How did you choose your wedding ring? **Update - I've now bought mine!!**

I was adamant that all I wanted was a plain white gold band.

Then I saw one with little sparkly pretty diamonds in. Rather like you describe, and I couldn't take my eyes off it!

I don't ever take my engagement ring off - and for my first marriage, my previous ring was on for every day of my 25 years with the ex-H, and I never ever looked at it thinking it was dull. (Clearly, that was NO true reflection of the marriage itself, which was incredibly dull, but not so easy to buff up haha!)

I'd say, if you like the ones with a bit of sparkle, go with it. Ours are now in at the shop, and we have tried them on, and I cannot wait until I have mine on my finger for real. I'm very glad I went with what I wanted, rather than what I thought I wanted!

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I've started thinking of this, but haven't bought them yet. I think i'm going for a plain band about the same width as engagement ring. And whilst the ones with diamonds look nice, i think it will be too much for my hand as i already have a perfect diamond in the ER and don't want to add any more too it! To me it's so beautiful enough - don't want to distract away with extras, and then it looks too much if you get my thinking.

Haven't looked in shops yet but really hope the band fits next to/underneath the ER diamond ok, don't want to have to send it off to get specially made around it.

As for discolouring/dulling, i'm not sure. I take all my rings off every time i cook/shower/moisturise. I'd probably do the same for wedding ring too tbh, as i'll continue to take the others off so may as well that one too!

I was adamant that I didn't want a plain band, so mine has I think 10 teeny tiny diamonds on it. In between the diamonds, it also has little cuts or nicks into the metal, which catch the light and make it look even more sparkly. Even though the diamond on my engagement ring isn't that big, the band narrows towards the stones, so I was conscious of there being a gap between the two. I wanted one that was a little bit shaped, but not one that was custom made to shape around it, in case it looked stupid by itself.

So the ring has two very thin "bands" to it and the top one has a dip in it, so the stones of the ER slot into it.

I completely agree with this - my engagement ring is beautiful and looks pretty on my hand on its own - i just cant help but be drawn to anything sparkly!

I just don't want to make the wrong decisions - this is one of the things I have stuggled the most with! I can see pro's and con's to having a plain band and the sparkly band.

Do diamonds dull? Am I worrying unnecessarily about it getting dull when I put aftersun on? Does this even happen? The first year I wore my engagement ring on holiday (I had only had it three weeks!) I wore one of those latex gloves on my hand whilst putting the aftersun on so that I didn't get the ring covering in the lotion!

I've gone for one with diamonds in it, just cos I love it. My ER is a ruby with tiny diamonds in the shank, so the stones in the WR don't look too 'blingy' next to it. I take my rings off anytime I'm in the house (unless we have visitors), so I don't worry about them dulling or anything.

I don't think they dull. I take mine back to the jewellers every few months to get shined up and they look good as new. I think it's the metal that dulls rather than the diamonds.

I went for diamonds! my engagement ring has a central stone then a split band either side with diamonds on it ...I tried my friends wedding ring underneath - hers is half diamond and half plain on the other side n even with just that which didnt fit and was the wrong shape both myself and OH said the diamonds just looked nicer, it really set the other ring off. And when we ordered them last week I just did the same again - tried both plain and sparkly on and it just cemented the choice - im having the ring made as it needs to be slightly shaped - so the diamonds come out to the same width as the ones on my engagement ring, and the band should be the same width too.

I would say if youve not been wedding ring shopping yet - go! try on some sparkly and plain and see which you fall in love with

Both my sister in laws have wedding rings with diamonds in and they look amazing and so i really wanted one... however when i tried one on i thought it drew attention away from my Enagamement ring and it just looked like a 'mass of bling' on my hand that your couldn't differentiate between.

Also my SIL's have to take their wedding ring off when doing any harsh housework/DIY in case they knock the diamonds/ring.

In the end i have gone for a flat pl

I have tried a few of each sort on and just couldn't make a decision - we are going to go ring shopping again in December - I am hoping that when I see them on my hand I'll know which one feels right - I just worry about the practicality of things more than I should!

I just feel so torn by something that should be a relatively easy decision!!!

