It was very sad. I've spent the last year trying to figure out how to replace it. (Actually I've spent two anniversaries without it, including our tenth)
For a while, I wore a CZ ring I bought from overstock, but it looked cheap, got scratched up, and didn't fit well.
My hope was to find a lab-grown diamond at a great discount. I don't want to buy a regular replacement diamond because of the ecological and human costs associated with mining diamonds. (Heard the term blood diamonds?)
Well this week I found out that lab-grown diamonds are only about 10% less than their mined counterparts (at least in colorless, colored diamonds are cheaper than their counterparts but that's because pink and yellow diamonds are so rare, they're $60k a carat). This was disappointing, but at least I figured it out before I bought a CZ (diamond simulant?) from Diamond Nexus thinking it was lab-grown diamond. It's not. The DN website doesn't say anything about CZs but I found it on another site. They do say that the "synthetic diamond" have to be cold set like a ruby because they're not made out of carbon. That should have been my first clue.
So, I don't want a CZ, I don't really want another gemstone (I had toyed with the idea of a pink sapphire) because the hardness level is much lower for other gemstones. The garnet in another ring I have is pretty scratched up.
I'm down to
1. Buy another new diamond, which I don't really want to do morally or cost-wise.
2. Buy a used diamond which is less expensive and gives my conscience a break.
3. Get a plain wedding band like Mark's and call it good.
What would you do?
6 comments:
Though my hands have been too swollen (or fat) to wear it for 4 months, I love my wedding band. I was also worried about blood diamonds, but I think when I got it I was more concerned with how clumsy I am and knew I'd knock the heck out of any stone I got.
Check out moissanite as a replacement alternative. It is a man-made diamond, but with very similar characteristics of a real diamond (unlike CZ).
How about an antique? I love my hand-me-down diamonds (my mother-in-law's ring)
I'm totally happy with my wedding band (no diamond). It's easy to keep clean and I don't fret about losing it (it would be easily replaced).
Great ideas, friends!
Thanks for your comments. I have heard of moissanite from my cousin who is a jeweler. I was under the impression that it was another type of gemstone like sapphire or ruby, not a man-made stone. Interesting.
The thing with going to a band is that my setting will just sit my drawer indefinitely and I love it because Mark picked it out for me.
Your wedding ring is not only precious because of the diamond, but also because of the romantic history embarked to it. How is it now? Have you replaced the diamond stone or have you bought a new ring?
- Bridget Rossi
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