The Ring Thread: Weddings, Engagements and Otherwise

[Pennilenko]

My wife's engagement ring was a family heirloom from my family. For a wedding band, she picked out a simple gold band. I purchased a much nicer set for our anniversary and she didn't like them and had me return them. She said she prefers the very small heirloom ring and simple band even though some of her friends give her grief about having a smaller sized rock in the engagement ring.

[RhyssaFireheart]

My wife's engagement ring was a family heirloom from my family. For a wedding band, she picked out a simple gold band. I purchased a much nicer set for our anniversary and she didn't like them and had me return them. She said she prefers the very small heirloom ring and simple band even though some of her friends give her grief about having a smaller sized rock in the engagement ring.

This.  My engagement ring was originally my paternal grandmother's engagement ring, which puts it at 70+ years old now by the family calculations.  I love the style and my dad was willing to let me use it when I got engaged.  Husand did get teased a bit by his friends for not needing to shell out for a ring though.  I don't wear it regularly because the tines holding the stone in are fragile now, so it only comes out for very special occasions.  I don't even know if the stone is a real diamond/diamond chip, not that I care, tbh.  It's the sentiment for me.  Husband and I just have plain gold bands that we each wear and that's fine with us.  I also have my grandma's first wedding band (grandpa upgraded to nicer bands at some point for them) and I wear that on the right hand now.

My parents had a set of plain white gold bands that they wore, but my mom also has a formal wedding set that is an engagement ring plus a matching wedding band to go with it.  I used to think they were ugly looking, but have since grown to like how they look.  She wears that set all the time now, especially since my dad's gone.

[NiX]

Engagement rings are silly.

[Cyrrex]

I don't think engagement rings are silly in and of themselves.  What is silly is the average woman (more than likely American) assuming that she is so special as to warrant some crazy, monster sized rock of a ring that costs one month of a man's salary (that's the accepted norm) or more.  Not only is it a rather foolish way to start off a marriage, but it says a great deal about the woman who insists on it, and none of it good.  It is also gaudy as hell, unbelievably tacky.  I'm lucky that I have a wife who agrees with me completely.  Also, no wedding band.  And plenty of oral!  Maybe there's a pattern here.

[MahrinSkel]

Diamond engagement rings are a racket.  The DeBeers cartel has spent an obscene amount of money making young women believe that if their groom-to-be won't drop a ridiculous amount of money on a ring containing what is actually a fairly common gemstone, he doesn't really love them.  And they constantly move up the bar, when I was young a month's salary was considered an exorbitant amount of money to blow on an engagement ring, now I hear girls talking to each other about how two months salary is the bare minimum, and 3 months really shows commitment.  The practice of having a separate "wedding band" arose because the "engagement rings" were too damned expensive to carry around.

If you want an engagement ring, get an emerald, sapphire, or ruby. something that is actually rare and probably wasn't mined with actual slave labor to be traded for weapons.  Until DeBeers programmed us into "A Diamond is Forever", that was the norm.  I got my wife a vintage art deco sapphire ring, platinum setting, and she's been more than happy with it.  If your fiancée is such a shallow group-think twit to insist on a diamond the size of a peanut, consider that the first warning sign.

--Dave

[NiX]

Diamond engagement rings are a racket.  The DeBeers cartel has spent an obscene amount of money making young women believe that if their groom-to-be won't drop a ridiculous amount of money on a ring containing what is actually a fairly common gemstone, he doesn't really love them.  And they constantly move up the bar, when I was young a month's salary was considered an exorbitant amount of money to blow on an engagement ring, now I hear girls talking to each other about how two months salary is the bare minimum, and 3 months really shows commitment.  The practice of having a separate "wedding band" arose because the "engagement rings" were too damned expensive to carry around.

If you want an engagement ring, get an emerald, sapphire, or ruby. something that is actually rare and probably wasn't mined with actual slave labor to be traded for weapons.  Until DeBeers programmed us into "A Diamond is Forever", that was the norm.  I got my wife a vintage art deco sapphire ring, platinum setting, and she's been more than happy with it.  If your fiancée is such a shallow group-think twit to insist on a diamond the size of a peanut, consider that the first warning sign.

--Dave

Yes, recently I've seen how much some people are willing to spend on a ring. It shouldn't be the equivalent of a down payment on a house.