This is a concern of mine - as I don't want to ever take my wedding ring off and I worry if I have diamonds in it, that I'll be worrying about it all the time! I just can't stop thinking about how pretty wedding bands look with diamonds in though!

I might just stop trying to think about them and just wait until we go shopping again and see how I feel!

Hi Sparkly Bear, I work for a company that designs and handmakes jewellery.

We do loads of wedding bands with diamonds. It's true that over a period of time they can look duller, but this can be helped! Having them cleaned every so often at the jewellers helps (I know you don't want to ever take it off, but you some jewellers offer same day cleaning etc). But inbetween those times, when you're at home, a mug of warm water with some Fairy liquid, leave to soak for a while and give a gentle scrub with an old toothbrush. That will get most of the surface dirt/creams/lotions etc off and make the diamonds shiny again.

Also, we've designed a band especially so that there are no little holes behind the diamonds. This means that nothing can get stuck behind them, causing them to look dull. Anything on the top is much easier to wipe off yourself.

So that might be something you could ask some questions about when ring shopping. I've got a couple of rings with no holes behind the stones (perks of the job!) and the diamonds stay looking great.

Alo, something else to consider. If the band is just plain metal, it will eventually get some scratches, dents etc just from normal wear and tear. Some people don't mind this at all, as they think it's a sign of how long they've been married. But if you want it to stay looking pristine for as long as poss, then scratches on plain metal are harder to get out than dirt on diamonds.

It's really personal preference though, and what feels right with your engagement ring!

Your wedding ring will last a lifetime, so make sure it's something you're happy with!!

I suppose there is the practical side, I don't intend on taking mine off either but never considered the diamonds getting mucky...mind you I wear my engagement ring for washing up n cooking etc, only take it off for DIY and gardening n that's survived a year so far! And as it says above if it looks a bit dull or slightly scuffed it just means it's well loved and worn :-D when you go in December just go with your gut, you'll know which you prefer!! Enjoy shopping for it!

ETA Im also quite interested in seeing peoples engagement/wedding ring combos as my jewellers has just emailed me a photo of my ER next to the wax mould that'll be used to make the wedding ring and I cant decide if it looks too wide...I was expecting it to be much narrower...

I've gone for diamonds in my wedding band as I can't resist anything sparkly, and it looks lovely with my new sparkly engagement ring!

The company I bought my wedding ring from offered us free cleaning and re-polishing for the lifetime of the ring, which is one of the reasons I was happy to have diamonds in a white gold band as I knew should it ever get a little dull or mucky I can have it fixed by a professional

It might be worth asking around to see what after-care jewelry companies offer if you're worried about how it will look in future

x

Diamonds don't dull. It's the build up of dirt on top and underneath that dulls the sparkle. Clean them and they are as good as new. Metal though does scratch sometimes quite badly, but can be easily polished to return the lustre. Taking your rings off when doing messy or hard things is obviously the best idea but if you're like me, I've usually dollopedaload of handcream onmy hands, started to run and gone" Oh bu**er.." lol

I currently, and will always, wear my mums wedding ring, 18ct yellow gold, which she wore for 55 years. It is not at all mishapen and has a lovely look to it with the very light scratches it has. Luckliy there's no signficant marks on it at all. In fact it looks perfect all round. My grandma's rings on the other hand, excuse the pun, were mishapen and more obviously marked. I think there is an element of quality. My gran's rings were quite fine - not much money. My mum's while not chunky, is thicker which has helped it stand the test of time.

I was adamant I wanted an eternity type wedding band as I LOVE sparkle and have never had an eternity ring and so want one - yes get your violins out lol, but when I put one next to my ER which has a lovely bright diamond in it, it just didn't look right. I put on a plain platinum band it made my ER look even more amazing so plain band it was. I haver gone for a heavy weight ring to help it keep its shape etc over the years. I will get a tiny narrow eternity ring at some stage though but it will have to be narrow as my fingers are so small

hth

x

I'm not going to be wearing my ER with my WR as it's such an awkward shape so wanted my WR to be a bit more interesting than a plain band but no too much. Spotted a carved ring which looks as if it sparkles but doesn't have any diamonds if that makes sense.

