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It IS a fabulous diamond, and it looks great on your hand! I love the prongs -- I have a 4-prong round solitaire, too, and I like the way yours are pointed. :)
You got a quality diamond to match your quality relationship. Rather than get something you couldn't afford, and rather than get a diamond with poor quality, you opted for high quality diamond that didn't interfere with your future by putting a huge burden on your financial situation. If you ask me, that just shows that you have a quality relationship, and that is worth WAY more than having a big diamond right now.
In a few years, or whenever you're ready, you guys can perhaps go out and get an upgrade? Maybe you can find a diamond that makes you feel the WOW factor, but at that point you'll still have your stable quality relationship! It seems like if you went with the bigger diamond now, it would betray the stability of the relationship in some ways. Just my two cents
We all kinda get ring envy I think, it's normal. That said, you've got a great ring and I really like it! Congrats!
Don't feel bad about having mixed feelings about your ring. There is a huge social pressure to supersize everything these days. I think your ring is beautiful. It is classic and timeless and fantastic quality. It may be smaller than some of your friends rings, but the most likely have sacrificed on colour and clarity for carat. So their 1 carat rock might be bigger, but yours can still blind people from the other side of the room!
If it is really bothering you later down the track you could upgrade to a larger diamond, or maybe a different setting with side stones or a halo. Or perhaps get blingy wedding bands for either side.
Either way, don't feel bad. The real prize is the man you love, asking you to spend the rest of your life with him. The ring is just a bonus really.
I think at some point most women feel this way. I had the same issue but mine is a family heirloom so he didn't have a choice int he size. He says he would've love to have given me a much bigger one.
Maybe if you look at your ring and think "delicate" instead of "small" this may help. Sounds corny but it helps. Getting a wedding band that outshines e-ring might help but it may take away from it too. I think your ring is so pretty just the way it is and stands against your skin beautifully.
This is my set and my e-ring stone is .43 ct but everyone says it looks much bigger due to my band since it doesn't overpower my deliciate little e-ring. I have to say I'm now extremely happy with what I have.
DSCN0524.JPG (89.1 KB, 60 downloads) 1 year old 
I think your ring is beautiful! I had some doubts about my ring after a friend got a much larger one a couple months later. I had to remind myself how excited I was when I first got it and remember looking at it and thinking it was larger than I thought we would be able to afford. Then I also think in 5 years I will still love my ring and the size will no longer be the most important thing to me.
I love the setting but who cares what other people think. You both picked it out together and you got a good quality diamond. As long as you love it that's what matters.
My FI and I decided that I wouldn't get an engagement ring - financial reasons and all that. We're paying for our wedding ourselves and are putting the money that we would have spent on the diamond towards the reception costs. We have picked out a beautiful wedding band with diamonds all the way around and I'm happy with that. We've talked about maybe for our 5 or 10 year anniversary picking out a diamond that we can afford that will match the wedding band.
So....maybe that's what you can look forward to - pick out a wedding band that you love, has some bling and will go with your engagement ring and 5 or 10 years down the road see if a jeweler can add some diamond around your engagement ring - although, like I said I think it's beautiful as is.
My stone is also tiny, but, like notasaint, it's an heirloom. Is upgrading to a bigger stone at a later aniversary an option for you?
Oh thanks all this has been a God-sent website coz I was tearing my hair out and starting to annoy my bestfriend and my mum who were all starting to make me sound ungrateful. xx
Weirdly enough I love my FI too much to try and nag about this anytime soon. He has said that when he is more financially secure he will get a bigger rock. Its wierd though because that also makes me feel so spoilt and ungrateful that I am not as grateful as I should be. Dilemma Dilemma
PS Notasaint, your ring is lovely and the band makes it more beautiful.
i think it looks great! and its really not about the size of the stone, its the man who gave it to you.
if nothing else, give it a couple years and if you still want an upgrade, perhaps you will be in a better financial position to do so. or like one of the bees said before, you can get a more intricate wedding band to offset the ring.
ring envy is common though, dont let it get you down! :)
I think it's beautiful - but don't feel bad about wanting something bigger, 'cause a lot of women do. My advice would be to wait a while and maybe talk to your fiance about upgrading in a few years for an anniversary gift or something!
I also love the suggestion of getting a sparkly band - that would help a lot!
I think your stone looks great in the setting; very beautiful quality as well. I think the other posters have great ideas regarding bands. Maybe you could do stackable rings to emphasize the prettiness of your e-ring? Either way, I think it looks lovely!
I far prefer my small pretty diamond to a larger, less flashy one. Enjoy looking at the sparkles and you won't mind the size. Add and sparkly band like notasaint and you'll be set!
I think your ring looks pretty big! The delicate band really makes the stone pop. And it's gorgeous!
I actually think your ring is beautiful but I understand where you are coming from. I think I agree with many ladies...to just get an upgrade later when your SO can afford more...and maybe you can even help with the cost and then you can get whatever you want ;) If you're not happy with it...then you're not happy with it...other people telling you its beautiful when your not happy with it isnt really going to change your opinion I dont think.
i don't have any advice to add, but i wanted to say i think your ring is beautiful!!
I think it's beautiful. I love the analogy that Marinara gave. You don't want something that is poor quality.
I had a similar situation when buying my ring. I could have gotten a MUCH bigger diamond for what he spent, but instead went with the >1ct, IF, E-color diamond. I am so much happier that we went with what I have. I get complimented all the time on how sparkly it is. I have a round solitaire with a simple setting, too.
I'll admit, I'm one of those girls that has no clue whatsoever about quality/color/cut about diamonds...My DH was the smarty pants on that one. But, I can say (according to him lol) that my diamond is like yours...excellent quality, clarity, etc. And if it were up to me, I'd want to pay more for the quality than the quantity so to speak. So, I think you got an awesome ring there! I have a .5 carot, so definitely not huge by any means. When we got my band, just a plane platinum band, no sparklers, it definitely made my diamond look way bigger than it had before. The optical illusion of having that skinny band next to the diamond just made it pop! Also, maybe you guys will be able to get a band w/ diamonds that will add a little bit more bling! I think my DH and I might upgrade our bands someday when we can afford it. But, I do love your ring and think it's beautiful. Solitaires are my favorite!!!
Quality v. carat size is always a tradeoff. Your ring is very pretty! But if you do want bigger and your store has a trade-in policy, here is how you could make it work: Personally, I think that lowering the clarity of the stone doesn't really change how people see it (after looking at tons and tons of diamonds). VVSI is very very high clarity for a small stone like that. VS2 would be fine, and let you put more toward carat size. Inclusions at VS2 level, if I'm rightoff the top of my head, are hard to see with the naked eye. Same thing for color, within a certain range. You could get away with an F color diamond. Putting both of those together would leave you with some real wiggle room on size!
An excellent cut is really the most important thing in a diamond, as it most effects how the light is reflected back at the viewer of the diamond. Never compromise on the cut. I've seen a diamond with less clarity and substantially more yellow (we are talking H color here) look amazing because of the ideal cut compared to one that was much more expensive (14K v 20K).
I think your ring is elegant and classic. When I saw your picture, the first thing I thought was that it was beautiful. Your setting really shows off the stone, and there's no fussiness to distract from your gorgeous diamond.
i like it, upgrade later if it still bothers you then. but most people who say they will upgrade never actually do - life gets in the way and you have more important things to spend money on like kids.
You're ring looks lovely on you and it doesn't look small to me. It fits your hand very well. If the size really bothers you that much, maybe later on when you're both more financially stable you could upgrade the diamond to a bigger size. One of my co-workers did that for his wife for their ten year anniversary. He said that at the time he wished he could have gotten her something bigger because she meant so much to him but it was all he could afford. He then told me that even though they've been together for ten years, he still feels the same way about her if not more and since he was financially stable he stole her ring and switched the diamond to surprise her.
Ultimately, the size of the rock doesn't matter, it's the love that you both have for one another that does.