[Prospero]

We spent entirely too much on my wife's ring, but it's a pretty awesome custom design. I figure it will be a cool family heirloom someday.

[Sky]

my mom also has a formal wedding set that is an engagement ring plus a matching wedding band to go with it. 

There's a matching second band to the ring I got her, but I'm not sure if I'm going that route, or the traditional form of just flipping the claddagh upside down to denote marriage. I like the claddagh because it means a lot more to us than just a nice ring.

[Merusk]

Diamond engagement rings are a racket.  The DeBeers cartel has spent an obscene amount of money making young women believe that if their groom-to-be won't drop a ridiculous amount of money on a ring containing what is actually a fairly common gemstone, he doesn't really love them.  And they constantly move up the bar, when I was young a month's salary was considered an exorbitant amount of money to blow on an engagement ring, now I hear girls talking to each other about how two months salary is the bare minimum, and 3 months really shows commitment.  The practice of having a separate "wedding band" arose because the "engagement rings" were too damned expensive to carry around.

If you want an engagement ring, get an emerald, sapphire, or ruby. something that is actually rare and probably wasn't mined with actual slave labor to be traded for weapons.  Until DeBeers programmed us into "A Diamond is Forever", that was the norm.  I got my wife a vintage art deco sapphire ring, platinum setting, and she's been more than happy with it.  If your fiancée is such a shallow group-think twit to insist on a diamond the size of a peanut, consider that the first warning sign.

--Dave

I knew there was a reason I dug you, despite your over the top tendencies.  Pretty much my and my wife's exact line of thinking and why she has an emerald, not a diamond.

[Signe]

Engagement rings are silly.

I agree.

[NowhereMan]

I agree with Mahrin's sentiment but I don't think that's something I'm ever going to be worried about.

[LK]

I always found a necklace more engaging and complimentary than a single ring to an outfit. Conversely, I find multiple rings in a punkish style to be nice.

I'm weird.

[Lantyssa]

If I should ever get such a ring, I want a silver band with nice lattice work.  I like an antique finish.  No stones unless they're small and inlaid, but I've only seen a few designs with these I like.

Conversely, I find multiple rings in a punkish style to be nice.

I'm weird.

Nah.  It's several or nothing for me.

[Nerf]

I shopped around for months before settling on the ring I did, and I got it through jew channels and am fairly confident I got fucked a relatively small amount.

Also, I should have been more clear, she'll totally let me register at cabelas, just for at least some of the things have to be something other than guns.

[Pennilenko]

I shopped around for months before settling on the ring I did, and I got it through jew channels and am fairly confident I got fucked a relatively small amount.

Also, I should have been more clear, she'll totally let me register at cabelas, just for at least some of the things have to be something other than guns.

Point to her ring and then declare that,"But baby, guns are a mans best friend."

[Chimpy]

Ok, when did "awesome pictures" become some kind of bizzarro version of chicks showing off their sparkly ring to everyone in creation?

[Draegan]

I spent more money on the ring than the stone in my fiance's ring.  She got an aquamarine, her birth stone.  The ring itself is full of a bunch of diamonds that make it sparkle just like she wanted.

[RhyssaFireheart]

my mom also has a formal wedding set that is an engagement ring plus a matching wedding band to go with it. 

There's a matching second band to the ring I got her, but I'm not sure if I'm going that route, or the traditional form of just flipping the claddagh upside down to denote marriage. I like the claddagh because it means a lot more to us than just a nice ring.

I'd say go with whatever makes the both of you happy and screw "tradition" in its ear.  That's another reason why I used my grandma's ring, besides the sentimental value - I plain don't care for diamonds at all.  I'd much rather have a sapphire/ruby/emerald stone in a ring .. actually, I'm much rather have earrings to tell the truth.  The rings on my hands are all low profile bands since I used to work on the innards of computers and didn't feel like getting stuck when possible.

Actually, something like this would be gorgeous:


I love tanzanite and regret not getting something when we were in the Caymans last. :(

[Teleku]

Christ, how many stat bonus's does that ring give you?

[Samwise]

Less talking, more pictures, bitches.  But since we're on the topic, here's my wife's engagement ring:



And that's a Canadian diamond set in recycled gold, so .

[Ironwood]

I'm shocked I didn't notice that.  Was she wearing it ??