You can just about see it in my avatar with my ER.

I fell in love with a similar ring to this when I saw it in a second-hand shop months before OH and I even got engaged. OH was going to buy it for me for Xmas until he discovered the price lol. Completely by chance, we went into a bespoke jewellers, showed him a photo of it from my phone, and it turned out he had actually designed the ring for a company in Hatton Garden! So, he's making it for me for a discount price. It's 18ct white gold and has 42 diamonds. I won't be able to wear my engagement ring next to it, so I'll move that to my right hand after the wedding.

Of course, since then we've discovered that we have to bring forward having children to before the wedding, and this wouldn't be the easiest ring to enlarge, so I'm going to spend the next 2.5 years hoping I don't put any weight on around my fingers!

Hello all!

Thank you for all your advice! You have all chosen some very gorgeous rings!!! After reading all of the comments about how the rings look and the aftercare of them, I am leaning towards having one with sparkly diamonds in! The place my OH bought my ER from offer a polishing service as we took my ER ring there as I somehow scratched it, and it came up lovely and shiny!

I have a week off work in November and I think I'll take some pictures of the rings on my fingers this time so that I can sit and look at them when back at home and mull the decision over! I just didn't think I'd find this decision as difficult as it is! I thought I'd worry more over the shades of flowers not matching dresses or something! xx

There is some good info here http://bit.ly/1vFytq9 about how to choose your wedding ring including which metals, shapes and gemstones to use.

Argh! My phone just won't let me flash today! My engagement ring is shaped, with three sapphires and pave set diamonds either side, so I knew I needed a shaped wedding ring. Ive ended up with a pave set wedding ring to match, very delicate diamonds, I love it

Got it!

My engagement ring belonged to OH's grandmother, so until we went shopping for my wedding ring, he had still never actually bought me any jewellery!!

As the ring is 1920s, and not originally designed as an ER, it's an interesting design, with a small solitaire flanked by flat platinum shoulders set with small rose cut (i.e. no triangular base, just the "top" of a modern diamond cut) diamonds set amongst engraving. Against that platinum, the ring itself is yellow gold.

I'd always thought I would have a plain wedding band, but because of the platinum, a yellow gold ring didn't work very well with it (I could have got away with it but it wasn't making my heart leap!)

I started looking at eternity style rings in jewellers, and found some nice ones where the sparkle of the stones helped to match up to the platinum colour. But then OH suggested that we get the local jeweller who'd resized my ER to design a wedding ring for us. And it is the best (only? ?) idea he has had in the wedding planning process. I now have a custom designed yellow gold ring, with 5 platinum sections around it so that it doesn't matter if the ring spins, it will still match the ER, each with engraving and 2 small diamonds to match the shoulders .

I can't wait to get it on!

With regard to keeping the sparkle, if getting a jeweller to polish is a faff, you can home clean tops of diamonds with tiny amount of toothpaste and soft toothbrush, or get one of those jewellery cleaner soak kits which will also help bring the lustre back to gold or silver.

I looked in the window of the jewelers that my ER came from, at the same 'collection' and chose it straight away. I had no idea it was the matching wedding ring to my engagement ring, I just loved that it was full of diamonds, and when I put it on with my ring, I just fell in love. Didn't care about the price!

I tried on others, but they didnt come close.....

Hello Ladies,

Thank you all for your comments and flashes of gorgeous rings!

I am happy to say that we went ring shopping on Wednesday and I have bought my wedding ring! I am so over the moon and it wasn't at all what I thought I'd be picking!

i have gone for a Platinum band with diamonds 60% of the way round it! It looks something like this.....

My OH also sorted his too! Although I don't have a picture as it's being made for him!

Im so happy it's sorted! Can't wait to wear it now!!!!!

Xxx

That's great stuff - fab when you find what you want Gorgeous ring x

First time round I had a plain band and I thought I would this time as well. Then we went shopping. Fiance said he wanted me to try a diamond ring against my engagement ring to see how it looked. I tried one on and it just worked. He later told me he was glad I'd picked the diamond one as he wanted me to have really sparkly rings to represent the sparkle I've brought to his life since we met. <passes a bucket round> ?

These are my rings: