Weddingbee boards

Hey bees,

My SO and I have been looking at engagement rings on etsy and we really like the unusual ones, such as those with a rough diamond look. However, I'm not keen on diamonds themselves, so is there something else that looks like rough diamond but isn't made of real diamond? Preferably not a coloured quartz but willing to take on any suggestions.

Alternatively, what else is unusual and pretty for an engagement ring?

Thanks!

@tksjewelry: No, I don't think I have. Do you have any pictures of nice ones to hand? If not, I'll trawl through Google later.

@tksjewelry: Oh, those look interesting. Do you have one of those or something else? I like the white one best, which figures because I'm edging away from coloured stones for engagement.

The closest thing I can think of to the rough diamond look is quartz.  I wouldn't recommend it for an ering, though, because of its softness.  To give an example, amethyst is a type of quartz, and is strong enough to be used in jewelry, but wouldn't hold up to everyday wear on a ring to the same extent that a raw diamond would.  What you could do is go with raw quartz when on a budget and then upgrade to raw diamond later down the road.  Or keep upgrading quartz every few years.  Moonstone wouldn't hold up well down the road, either.  

Oh, just saw you don't like the idea of quartz.  What about colorless quartz?  Perhaps a raw sapphire?  Star sapphires are pretty cool and come in different colors, may not have the "rough" diamond look you like, but would be neat.

@aaalexx:It's a good thought, though they are too big for me, generally. Certainly one like the pic is too big - a different pic may make me feel differently but I have only seen pics like this of big stones. It's the right line of thinking, though! Out of the box is the way forward.

@abirdword: It doesn't have to be the rough look in particular, though I do like that.

I'm trying to steer clear of diamonds, it isn't a money thing (though money would be my 2nd reason if I needed one).

Quartz, yes... are there specific names for different types? I don't know a great deal about about stones, all I know is diamond, white topaz, white sapphire, cubic zirconia, star sapphire, moonstone.... What others are there that are white/off white/pale/just not brightly coloured?

I like these but a) they're diamond and b) the first one costs $45,000!

 ETA: Resizing the images isn't working: sorry they're so big.

Wow, thanks everyone, so many suggestions! I don't have time to look into them all right now but I will soon and then I'll be back with any questions about the stones you've mentioned, as I haven't heard of most of them.

Hardness isn't something I know anything about. I suppose I do need to take that into consideration, though.

@moara: That's lovely, thank you! I couldn't find many raw topaz on etsy, though.

I'm currently looking at labradorite on etsy. They tend to be huge, as do moonstones. The UK taste in engagement rings is already much smaller stones than in the US, so add a moonstone into the equation and they look enormous to me.

For labradorites, I really like this one on etsy because it looks traditional, with 6 prongs and a gem stone, with just a little twist.

Someone suggested going to a gemstone shop - I've never seen or heard of a place that specialises in gemstones. Other than high street jewellers, I'd have no idea who to ask about stones and rings, so any tips would be most welcome. Are these shops common?

The good news is that my SO likes the labradorite I posted just above. He calls it a "labrador". Bad news is I don't think he's "ready" to buy it and he reckons we can't afford to buy a ring right now (we totally can).