My brother had the dilemma of buying his future wife a high grade small diamond or a lesser-grade larger one. I advised him to go with the nicer, smaller stone. It was a lovely ring and his wife eventually traded up to a bigger one. I'd say be happy with that gorgeous, firey stone (and the sweet man who gave it to you) and start saving for the ring of your dreams. Maybe by your 5th anniversary (or sooner) that diamond will be one of the side stones in your new ring, or you can add a halo or something to enhance that one. Enjoy!
It's a beautiful ring! If you want it to look larger, get a wedding band that wraps around it... kind of like this:
I was in the same situation as you (including having a FI as a PhD student)! My ring took weeks to get fitted (Tiffany only fits rings in New York). I have a small center diamond (.42) and many other friends have much larger. However, I have a F color and VVS1 clarity. My FI would always joke as we were passing by discount jewelry stores, "we can go in there and get you a 3 carat ring." I know that I would be sacrificing quality over quantity and I never gave it a second thought. I really am happy that I have a quality diamond and I know that "my diamond is superlative" (as the Tiffany ad says). You have a beautiful ring, and you will always know that it is of the highest quality, literally flawless to the naked eye (and through a 10x microscope when looking at it from the top). Congratulations!
I have a [fairly] small diamond but the clarity and color are both excellent...honestly, when we went ring shopping I prefered the 'petite' diamond for my relatively petite hands. The one carats looked like they were taking over my hand. My wedding ring is a fairly simple band...but just makes my diamond 'pop'. I appreciate the bigger, flashier diamonds...but they are so not me. I loooove my ring--just as I love yours (very very similar to mine)! :)
PS: I've gotten many comments from jewelers (when I went shopping for wedding bands, gotten my ring cleaned, etc) that have commented that it is 'one of the most perfect solitaires they've ever seen!' Honestly, I'd rather that than a 'Whoa, that's humongous!!'
ring.jpg (39.3 KB, 50 downloads) 1 year old 
Just because a diamond is a lower color grade or isn't internally flawless does not mean that it is of poor quality! I'm getting kind of tired of seeing this type of misconception!
If the look of a larger stone is more your style, there is nothing wrong with wanting that! Generally, that means choosing a stone with a lower color grade, and going down in clarity grading, to a point. I personally see it as such a waste to spend all that extra money on a colorless-graded, super high clarity stone, when the truth is -- most people cannot tell the difference between a D and an H (unless the stone is huge), and stones are almost always eye-clean (meaning, NO visible inclusions/flaws unless under a microscope) at a VS2, and often an SI1 or SI2! The single most influential "C" when it comes to a diamond's performance and overall quality is CUT. An ideally-cut J SI2 can easily appear sparklier, brighter, and whiter, than a "colorless" (D-F) IF stone of lesser cut quality. Also, many people prefer the look of a "warmer" colored stone -- especially with colored gold!
Whew! Now that my tutorial/rant is through... I just wanted to assure you that no, you are not being snotty or unreasonable for preferring a larger stone. If that is more your style, and if your jeweler has a good upgrading policy (or if it's not too late to exchange), then absolutely explain that you would prefer to spend the budget on more size, with less emphasis on color and clarity grades, while never sacrificing cut.
All that being said, the ring you have now is perfectly lovely, and the yellow gold looks fab on your skin. :)
I think your ring looks great, too! My diamond is also smaller compared to a lot of what I've seen online (its about the size yours is), but I LOVE it, and feel like it suits my hands better than a bigger rock would. I think your looks great on you! To echo what other posters have said, its the love that counts- not the ring. At the same time,I can see where it could be hard to not get swept up in having that "wow" factor. Remember that its not a contest- there's no real objective way for anyone else's ring to be any better or worse than yours. It matters what you like, and what suits you and your relationship and lifestyle- whether that's a very large stone or a smaller one. If I were in your shoes, I'd keep the ring as-is and remind myself of what it means. Then, after a few years, if I still thought a bigger stone suited me more, I'd talk to FI about upgrades.
Seriously, the ring looks amazing on your hand! Exquisite is an excellent way to describe your beautiful, classic ring!
