Post # 1

Member
49 posts
Newbee
I have been engaged for 2 years and by the time we get married it will be three years. During conversation, my fiance mentioned we could upgrade my diamond to a bigger one. At first, I would never have changed it but now I can’t decide whether we should!
My centre stone is estimated 0.53 carats and it is very sparkly and very good quality, so if I did upgrade I would want the quality to match my current diamond (also, he is very proud at how good the quality is so I would want him to feel the same about any diamond he buys me).
He said that if we upgrade it would be to 1 carat. I just want to say that this isn’t about money or having an expensive ring! All it is, I have a passion for diamonds and rings. I could spend allll day looking at them and browsing the ring section of this site and I have met to meet someone who loves rings as much as me. Obviously now, Fiance can afford a bigger diamond than 2 years ago which is why we came up with doing this. He said he wouldn’t be upset if we got a bigger diamond so that isn’t an issue either.
Firstly, I am worried that if I change the diamond, would it lose sentimental value? And secondly, is it worth upgrading the diamond from 0.53 to around 1 carat? Does anyone have any pictures of comparisons between half and one carat?
Thanks!!
Post # 3

Member
980 posts
Busy bee
@London_Bride: well how about you upgrade but get the old diamond made into a necklace or something.
Post # 4

Member
1880 posts
Buzzing bee
Are you going to be trading in your current diamond or straight out buying a new one?
Because if you’re just buying a new one, you could always have a pendant made using the old one that you could wear every day. That way even if the new diamond doesn’t have as much sentimental value (which I think it still does for many people), the old one will still be there.
Post # 5

Member
3723 posts
Sugar bee
@nearly-mrs-R: +1 That’s the right idea!
Post # 6

Member
21 posts
Newbee
Here’s a photo of a .35ct next to a 1ct next to a 1.75ct

dAnd here’s a photo of a .50 ct loose next to the 1ct

Sentimental value is all about how YOU feel about your diamond. I work with diamonds and jewelry every day and some women have no question in their mind when they want to upgrade and some would want to hold on to their older diamond.. Price wise it is a big jump from .50ct to 1ct. If you can, I would suggest going to the jewelry store you purchased from and see if you can upgrade because just buying another random diamond will be a bigger price difference and won’t get a better deal than if you worked with your original jeweler..
But I guess it’s all up to you hun! Good luck!
Post # 7

Member
3099 posts
Sugar bee
@London_Bride: What a great question! My vote is yes! Going from a 1/2c to a 1c will make a big difference–but in a good way of course. 1c seems to be the average here on the Bee. Not too big, not too little. IMO it will not lose sentimental value at all! I’m not superstitious or anything like that, so I don’t think there’s anything wrong with getting a new center stone (or ring for that matter). It would make a great wedding present from him! I would make a necklace out of your original stone.
Post # 8

Member
49 posts
Newbee
Thanks all for the replies!
I would love to keep the old diamond but then it would be a lot of extra money because we were thinking of popping into the jeweller where he got the ring to see if we could just upgrade. So yes I think this would be a better deal! I guess it al depends on the price of the 1 carat about whether we can afford to keep the 0.5 carat.
I can see the difference in size between the diamonds though so I guess it is worth it! And if we did pick out the new diamond together then it would still be sentimental to me because its still my engagement ring.
I absolutely love the idea that it can be a wedding present from him! I am going to put this idea through to him and see if he would go with that 🙂 and this way it still has that sentimental value! I feel a lot better about upgrading now…I just think I need a chat with the jeweller to get an idea about prices and how it would work!