[tgr]

Rings like that give me the macrolens itch. There's so many awesome details you just don't know about before you enlarge them tons of times.

Just to be a rebel and go off the current wedding ring topic:
(fullsize: http://gallery.mindriot.as/main.php/v/Macro/DSC_4783.JPG.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1)

I took that handheld, so I'm rather proud it came out as well as it did, although I would've liked it if the DOF had been a bit deeper.

[Merusk]

Handheld? Crap, nice work.  Mine still turn out noticeably shaky when I try.

[apocrypha]

Rings like that give me the macrolens itch.

Lol I was thinking the exact same thing! Been assisting on some jewelery shoots recently and learned a lot, will try and find time to do some of my own soon :)

And that's v nice for handheld tgr! Just ambient or some flash in there?

[tgr]

There's flash involved, I usually try to get f/40 or so to get more DOF, and you can see the effect of that by the background being completely black.

My weapons of choice are as follows:

http://www.shutterbug.net/test_reports/0601sb_sigma/
http://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/em-140-dg-ring-flash-sigma

As a side-notek it appears that the 180mm lens is awesome for taking panorama shots as well, with hardly any barreldistortion. Pity photoshop has so far taken about 3 days to try to stitch the 100 pictures I took of Oslo together, on a quadcore machine. It sure is working to earn its keep!

(quick edit: I only had f/20 in that picture, I probably had the lens about 20-25cm away from the fly, and I could probably have gotten a bit closer so I would be able to get more light onto the fly and thus stop the lens down even further. I wish I had done that though, because of the legs, wing and snorkel being out of focus. Oh well, next time, gadget!)

[Samwise]

I'm shocked I didn't notice that.  Was she wearing it ??

No, although she did bravely wear it for the ten months or so we were engaged.  Now it lives safely in its box and she wears a simpler wedding band that doesn't catch on things.  We got matching rings, so hers is a thinner version of this:



Man, at that magnification you can really see how many dings it gets from being on my hand all day.  And the seam in the design that I obsessive-compulsively twist toward my palm so I can't see it while I'm typing.

[Ironwood]

Thank God for that, I thought I was losing my touch.

To explain, checking out rings is probably one of the first things I do on meeting people.  I have no idea why I do this (it's not what you think), but I do.

I'm usually that annoying guy in work who notices who got engaged after the Christmas break.

And then tells them what a fucking mistake they're making.

[Lantyssa]

We got matching rings, so hers is a thinner version of this:

That's the style of band I like.

[Morat20]

My wedding band is black titanium with an inset platinum band (I have no idea why it's black. Looked good, though). I wanted something simple, but didn't want a plain gold ring (done that with the practice marriage), and this appealed to me.

I remember seeing them for a few years in the 2000s, then nada after that. Never seen anyone else wearing one. I like the design work on Samwise's band, but I prefer very simple designs for myself. Too much detail makes me obsessive.

Wife has a platinum ring with a center diamond, and a wedding band that's her grandmother's wedding band surrounded by two matching platinum bands we had added. (Her grandmother's wedding band was too thin, and with the 'plat-gold-plat' it sort of echoes my ring, which was a nice end result).

[Goreschach]

Not pictures.

[Morfiend]

Since we are on the topic of rings. I always thought Tension Rings where cool.

Spoiler for size.

[IainC]

My wedding ring is a plan stainless steel band with two thinner bands captured within it that can freely rotate. I wear it on my thumb because my ring finger changes size dramatically throughout the day (lost wedding ring no.1 that way).

[JWIV]

I'm shocked I didn't notice that.  Was she wearing it ??

No, although she did bravely wear it for the ten months or so we were engaged.  Now it lives safely in its box and she wears a simpler wedding band that doesn't catch on things.  We got matching rings, so hers is a thinner version of this:

Man, at that magnification you can really see how many dings it gets from being on my hand all day.  And the seam in the design that I obsessive-compulsively twist toward my palm so I can't see it while I'm typing.

 Samwise and I have similar rings (mine is in white gold, instead of yellow)!    


 

[01101010]

Someone poke me when this ring horror is finished and we get back to the awesome. Sorry, I don't have any awesome to contribute at this time. 

[Sky]

Looking at one like JWIV's, but with a claddagh in the knotwork. Worried about the orientation and after hearing of Sam's OCD, re-thinking that. Maybe just the plain white gold band with knots.