It's okay to want a bigger stone... the grass is always greener, right!? Almost instantly after I got my e-ring I had solitaire ring envy & my FI was even going to change it for me, but then I had a wake up call. The e-ring is a gift of his love!! It's a gift promising that he will be a husband & partner in life!
@ toady - I agree with you that my ring 'pops,' especially when paired with a 1/4 carat diamond band (non-channel set). I am petite with small hands and this paring almost looks too flashy for me.
@littlemissmango - I totally agree with you - everyone has personal preferences. The first jewelers my FI and I went to preferred a faint yellow color for her diamonds. This is fine, but I have a totally different preference. I personally prefer high quality cut, color, and clarity diamonds and I don't think it is a waste to pay more for them. This might sound really crazy, but I take pride in knowing that if a jeweler took a 10x microscope to my diamond, s/he would not be able to locate any flaws from the top, s/he would need to look at the diamond from the bottom to locate them. Again, this is only my preference. This is one of the many things that makes me happy with my little diamond. :-)
My engagement ring is a .41 ct round with a pave setting. Every once in awhile I feel like I wish it was a bit bigger (like .5 or .75) but then once I really get to thinking about it, I love it because it's beautiful and he picked it out for me to wear forever. Really the only reason I wish it was bigger is because of ring envy; I see so many other people out there with these honker sized diamonds and I get a little jealous. But in the end, I love my ring for all that it is and all that it means.
Yeah, if you don't like the ring, try a ring wrap.
I got one and I love it. I had different reasons why I went for the ring wrap, though.
But check it out.
I think when we are younger, we get a smaller ring, unless you're getting married to Trump...but my ring is gorgeous, small, but I love it. I figure when we are older, maybe he will get me a bigger one, but he picked it out by himself....I am a huge materialistic person usually, but I understand why I don't have a 15,000 ring.
I catch myself being the same way about my ring. It is smaller than I would have liked and its yellow gold (which I do not like at all) but other times I look at it and I am like its actually really pretty. I dont dare say anything to my FI about it because it is a family heirloom. I honestly feel truly honored that his mom gave it to him to give to me being as it is his great-great-great grandmothers and I feel very special to have it. It is just under a carat and it a miner's cut, which they dont even produce anymore. This is a pic he took before he had it resized and repaired, its looks different in his big ol hand lol.
There's nothing wrong with your ring and I would assume it's an engagement ring, not a promise ring. When I see girls with small diamonds I assume it's either (a) smart poor grad students; (b) very practical smart people; and/or (c) very high quality stats on the diamond. Stupid poor people buy huge diamonds when they can't afford them. Smart grad students do not.
It is extremely high quality. Those stats make even a small stone very valuable. While I think it's silly to pick a round diamond better than G color (you can't really tell the difference in a setting) or anything over eye clean (because you also can't tell the difference between eye clean and loupe clean), some people go for that and I respect that, and you've got mad bragging rights there.
My fiance and I were also in graduate school when we picked out my e-ring. I got aggravated because a few of our friends got engaged after us and picked out essentially the same ring I had, only nicer. I recently upgraded mine by a carat and went for a pear shape so that I couldn't get one-upped again without blatant copycatting. I bought it myself (didn't ask FI to buy me something I don't need), and will be turning my old stone into an earring. That way I got to keep the original stone and not let anything go to waste while still getting what I wanted and not feeling like a brat because I did it myself.
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Please help. I got engaged to an amazing man on Valentines and we went to pick the ring together (after it transpired that if he had picked the ring it might have been rather interesting!!) He is still a PhD student whilst I have been earning for a while and because of that we were limited with our budget. Now admittedly we got a real sparkler, excellent cut and colour D with clarity VVSI but the carat size is 0.34. I can't help sometimes (well almost a lot of the time) being obsessed about the size although thinking that I would have loved a bigger ring. i know that he has done the best he can at the moment. Am I being unreasonable and princessy and materialistic? Also call me vain but when people see it they say its exquisite (? code word for cute and tiny) or a rather demure "its nice" rather than the "WOW" factor and that is also getting to me. PLease help because I am now torn between a fabulous diamond vrs the size issue .........
