Unique Ruby Engagement Rings?
January 19, 2014 12:55 PM Subscribe
I need help finding a ruby ring in a non-traditional but still engagement-ish setting. Ideally, the metal needs to be white-gold, unless you guys can recommend something sturdier/hypoallergenic that also has that silver-y color.
This previous AskMe has been a great resource, only replace "sapphire" with "ruby." Even the budget is about right (but we can stretch it a bit higher if need be).
I'm totally fine with lab-created stones, but not okay with diamonds, because of ethical reasons. Help me out, please?
What do you mean by "non-traditional but still engagement-ish"? We found my engagement ring, a ruby solitaire from 1937, at an antiques market for $130. The price of gold has skyrocketed since then, but antiques markets are a great place to look.
You can also search for white gold ring settings, and purchase a stone separately. So many contemporary rings have a couple of tiny little chip diamonds thrown into them for no clear reason; this might be your best bet. Just from Google -- I make no endorsement, stated or implied, about this seller -- I found this page of white gold solitaire engagement settings, which are definitely inside your price range, and you can buy a lab-created ruby online (or I have bought them from ebay for startlingly tiny prices, but as always with ebay, caveat emptor!) to go into it.
posted by KathrynT at 1:07 PM on January 19, 2014
You can also search for white gold ring settings, and purchase a stone separately. So many contemporary rings have a couple of tiny little chip diamonds thrown into them for no clear reason; this might be your best bet. Just from Google -- I make no endorsement, stated or implied, about this seller -- I found this page of white gold solitaire engagement settings, which are definitely inside your price range, and you can buy a lab-created ruby online (or I have bought them from ebay for startlingly tiny prices, but as always with ebay, caveat emptor!) to go into it.
posted by KathrynT at 1:07 PM on January 19, 2014
Response by poster: Sorry, what I meant by non-traditional is that I like rings like this one, or that one, both of which have a little detail/scrollwork along the sides instead of something like this one, which has no real "focal point" stone.
I also quite like this one, except for the fact that I really, really hate heart-shaped stones. Having one big stone surrounded by smaller accent stones if necessary is something that strikes me as very engagement-ish.
Okay, hope that's enough clarification.
posted by PearlRose at 1:18 PM on January 19, 2014
I also quite like this one, except for the fact that I really, really hate heart-shaped stones. Having one big stone surrounded by smaller accent stones if necessary is something that strikes me as very engagement-ish.
Okay, hope that's enough clarification.
posted by PearlRose at 1:18 PM on January 19, 2014
FYI: White gold tends to have a yellow cast which I personally don't like. Palladium is a silver-tone metal that is much less expensive that platinum, yet is still beautiful and durable. You should check out this guide for a comparison of different white-tone metals used in rings. I found it very useful.
posted by turniphead at 1:20 PM on January 19, 2014
posted by turniphead at 1:20 PM on January 19, 2014
For me, titanium is the most beautiful of metals. YMMV.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 1:29 PM on January 19, 2014
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 1:29 PM on January 19, 2014
This place is in Toronto, Canada but dammit I love their rings.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 2:58 PM on January 19, 2014
posted by St. Peepsburg at 2:58 PM on January 19, 2014
Just a word of advice against white gold, a lot of white gold jewelry does contain nickel and is not hypoallergenic.
posted by inertia at 3:01 PM on January 19, 2014
posted by inertia at 3:01 PM on January 19, 2014
I got mine off etsy, scroll down for the picture. I just searched for vintage engagement rings till I saw what appealed to me. I just put "ruby" in the search bar,then clicked over to jewelry, then rings and saw a lot that you might like.
posted by stormygrey at 3:20 PM on January 19, 2014
posted by stormygrey at 3:20 PM on January 19, 2014
Platinum is a great white metal and is very good if you are rough with jewelry. It is much stronger than gold.
There are certified conflict free diamonds available which are mined in Canada.
This jeweler does wonderful work which is very wearable. She excels in custom designs.
If you aren't totally tied to a ruby you may want to investigate really good garnets - not the sort from Zales, etc. High quality garnets have a wide range of colors and often have more depth and fire than a comparably priced ruby.
posted by cat_link at 3:50 PM on January 19, 2014
There are certified conflict free diamonds available which are mined in Canada.
This jeweler does wonderful work which is very wearable. She excels in custom designs.
If you aren't totally tied to a ruby you may want to investigate really good garnets - not the sort from Zales, etc. High quality garnets have a wide range of colors and often have more depth and fire than a comparably priced ruby.
posted by cat_link at 3:50 PM on January 19, 2014
I recommend Ruby Lane and Etsy for antique pieces with a lot of non-traditional character and minimal ethical footprint. I didn't want a diamond, either, and I found mine (well, fingers crossed!) on Ruby Lane.
Unfortunately I think most antique pieces are in gold. Though I'm browsing Ruby Lane with "silver ruby ring" now as search terms and there are some truly special ones on there.
OMG stormygrey that's beautiful.
posted by Sayuri. at 4:13 PM on January 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Unfortunately I think most antique pieces are in gold. Though I'm browsing Ruby Lane with "silver ruby ring" now as search terms and there are some truly special ones on there.
OMG stormygrey that's beautiful.
posted by Sayuri. at 4:13 PM on January 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
This isn't online, but we got my ring from Tallahassee Diamond Center, over in Market Square. Their name doesn't sound that useful to you, but they actually had lots of unique settings and colored gemstones, and were really flexible and helpful with helping me find the Tsavorite garnet I wanted as a center stone.
posted by bizzyb at 4:47 PM on January 19, 2014
posted by bizzyb at 4:47 PM on January 19, 2014
I got mine from antiqueengagementrings.com/Leigh Jay Nacht in New York. The shipping and everything was perfectly fine and they were great to deal with.
We got a setting, not a full ring, so you could do just about anything in it (we used my husband's mom's stone). I get so, so many compliments. NOBODY has a ring like mine.
The prices listed on the site are for platinum, but mine is in white gold and cost quite a bit less.
posted by Madamina at 5:21 PM on January 19, 2014
We got a setting, not a full ring, so you could do just about anything in it (we used my husband's mom's stone). I get so, so many compliments. NOBODY has a ring like mine.
The prices listed on the site are for platinum, but mine is in white gold and cost quite a bit less.
posted by Madamina at 5:21 PM on January 19, 2014
We got our wedding bands from Metalicious on Etsy; highly recommend.
posted by melissasaurus at 5:23 PM on January 19, 2014
posted by melissasaurus at 5:23 PM on January 19, 2014
I got my ring from here the site is great because it lets you pick a design and customize the metal and the stone. I have a palladium ring with an aquamarine stone. But I easily could have gotten a ruby and white gold metal. Congrats!
posted by Jaelma24 at 5:31 PM on January 19, 2014
posted by Jaelma24 at 5:31 PM on January 19, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
-Would prefer an online resource.
-We're in Tallahassee/North FL area if you do know of any amazing local places.
-Budget is about $1k, but we can add $500+ to it if I really, really like something.
posted by PearlRose at 1:00 PM on January 19, 2014