Question:

Hi, I need a hand convincing my boyfriend that a zerconia is perfectly acceptable as an engagement ring.  I have to be honest we have very modest incomes.  I would much rather concentrate on the wedding itself expensewise.  Than to worry about having an expensive diamond on my hand.

I wear a 1 carat CZ set in an antique engagement ring. THe ring was my grandmother’s but my mom took the original diamond out of it and replaced it with a CZ and then gave it to me.  I have had jewelers oooh and aahh over my ring having no idea that the stone is fake.   After 15 years of wear, it still looks good and I am pretty rough on my rings what with gardening, horses, etc…. My other grandmother’s engagement ring has a Peridot stone and I don;t think that stood up to the years very well.  My own engagement ring is a small diamond but if I had to do it over again, I would probably get a sapphire.

Response:

In article Hi, I need a hand convincing my boyfriend that a zerconia is perfectly acceptable as an engagement ring.  I have to be honest we have very modest incomes.  I would much rather concentrate on the wedding itself expensewise.  Than to worry about having an expensive diamond on my hand. Can anyone shed some light on the quality of these stones?  Do they really cloud over soon after purchase? I told him we can always get something fancier later on…when we’re rolling in dough (yeah right). Rosemary

I agree with the one of the last posters, why not go with another type of stone?  Your birthstone? (unless you were born in April  or another favorite stone? Saphires, rubies and emeralds… Also a lot of these rings, you can get with smaller diamonds as accents. Good luck, Diana May 10, 1997 — Diana Nagai http://www.beetle.com/Diana/

Response:

In article Hi, I need a hand convincing my boyfriend that a zerconia is perfectly acceptable as an engagement ring.  I have to be honest we have very modest incomes.  I would much rather concentrate on the wedding itself expensewise.  Than to worry about having an expensive diamond on my hand. Can anyone shed some light on the quality of these stones?  Do they really cloud over soon after purchase? I told him we can always get something fancier later on…when we’re rolling in dough (yeah right). Rosemary

1) Have you thought about a colored stone? Don’t forget Lab created as an option…personally, I’d prefer a lab created emerald to a cloudy, cracked one, but that’s just me. There’s also white topaz…cut well, is nice and sparkly although more of a bluish tone to it (this is what blue topaz looks like before it’s irradiated to make it look bright blue). 2) CZ’s get cloudy because they get dirty VERY quickly. I had one as my "engagement ring" for a while when it looked like we’d be spending a year in England while my husband finished his PhD…I didn’t want to worry about trapsing around Europe with an expensive diamond ring…not a rational fear, I know, but mine nonetheless. Anyway, it cleaned up well and was nice and shiney, but it did have a higher affinity for grease and dirt than my diamond does (make sure you take it off when washing dishes or in the shower…soap will form a nice film on it…diamonds too for that matter). 3) There are poorly cut CZ’s and not-so-poorly cut CZ’s. A good friend of mine had her engagement diamond fall out of her ring and for a while, she just had the jeweler put a CZ in the setting…jewelers should be able to get them, ask around. Kinda like if you were to have a replica of an expensive piece of jewelry made because you didn’t want to risk wearing the real thing in public (I never understood this practice, if you have insurance…why leave the fun baubles lying in a safe!?) – they used to use Paste…now you can use CZ if you want. 4) CZ isn’t a plastic/glass combination as someone else mentioned. It’s a lab created crystal formed under a controlled environment. Kinda like lab created sapphires or emeralds or rubies. I’m just not sure CZ is something that occurs in nature, as the others do…maybe that’s why people "frown" on it and think it’s "settling" for a diamond knock-off. My own opinion is, if you like the look of diamonds, but don’t want to justify the cost – whether you feel you can afford it or just think the whole DeBeers cartel is evil – CZ’s are an option. I’m not trying to sell you on CZ or anything, just passing along some advice I hope. Amy —

Response:

There’s no reason why your engagement ring has to be a diamond, or a diamond look alike. There are so many beautiful stones out there! my engagement ring was a light blue topaz in a simple setting. I think it cost all of $150, including having it sized.  We looked at a lot of expensive rings, and simply could not justify the cost! Plus, i’m sort of anti-diamond since the whole diamond engagement ring thing was started by the diamond company. In addition I’ve heard tales of diamond companies controlling the # of diamonds on the market, to inflate the prices and the demand. I’m not impressed.  I think lighter colored stones, like amethyst, or citrine, or peridot, or topaz are far more beautiful. On the other hand, a male friend of mine just got engaged. He didn’t have a lot of $ to spend, but he wanted a diamond. He hunted around in estate jewelry stores, and the like and found the most beautiful round diamond in an old fashioned setting that is to die for. It is the most beautiful ring i’ve ever seen.  He says he got quite a deal. So, get out of the mall jewelry stores, and hit some pawn shops, or estate sales, or even antique stores. jenna

Response:

Hi there,   Have you thought about the possibility of a pre-owned ring?  My wedding set came from a pawnshop.  It is very unique, and I have never seen anything like it.  Cutout hearts on the band and filligree work.  It has a small diamond in it, and is 14kt. gold.  It cost my fiance’ $100.  It is just what I wanted.  Something out of the commonplace and understated.  I found his band for $70.  It is 10kt. gold (Good for him, he is rough on jewelry, and 10 kt. is a bit stronger).  It has a twisted rope border on the top and bottom edge of the band.  So, not too fancy, but more than a plain band. Tracy

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Another thing is to look in the newspaper or if you have a buy and sell. Pawn shops as well, but a word of advice — do research on the stone you are looking for. Or find a jeweler, and take him along. KER — Kelle E. Roth To reply, remove NoSpam from address "To err is human, to moo bovine" – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I need a hand convincing my boyfriend that a zerconia is perfectly acceptable as an engagement ring.  I have to be honest we have very modest incomes.  I would much rather concentrate on the wedding itself expensewise.  Than to worry about having an expensive diamond on my hand. Can anyone shed some light on the quality of these stones?  Do they really cloud over soon after purchase? I told him we can always get something fancier later on…when we’re rolling in dough (yeah right). Rosemary Rosemary,    I personally would’ve been fine with a CZ, until we saw the cost! The nicer ones can be VERY expensive – ok, maybe 1/5 the cost of a REAL diamond of that size, but they are not necessarily cheap for someone on a budget. We shopped a lot together, checked out MANY stones of various sizes and qualities as well as CZ. I remember one very nice CZ that was about $600 (ok, a real diamond may have been $2-3000, but on a tight budget even $600 can be a lot). Most ranged from $200-600. My fiance was also not pleased with the idea of getting me a CZ. Depending on how big you want it, you can get a nice small diamond for $200 – perhaps they’re not perfect quality, but they are nice. My fiance was also insistent that we geta  diamond, I woudl have been happy with a less expensive stone, but he really wanted "our" engagement ring to be a diamond.  What we ended up doing was going to an antique shop  (LOTS of antique shops – by this time we "knew" our diamonds) and found some wonderful rings. I finally settled on one that was a fabulous deal – the dealer seemed less interested in making a sale and more interested in helping us find something we liked and were happy with AND was in our price range. My ring is a lot bigger than I originally wanted but has a very slight flaw, which made the dealer hesitant to sell it to us. However, I LOVED the style – it was absolutely perfect (very turn-of the century, with a platinum band)! So, with some negotiation, he altered the price down to what we could afford.  There were some other gorgeous rings that were already in our price range and were not flawed, I just fell in love with the setting on mine, and unless I intend to sell it at some point, it doesn’t matter! (Even then, it’s been appraised at more than we paid for it – mainly due to the platinum band) I’d shop around before you "settle" on CZ, as you may find something you like that’s affordable. If you do go the antique shop route, know your diamonds. We’re far from experts on them, but after a lot of research, AND shoppping, felt comfortable with what to expect. There’s a webpage about diamonds that I think is linked to the scw or alt.wedding page, and there are some other sites to check out to get to know diamonds. Definitely shop around. Good luck Cherise (& Steve)

Response:

Hi, I need a hand convincing my boyfriend that a zerconia is perfectly acceptable as an engagement ring.  I have to be honest we have very modest incomes.  I would much rather concentrate on the wedding itself expensewise.  Than to worry about having an expensive diamond on my hand.

