Talk me out of an engagement ring upgrade
- Thread starter guccilover21
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This. I agree. If money is no object, get the emerald cut but keep your original. If you don't love the emerald cut as much as the round, then wear the emerald on your right hand, or wear it on fancy-dinner night with a fabulous dress.
If money IS an object, then I would suggest keeping the money for something else altogether like a romantic trip. Or, like was also previously mentioned, spend that money on a different eternity band. The one you have looks a little tight and maybe smaller in scale than the engagement ring and could maybe be a smidge bigger and looser (although that might just be the way it looks in the photo. Maybe it fits perfectly irl, I'm not sure).
If you are planning on funding the purchase of the new ring by selling the original or using it as a trade-in, then I would say, do NOT get the emerald cut. Keep what you have. You love it, it fits well, isn't too small or too large, and has emotional value. If you regret it, you can't get it back. On the other hand, if after a few months, you find yourself so focused on the emerald cut that you are starting to fall out of love with your original ring, you can always go to the store and buy an emerald cut at that time.
I also think that a larger emerald cut will not suit your hands as well as what you have now. The rectangular shape's straight lines would not look as nice on your specific hands as the circle does. I feel that the sharp, dramatic lines of the emerald cut are best worn on hands that also have some angularity to them. Otherwise, the stone can overwhelm the hands and you have a case of "the jewelry wearing you rather than you wearing the jewelry." Also, I worry that a stone that is any larger than what you have, will be too large for your hands. An emerald cut would perhaps come too far up your knuckle and start to overwhelm your hand.
I honestly think the ring you have now is absolutely perfect for you. Both the size and shape are perfect for your hands. If you must change or add something, I would get a bigger eternity band.
Best of luck with whatever you choose! Great "problem" to have for sure!! Please let us know what you choose to do!
Thanks for your well thought out reply! This picture was taken when I had swollen hands from pregnancy. Normally the eternity fits me fine. But I do like the idea of a new eternity. Do you think one slightly thicker would suit my hand? And I like your analysis about angularity and emeralds. I never thought about that. Do you feel an oval/round is better for my hand type? Thanks so much for taking the time!
Pregnancy does lovely things to our bodies doesn't it? My ankles would occasionally swell with one of my pregnancies, but not the other. Go figure. So odd. LOL
You have the hand type that I've always envied, very feminine and no hard lines. I've had bony old lady hands since I was 12. You can see every vein and tendon in them. The only upside is that I can wear large, angular, or odd shaped rings and they just add to the eccentric look. Ah well. We take what we get I suppose.
So, I do think that your hands look very elegant with a round or possibly oval shape. I really do think the ring you have is already perfect. I can't imagine a way to improve it. It's already a beautiful shape and size. You really can't go wrong with a simple, classic solitaire. It is timeless. Plus, it's the original engagement ring is that correct? I would imagine there must be a lot of emotional attachment there.
If the eternity band fits you fine, I can think of a few options.
One thing that might modernize the whole set a bit more while still keeping it very classic and timeless, would be to change the solitaire band to be flatter (similar to the one shown below). This would keep the two rings more flush with each other and looking like more of a set together. While this would probably be relatively minimal in cost, it would also be a subtle change and you may be looking to make more of a splash.
Another option is to get on the stacked band trend and keep your current eternity band and solitaire, plus add a different shaped eternity band to the set, like in this pic:
Or go with a different shape altogether like this, as long as the overall size didn't take up too much of your joint. I like this option the least for your hands, but I saw it and thought I'd show you in case it suits you.
Or reset the original diamond into a new band that also has diamonds AND get a new eternity band with round diamonds like this one. This is an option that I think would look particularly nice on your hand. Note that the diamonds in the eternity band are larger than the ones in the other picture above, because this is only one band with the solitaire rather than two, so it needs to be larger to avoid looking scant.
For the options to revise and/or add onto your eternity band, that has the added benefit of being less expensive and probably less emotional than changing out your solitaire. The solitaire itself is classic. As I said earlier, there's nothing about a round diamond that can go out of style. It's the stuff around it that can look dated, but luckily, that is also less expensive to swap out every 10 - 20 years if it does start to a bit out of style. I don't know if you're old enough to remember "wraps" in the 90s, but I have a lot friends that still wear theirs and boy do some of those look seriously outdated by today's standards.
If you did swap out the eternity bands in the future, you could either use it as trade in or move it to your other hand if you wanted to keep everything.
