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Engagement rings.

(86 Posts)
kittylester Wed 17-May-23 18:05:10

Following on from reports that the Duchess of Sussex has had her £140k engagement ring 'enhanced', I wondered if anyone else has had their engagement ring changed?

DH bought my ring all by himself and, thankfully, I really love it although it was considerably less expensive. I wouldn't contemplate changing it but wondered whether other people have changed their rings and why?

Fleurpepper Wed 17-May-23 18:09:28

I never had an engagement ring- couldn't afford one. Our wedding rings are 9ct gold- wouldn't dream of changing them.

Smileless2012 Wed 17-May-23 18:12:32

I wouldn't change mine either kittylester. I knew someone whose husband came into some money and bought her a new, much more expensive engagement ring but for me it's the sentimental value which is the most important thing.

NotSpaghetti Wed 17-May-23 18:12:48

No. Mine is exactly as it was. Would only think of "changing" something like that if it was damaged/too big/too small

Calendargirl Wed 17-May-23 18:14:20

I love my engagement ring, bought 51 years ago, together with future DH.

Would not have liked to be surprised with one, preferred to be involved with its choice.

Never wanted to alter it, do worry if one day it will be too small.

I intend to leave it to my younger GD.

It wasn’t expensive, but remember wearing it for work as a bank cashier.

A rather well-to-do lady customer said to me “Is that an engagement ring?”
“Yes” I replied (not surprising, worn on third finger of left hand).

“It’s very pretty” she commented.

I felt so chuffed,

Oopsadaisy1 Wed 17-May-23 18:16:37

Mine was stolen during a burglary(on my birthday) many years ago, I’d taken it off as we were going to do some painting at a friends house.
MrOops replaced it on our wedding anniversary, but I still miss it and remember how delighted I was when we bought it together in 1970.

fancythat Wed 17-May-23 18:18:24

I have had mine changed in size multiple times[I was a small wee thing when we got married].
And one of the side stones fell out at least once, so had to be fixed.

CanadianGran Wed 17-May-23 18:33:48

I have a very modest engagement ring, but it was what DH could afford at the time, and I wouldn't change it.

About 5 years ago, the diamond fell out and luckily landed on the kitchen floor where I easily retrieved it. I put it in a plastic bag and brought it with the ring to the jeweller to fix. He exclaimed, "my, that is little!" I had to chuckle, but I like to think of it as dainty, not small.

M0nica Wed 17-May-23 18:44:46

I lost the main stone, a sapphire from my engagement ring recently, the shank was also very thin and when the jeweller saw it and showed me how worn the claws holding the reaminder of the stones were, he said that the ring needed complete remaking with additional gold and told me how much it would cost - 18 carat gold, plus a large sapphire, upwards of £2,000! I said I would think about it.

In the mean time DH found a replica of the ring, smaller and with 9ct gold on ebay, he snapped it up and gave it to me as a temporary replcement. Unfortunately the shank on that snapped within a few weeks, but that is easier and cheaper to repair - and I had some scrap gold at home that could be used, so that is being done. I will then wear that as an engagement ring.

Meanwhile I intend to combine the extra gold I have and the remains of my engagement ring and have a ring designed and made for me using that.

Marydoll Wed 17-May-23 18:49:51

The setting on mine was a high setting, seventies style. I wore it all the time, but it had to be repaired twice, because I kept bumping it.
A sapphire, one of two fell out and I lost it on my birthday. I searched everywhere, to no avail.I was distraught, so cracked open a bottle of Cava a teaching colleague had given me for my birthday.
There at the bottom of the bag, was the sapphire. The jeweller said, it would have been impossible to match it to the other one and suggested instead of a repair, this time, changing the setting to a more robust one.
I burst in to tears, when I saw the repaired ring, way beyond my expectations.
The jeweller halved the bill, because they had done the previous repair and was faulty.

dragonfly46 Wed 17-May-23 18:50:20

No wouldn’t change mine - I love it and had it for 55 years.

