I don't know, I think a lot of it has to do with the setting and who's wearing it. For example, I have two co-workers who have rings of almost exactly the same carat-weight (right around 1ct). One is a teeny-tiny thing, and the stone is set in a very modern setting with a lot of "extra metal" around it. We sometimes joke that we think she is going to fall over one day from having that ring on her hand.

The other co-worker is a "woman of size", and has a very classic, rather delicate setting, and her stone appears a lot smaller than the other girl's.

Personally, I like coworker #2's ring better... even though it looks rather small on her, I think generally it's a nice looking ring and flattering to the stone.

I expect that my ring will be at least a carat. I don't think that a 1 carat ring is flashy at all.

My boy is an engineer, so he's got "issues" with things not being even, so he indicated that he was going to go for the full 1.5 rather than have a wierd number.

That's more than I expected - but I did want at least a carat.

And I want a very simple 6-prong tiffany setting, so any size stone looks good in that

We went shoppingn together in November, but we're not engaged yet. He wanted to get an idea of what I wanted and then is going to surprise me with it. It was a comprimise between him wanting total surprise and me wanting to pick it out.

I don't either! I honestly don't think 2 carats is too gaudy if set right. I love the princess cut diamond set in white gold/platinum. I have my image of my "dream ring", but I would NEVER fix my mouth to say "Don't bother if it's not". Too me, the question for me (if I was the man) would then be what happened to the love?

~~~~~
Have any of you ever gone to www.adiamondisforever.com and designed your own ring? It's so fun!

Here's mine :p :http://www.adiamondisforever.com/dyo...03_6_5_B_S.jpg

My thoughts exactly.

White gold or Platinum only
Round or Princess cut w baguettes preferable, but love solitaire too.
Good quality.

Don't care about size, well, as long as you can SEE it. My cousin's ring is about 1/4 carat and--really, its just too small, the band overpowers the stone and to me, they should balance each other out or the stone should be bigger. 1 or 2 carat would be MY choice if money was no object, only because I LOVE diamonds, not because I HAVE to have it. Probably 1 carat better on my, my fingers are long and very thin.

GORGEOUS!

my friends recently went shopping for rings. the sales person talked about upgrading to a larger diamond in a few years and my friend thought it was soooooooooo tacky! of course, her bf wants to get her a ring that is bigger than she wants...lol.

for people who get married young or while financially unstable, being able to upgrade later is a good option. my friend's parents were married quickly b4 her dad left for vietnam and he was only able to afford a very small ring. years later....after becoming a very successful accountant, he purchased a much larger engagement ring and gave it to her mom.

Hehehe . . . :D

I will fully admit to being materialistic. It's not like I'm saying I don't have standards for my future engagement ring. It had better be platinum! And the diamond has to be good quality. But as for the size . . . as someone who rarely wears jewelry and never wears anything flashy (and as someone who has delicate hands, lol!), a 2-carat diamond would look ridiculous on me.

I love this topic, it's so girly.

what about the classic Tiffany's ring? the solid little band with that diamond?

in november during the christmas season the wall street journal was advertising a different ring each week, and oh god i fell in love and told my guy.

our three month is next month and we're going on vacation together and i keep thinking in my mind, how sweet it would be to receive a ring then, but i don't think he's ready yet, but that's ok. when he comes to his sense he knows what i want :D

Shopping? Who said anything about shopping for a ring?? You girls are lucky!

TKE209 is making my ring...that's what you get when you're with an artist...plus it'll make it much more special :) :) :)

But, he knows what I want.
White gold, 1.5 carat princess cut diamond (it'd be nice..) with my birthstone (ruby) and his (blue topaz) on both sides as accents.

Rumor is I'll be getting it either the end of this year...or next year in July... (<---special day that month..)

I defend my right to have an engagement ring with a smaller diamond... hey, he was a poor starving grad student at the time :p

And, for the record, it is from Tiffany & Co. ;)

2 Carats eh?

-Rudey
--She better have D cups that don't sag.

Oh Tiffany & Co. I am 'shopping' on their website right now with a ring in mind. Now if only I could meet Mr. Right.

-Cream
--I am a perky C cup. :)

LOL, you can tell this is a girl dominated site. This is a long thread really fast lol.

Randomly: If I were shooping for a diamond for my SO. I would probably take another lady with impeccable taste with me to pick out a few and them make the final decision. But it would have to go with the general style the SO liked.

Size ALWAYS matters :p .

This is a great idea--I have been with a few guy friends when they selected rings-- in one case it was a huge help--he was 24, she was 18--he picked out a "cute" ring--- after explaining the ring was nice--but at 40 would she want that ring. He agreed and got something (still in his price range) but a less of the "promise ring" look. She was thrilled with the ring.

And on the subject of demanding a bigger ring-- my husband and I know a guy who proposed with a half carat ring-- the girl said, "yes, BUT only if you return that thing and get me something that shows you love me" He actually took the ring back and got her a 1.5 carat ring!!! I would have kicked her ass to the curb!! But needless to say--they are divorced now!!!

-wendi