You have the hand type that I've always envied, very feminine and no hard lines. I've had bony old lady hands since I was 12. You can see every vein and tendon in them. The only upside is that I can wear large, angular, or odd shaped rings and they just add to the eccentric look. Ah well. We take what we get I suppose.
So, I do think that your hands look very elegant with a round or possibly oval shape. I really do think the ring you have is already perfect. I can't imagine a way to improve it. It's already a beautiful shape and size. You really can't go wrong with a simple, classic solitaire. It is timeless. Plus, it's the original engagement ring is that correct? I would imagine there must be a lot of emotional attachment there.
If the eternity band fits you fine, I can think of a few options.
One thing that might modernize the whole set a bit more while still keeping it very classic and timeless, would be to change the solitaire band to be flatter (similar to the one shown below). This would keep the two rings more flush with each other and looking like more of a set together. While this would probably be relatively minimal in cost, it would also be a subtle change and you may be looking to make more of a splash.
Another option is to get on the stacked band trend and keep your current eternity band and solitaire, plus add a different shaped eternity band to the set, like in this pic:
Or go with a different shape altogether like this, as long as the overall size didn't take up too much of your joint. I like this option the least for your hands, but I saw it and thought I'd show you in case it suits you.
Or reset the original diamond into a new band that also has diamonds AND get a new eternity band with round diamonds like this one. This is an option that I think would look particularly nice on your hand. Note that the diamonds in the eternity band are larger than the ones in the other picture above, because this is only one band with the solitaire rather than two, so it needs to be larger to avoid looking scant.
For the options to revise and/or add onto your eternity band, that has the added benefit of being less expensive and probably less emotional than changing out your solitaire. The solitaire itself is classic. As I said earlier, there's nothing about a round diamond that can go out of style. It's the stuff around it that can look dated, but luckily, that is also less expensive to swap out every 10 - 20 years if it does start to a bit out of style. I don't know if you're old enough to remember "wraps" in the 90s, but I have a lot friends that still wear theirs and boy do some of those look seriously outdated by today's standards.
If you did swap out the eternity bands in the future, you could either use it as trade in or move it to your other hand if you wanted to keep everything.
Oh my goodness pregnancy just plain sucks! I swear my fingers have become wider even though I lost all the weight. Rings don’t fit on my middle or pointer anymore.
You have convinced me to keep my lovely round diamond that is super sentimental to me that I love. Thanks so much! The way you put things really made me think and appreciate what I already have. But I will be getting a new eternity band for a little bit more wow factor! I’ll update here when I get it!
P.s. the way you’ve described your fingers is exactly the look I always wanted as a girl and young adult. Funny how we are never happy with what we have!
I'm so happy that I was helpful! Yay! I'm so excited to see what you end up picking! There are so many pretty options with eternity bands now! 
The only people who ever like my hands with these ginormous veins and nearly translucent skin are phlebotomists. LOL!!
The only people who ever like my hands with these ginormous veins and nearly translucent skin are phlebotomists. LOL!!
Hi guys,
In case anyone is interested in the outcome of this. Hubby ended up surprising me with a slightly bigger round. He knows rounds are my favourite! Here is the set I wear now. 2.5ct round solitaire on a 4 prong for a change.
In case anyone is interested in the outcome of this. Hubby ended up surprising me with a slightly bigger round. He knows rounds are my favourite! Here is the set I wear now. 2.5ct round solitaire on a 4 prong for a change.
As a side note do you guys think I need a spacer band in between? I’ve read that the eternity ring diamonds can eat away at the metal of the ER and loosen the diamond. However I’ve never seen this in any rings I’ve ever worn.
I'd ask the jeweler who made the ring. My ring can be stacked, but my first e-ring could not.
Hi! Your ring looks so beautiful! My 2 cents is coming from this… I have a 4ct EC “2x upgrade” and I love it! My original and 2nd were both EC’s. Clearly that is my favorite. If you are looking for an upgrade for “size” I’m not sure you will necessarily get that w a 2ct compared to your beautiful brilliant. EC’s face up smaller than Rounds and also for their carat weight. My original was a 1.32 and my 2nd was a 2.3 and it was not a huge difference. The 4ct is def bigger but it’s not what you would think of as a 4ct. Large albeit but not ginormous by any means. A 4ct round would be! So my long winded answer was more being stuck on the “upgrade” as opposed to the “EC” shape. If you do not mind that it will be comparable in size- then I would get the EC if that’s what your heart desires. Ps. If you can keep your original- all the better in case you think you may change your mind. Let us know!