CZ’s are artificial, and I gather you aint.   Why not other stones that express true feelings that are not hyped as diamonds nor artificial as cz’s and yag’s.  Amethysist (well, I’ll let you get away with cubic coneys and you let me get away with that one.) Citrine Periot and others in an appropriate setting seems to me to be more sincere. ps, i’m a photographer, not a jeweler, but I do enjoy lapidary and rock collecting as a hobby.  I would prefer a petrified fossil in a necklace or bracelet to a fancy ring, but then I;m wierd.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I need a hand convincing my boyfriend that a zerconia is perfectly acceptable as an engagement ring.  I have to be honest we have very modest incomes.  I would much rather concentrate on the wedding itself expensewise.  Than to worry about having an expensive diamond on my hand. Can anyone shed some light on the quality of these stones?  Do they really cloud over soon after purchase? I told him we can always get something fancier later on…when we’re rolling in dough (yeah right). Rosemary

Rosemary: My girlfriend has a couple of CZ rings, and the quality can vary wildly.  If you can find a store that specialized in top-quality CZs <there’s one in South Florida, but the name escapes me…it’s in the Galleria Mall in Fort Lauderdale, they can be really great…the "finer" stores, of course, set them in 14kt or 18kt gold.  I think the secret to passing one off as real is to keep the size of the stone in line with what you actually might be able to afford in a genuine diamond. Hope this helps. Pamela

Response:

Can anyone shed some light on the quality of these stones?  Do they really cloud over soon after purchase? I told him we can always get something fancier later on…when we’re rolling in dough (yeah right). Why not get a saphire or ruby with some very small diamonds?

Why not get completely out of the "regular" line of gem stones (diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, etc.) and look at some really beautiful but non-traditional stones?   For example, there is a gem called Danburite that sparkles like the best diamonds (better than CZ!) and costs 1/5 the price or less! Or how about looking into the various colours in quartzes, topazes, garnets, spinels, etc? You can have a gorgeous and original ring if you just look around – Cheers,       Dawn       (currently working on the design for the platinum, tsavorite,        aquamarine, and iolite wedding rings we want!)  :-) — And from the shelter of my mind, Through the window of my eyes – I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets To England, where my heart lies…                –Paul Simon

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I need a hand convincing my boyfriend that a zerconia is perfectly acceptable as an engagement ring.  I have to be honest we have very modest incomes.  I would much rather concentrate on the wedding itself expensewise.  Than to worry about having an expensive diamond on my hand. Can anyone shed some light on the quality of these stones?  Do they really cloud over soon after purchase? I told him we can always get something fancier later on…when we’re rolling in dough (yeah right). Rosemary

 Rosemary, A CZ is fine as a ring, however, It is not meant as a replacement to a diamond. Many people think of CZ as a diamond simulant, not as a gemstone in it’s own right. It has a higher refractive index, therefore will exhibit more "flash", but it is not very durable.  Cz is very cheap, the cost of the labor in setting the stone exceeds the stone’s value.  You could replace the stone as often as you wish with little expense. If you want a diamond, get a smaller one.  You can get a very nice solitaire diamond ring for 200.00. Hope this helps, Best Regards, Jason — Jason Robbins                           ROBBINS 8th & WALNUT 801 Walnut St. Phila., PA 19107         "OnLine Jewelry Store" (800)777-4452 ext. 151                http://www.weddingband.com (215)923-0662 Fax                 World Wide Web- http://www.r8w.com

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