<p>Compared to my husband’s car habit, my unreasonable love of jewelry is a bargain. ;)</p>
<p>The good news, for us, is that he agrees. :p</p>
<p>But, I will say that I have never parted with my original engagement ring. I still wear it and it means more to me than any of the rest because it means more to me, emotionally.</p>
<p>All of my upgrades are on the other hand.</p>
<p>Ok so stupid question: do most people have a separate ring for their engagement or is the wedding ring the engagement ring plus a band? If the former, what do you do with the engagement ring? </p>
<p>:o</p>
<p>I have a wedding band and engagement ring. The engagement ring goes on the same finger outside the wedding band, traditionally. Wedding band is “closer to the heart.”</p>
<p>My aunt who has a massive diamond wears her wedding band outside as a “guard.” </p>
<p>I think she liked being engaged better, anyway. ;)</p>
<p>I only had a wedding ring, but it had diamonds in it. I didn’t want two rings - just seemed like a hassle.</p>
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<p>I think you can do better price wise at Blue Nile etc. than Costco. However, nothing beats Costco’s return policy.</p>
<p>Lol. </p>
<p>Thanks. I’ve seen the double ring before and honestly never knew that’s what it was for.
Again, my observational skills are impeccable lol</p>
<p>Roman, I think people do all kinds of things. There are sets available where you may buy the set or buy the engagement ring and then the matching band later. Or some couples go for a decorative wedding band and forego the set. Others want simply a plain band. </p>
<p>When I got engaged, thirty years ago, the 80-something lady I rented a room from told me to get whatever my soon-to-be hubby wanted because after 20 years or so, the band would wear and need to be replaced, and then I could get what I wanted. Ha.</p>
<p>I have a really thick platinum wedding band. It’s more like a washer than a ring. It was a man’s ring and I had it resized and reshaped. So it doesn’t taper on the edges but comes up blunt against the edge of the engagement ring. </p>
<p>At the time, I wore a really aggressive form of jewelry, a lot of men’s stuff I got at resale places, because women’s stuff was so tiny and delicate. It’s more in vogue now to wear men’s watches and whatnot than it was then, so it’s easier to find this stuff. But, we got my ring at a consignment and really had it “made”. H picked the engagement ring, so I just matched it up.</p>
<p>He wears the same ring.</p>
<p>These days I’m wearing five rings on my ring finger–my engagement ring, my wedding ring, my grandmother’s eternity ring, a diamond and sapphire band my H gave me for my 60th birthday and a beautiful diamond band which is one of four made by my mother and her sister and worn by them and their daughters of whom I am one. Although my mother is gone now and her ring is worn by her granddaughter, my niece. My own daughter thinks I am ridiculous for wearing 5 rings but I figure at my age I can do whatever I want.</p>
<p>"Ok so stupid question: do most people have a separate ring for their engagement or is the wedding ring the engagement ring plus a band? If the former, what do you do with the engagement ring? "</p>
<p>Back in the Jurrasic Era when i got engaged, many rings came in a set, one for engagement, then an inter-twined band for the wedding ring.<br>
The wedding ring part was later melded into the engagement prt to make one ring.</p>
<p>Here, here, Wellspring! Enjoy.</p>
<p>Poetgirl: I too wear my wedding ring as a guard for my engagement ring. Funny.</p>
<p>cbreeze, I compared the pricing of one particular ring that looked almost identical at Blue Nile and Costco. There was a difference, and Costco was cheaper by a bit.</p>
<p>romani, honestly, there are no rules. Pick what you like and what fits the budget.</p>
<p>My engagement ring is also a sapphire with diamond baguettes. It’s beautiful, but I rarely wear it – I’m not a jewelry person, and seldom think to put it on. My wedding ring is a narrow gold band, and I’ve never taken it off since the day it was placed on my finger. I love it.</p>
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My brother got a Rolex from his fiancee when they got engaged.</p>
<p>I don’t think that there are any “have to’s” here.</p>
<p>H bought me a classic yellow gold round solitaire engagement ring and our wedding bands are plain yellow gold. I chose not to have the rings melded together as I never take off my wedding band, but don’t wear the diamond ring (which was up-sized considerably several years ago) unless I am dressed up.</p>
<p>Research shows that nurses who wear diamonds bring bacteria home (gets caught in the crevices and is rarely eliminated completely by hand washing), so in nursing school we were not allowed to wear anything but a plain band to our clinical sites. One student said “This ring will never leave my finger!” She had to quit nursing school, after all her hard work to get in, because she refused to take off her diamond ring. I thought that was just ridiculous, but maybe she truly didn’t want to be a nurse and that was just an excuse. I bought a simple gold band to wear to clinicals and left the engagement ring at home. I viewed my ring as a symbol of commitment as well, but it’s not like your commitment evaporates for a few hours a week of not wearing it.</p>
<p>An interesting take on heirloom rings-- my FMIL was over yesterday for a mother’s day lunch and was wearing each of her grandmother’s engagement rings on either hand. She casually mentioned that she’d given her mother’s ring to her only daughter, and now she had two left, one for me and one for her other son’s future wife. She knows I’ll have my own ring but she plans to offer that one to me anyway. If that does happen, I will wear it as a right hand ring and pass it on to our kids someday to keep it in his family. I am really touched that she would consider including me in her family in that way. Even though I’m not going to wear the ring as an engagement ring, the gesture is still incredibly sentimental for all of us.</p>
<p>Dragon mom - I remember hearing that it was bad luck to solder the two together. I have a plain gold band and then the engagement ring on another plain gold band. There is a little divot in the plain band so the other ring fits into it, but I never had it soldered together.</p>
<p>My son just purchased (and gave) a ring to his now fiancee. I have a necklace with three diamonds in it. I am giving it to her for her birthday/engagement. I have several others that my daughters will get later. When they want them.</p>