsy shop!! Just bought myself a beautiful ring for less than 50, very similar to a real diamond one j have been coveting awhile but had no justification to purchase! They look lovely, can't wait to get it.

Hope you find the ring of your dreams OP!