AskAlice Wed 17-May-23 18:51:26

DH proposed within 2 months of us meeting and we married 3 months later, so it seemed a bit of a waste of money to buy an engagement ring at the time.

I finally got one 23 years later on our wedding anniversary, but sadly it is now too small for me to wear.

We have now been married for 42 years...and some of our unkind relatives said it wouldn't last!!

lixy Wed 17-May-23 18:52:25

I love my engagement ring. Its not flash - we had very little money then, and would rather have something understated anyway.
I keep it in the box in my bedside drawer. I don't wear it except on very special occasions as I don't want the two rings to rub against each other.
Change it? No, certainly not.
Nor do I want an eternity ring, thanks all the same.

Salti Wed 17-May-23 18:54:06

My husband bought mine in Spain many years ago but about 10 years ago I lost the diamond..... God knows where and the shank had also worn thin. We bought a replacement that was very similar (secondhand) in England and I value it equally. As far as I 'm concerned it just shows my commitment to the man that I have loved for over half my life.

GrannyGravy13 Wed 17-May-23 18:56:37

My engagement ring was mislaid fortunately it was insured and the replacement is as close to the original which DH chose many years ago.

Hetty58 Wed 17-May-23 18:59:39

I lost mine - and I'm not sad as I very rarely wore it anyway. It was from my first husband - as the second time I didn't bother with any engagement. We were already cohabiting with kids when I divorced and we married!

nandad Wed 17-May-23 19:04:18

AskAlice, in our case we got engaged 5 weeks after meeting, but didn’t marry until the following year. 39 years married this year and had the same comments.
Engagement ring was a tiny solitaire which saved my finger when a drawer closed onto my hand, the ring was bent and the claws started to catch. I stopped wearing it when I had my son, husband replaced it on our 25th anniversary and I recently sold it, along with other gold, to have a heart pendant made.

Kim19 Wed 17-May-23 19:05:07

Wouldn't change mine for the world. Full of memories of the wonderful occasion when it was placed on my finger. Bliss then and now.

Witzend Wed 17-May-23 19:07:31

I never had one. I’d have quite liked one but since dh thought ‘getting engaged’ was desperately uncool, I kept quiet. We just set a date for the wedding.

However he did - unasked and un-hinted at! - buy me a really lovely ring right after the birth of dd2, which TBH meant considerably more to me.

GrannyGravy13 Wed 17-May-23 19:11:24

I have seldom worn my engagement/eternity and even wedding ring every day, over the years. My DiL’s wear theirs all the time as does my sister.

I am now wearing wedding and engagement rings daily, only wearing eternity ring when we go out.

I must it’s taking some getting used to.

Norah Wed 17-May-23 19:28:32

We married young, I've worn only a gold wedding ring since.

Bella23 Wed 17-May-23 19:46:59

It was stolen when we were burgled while we were at work.DH never suggested replacing it. It matched my wedding ring which is engraved with leaves. When it was our 40th he bought me a beautiful ruby ring.

SueDonim Wed 17-May-23 19:50:12

I haven’t worn mine since I had my last baby - it’s too small now. I still love it, though, a plain diamond solitaire. I’ve hinted to Dh about getting it resized but that’s fallen on stony (see what I did there??) ground. I ought to just get it done. I can’t get my wedding ring off now.

My dd has an antique ring. It’s three lovely diamonds in an old-fashioned setting. The jeweller said it was Victorian and it makes you wonder about the tales it could tell. ❤️

Callistemon21 Wed 17-May-23 19:53:23

I'm not sure about enhanced
I had it made smaller once after I'd lost it for months then it turned up again.

It's rather too large again, for some reason my fingers are getting thinner although the rest of me isn't.

Visgir1 Wed 17-May-23 19:54:44

I too didn't get one at first, DH eventually bought me some diamonds which were made into the ring of my choice.
Years later I had it completely re-styled with added diamonds.
Plus within my ring, it has mum's wedding ring all melted into the Gold. However it can't be Hallmarked as its a mix of 18 & 22 ct gold.
I don't wear it now, as it needs to be resized.

I have also changed my wedding ring at least 4 times.