February 01, 2017
Why I was very involved in making my engagement ring, and you should be too.
When was the last time your significant other bought you an article of clothing (without you being there) that you can honestly say you loved? Even my husband, who actually works in the fashion industry and has way better style than I do, has a hard time picking things out for me that he knows, without a doubt, that I will love. Thank goodness for gift receipts, am I right?
Now take the cost of that single item of clothing you are planning to return asap and multiply it by at least 10, and now you are probably somewhere in the same financial realm as that of purchasing an engagement ring. Come on people! Let's even put aside the fact that an engagement can be one of the largest single purchases a person can make in their lives, it also happens to be the one thing you can actually plan for your significant other to wear every single day for the rest of their lives! Is anyone really prepared to make that decision all on their own when they aren't fully confident in their ability to buy them a sweater they will like? Ok, ok, I'm being a little dramatic here but you get where I'm going with this... I hope!
I always knew that when the time came I wanted a big solitaire stone for my own engagement ring, mainly because I have always loved the look of a larger solitaire gemstone on a super simple band. We all have our tastes and so while some girls were dreaming of their wedding dresses I dreamt about my engagement ring! Unfortunately, at the time of my engagement I was not blessed enough to have hundreds of thousands of dollars to use at my leisure and so in a hunt to find an alternative to a diamond engagement ring, I came across this absolutely stunning and fascinating gemstone known today as moissanite. After spending the last 5 years learning everything about this stunning gemstone (see what is moissanite page), I found myself head over heels in love with everything to do with moissanite and the diamond alternative industry in general. So, how exactly was I supposed to communicate all of this knowledge to my soon-to-be fiance so that he would know to get me the stone that I had now been dreaming about for the last 5 years? I think it's safe to assume that 99% of people have no idea what moissanite is so how was he supposed to just magically find out about it without any help? Well, he obviously wasn't supposed to and so it was up to me to break away from the societal 'norms' of a man surprising a woman with a ring, and strike up an adult conversation about our future and in-turn, the ring. Funny enough, I had to actually convince my now husband, that me not wanting a diamond ring had nothing to do with our financial situation at all and that he would be no less of a man for not buying me one. Was he skeptical? Of course he was! Was it worth taking the time to give him the coles notes off my unofficial phd in moissanite? Damn right! At that point I was so obsessed that even if we had the $130,000 (which is what my ring would have actually cost if it was a real diamond) to spare, I would never have let him spend that on a rock that we are brainwashed to believe is rare and special. What I was after was so much more than trying to pass off my engagement ring as a real diamond. I was after getting my hands on a gemstone that is literally more beautiful than a diamond in every way, and one that I could wear with pride and happiness every single day for the rest of my life :)
In july 2016, I was proposed to by my now husband with an absolutely stunning moissanite engagement ring that I helped pick out myself. It was actually really fun and exciting to meet with a jeweller and to get to talk it out together as a couple. We eventually bought the stone I wanted and I just gave him a general idea of what I would like the band to look like so he could finish the final product on his own. After all that was said and done, he hid the stone so I wouldn't be able to find it and then we didn't speak about it again until the day he proposed. When he finally did I was completely surprised, so insanely happy through every moment of it, the day was everything I could have dreamed up and more, and I ended up with the man and the ring of my dreams.
Ladies, chances are your future husband or wife is never going to find out about moissanite on their own. Most people would simply never even think to consider buying anything other than a diamond for an engagement ring because it is so ingrained in our social upbringing to do so. And even if they did somehow stumble upon it, most men wouldn't just go ahead and buy it without asking first because they are scared of what would happen if they didn't propose with a diamond. So if it's important to you why leave any of this up to chance? I encourage absolutely every one reading this to open up that dialogue (if they haven't already) when the time is right, and have the awkward 'ring' conversation whether you ultimately decide to go with a diamond or not. Bring your loved ones to my website, let them read this article, do some more research on their own, or even have them give me a call. I would be more then happy to run them through all things moissanite so that you too can end up with the man and ring of your dreams!
Now take the cost of that single item of clothing you are planning to return asap and multiply it by at least 10, and now you are probably somewhere in the same financial realm as that of purchasing an engagement ring. Come on people! Let's even put aside the fact that an engagement can be one of the largest single purchases a person can make in their lives, it also happens to be the one thing you can actually plan for your significant other to wear every single day for the rest of their lives! Is anyone really prepared to make that decision all on their own when they aren't fully confident in their ability to buy them a sweater they will like? Ok, ok, I'm being a little dramatic here but you get where I'm going with this... I hope!
I always knew that when the time came I wanted a big solitaire stone for my own engagement ring, mainly because I have always loved the look of a larger solitaire gemstone on a super simple band. We all have our tastes and so while some girls were dreaming of their wedding dresses I dreamt about my engagement ring! Unfortunately, at the time of my engagement I was not blessed enough to have hundreds of thousands of dollars to use at my leisure and so in a hunt to find an alternative to a diamond engagement ring, I came across this absolutely stunning and fascinating gemstone known today as moissanite. After spending the last 5 years learning everything about this stunning gemstone (see what is moissanite page), I found myself head over heels in love with everything to do with moissanite and the diamond alternative industry in general. So, how exactly was I supposed to communicate all of this knowledge to my soon-to-be fiance so that he would know to get me the stone that I had now been dreaming about for the last 5 years? I think it's safe to assume that 99% of people have no idea what moissanite is so how was he supposed to just magically find out about it without any help? Well, he obviously wasn't supposed to and so it was up to me to break away from the societal 'norms' of a man surprising a woman with a ring, and strike up an adult conversation about our future and in-turn, the ring. Funny enough, I had to actually convince my now husband, that me not wanting a diamond ring had nothing to do with our financial situation at all and that he would be no less of a man for not buying me one. Was he skeptical? Of course he was! Was it worth taking the time to give him the coles notes off my unofficial phd in moissanite? Damn right! At that point I was so obsessed that even if we had the $130,000 (which is what my ring would have actually cost if it was a real diamond) to spare, I would never have let him spend that on a rock that we are brainwashed to believe is rare and special. What I was after was so much more than trying to pass off my engagement ring as a real diamond. I was after getting my hands on a gemstone that is literally more beautiful than a diamond in every way, and one that I could wear with pride and happiness every single day for the rest of my life :)
In july 2016, I was proposed to by my now husband with an absolutely stunning moissanite engagement ring that I helped pick out myself. It was actually really fun and exciting to meet with a jeweller and to get to talk it out together as a couple. We eventually bought the stone I wanted and I just gave him a general idea of what I would like the band to look like so he could finish the final product on his own. After all that was said and done, he hid the stone so I wouldn't be able to find it and then we didn't speak about it again until the day he proposed. When he finally did I was completely surprised, so insanely happy through every moment of it, the day was everything I could have dreamed up and more, and I ended up with the man and the ring of my dreams.
Ladies, chances are your future husband or wife is never going to find out about moissanite on their own. Most people would simply never even think to consider buying anything other than a diamond for an engagement ring because it is so ingrained in our social upbringing to do so. And even if they did somehow stumble upon it, most men wouldn't just go ahead and buy it without asking first because they are scared of what would happen if they didn't propose with a diamond. So if it's important to you why leave any of this up to chance? I encourage absolutely every one reading this to open up that dialogue (if they haven't already) when the time is right, and have the awkward 'ring' conversation whether you ultimately decide to go with a diamond or not. Bring your loved ones to my website, let them read this article, do some more research on their own, or even have them give me a call. I would be more then happy to run them through all things moissanite so that you too can end up with the man and ring of your dreams!