[shepherd406]

So I know this is an odd question, but I've been wondering about this for awhile. Since so many of you ladies out there are hitched & work with horses, I was wondering what kind of settings/rings are your wedding rings? I love the look of a solitaire, but the setting sits so high I'd be afraid to catch it on something.

What would you all recommend?

[becrog]

I have a solitaire thats set very high, I rarely ever wear it because im always catching it. My engagement ring has 12 stones in all very low set, almost flat and I wear it all the time. Its been knocked and banged a few times but still looks like new!

[Jenje!]

My engagement ring actually has a pretty high setting, and I've yet to do any barn or horse-related damage to it. I've had it a little over a year now.

I was worried about that too, but unless you're extremely careless with your hands (say, if you're the kind of person who always comes home from the barn with bloody knuckles ), I wouldn't worry too much about it. If I'm working on fences or plumbing, I wear gloves. Otherwise, I go bare-handed. My ring's in the same shape it was when I got it (according to my jeweler, who has to make twice-yearly inspections for warranty reasons).

YMMV... I may be more careful with my hands than some due to arthritis.

[melindak1982]

I'm super clutzy so my rings are good for me, my wedding band is flat with eight small diamonds set into it, and my band has one larger diamond in the middle, raised but the edges of the band come up to the corners of it, (but the middles of the sides are low, with small diamonds set in. so it is raised but not but not, hard to describe but it's great cuz i can wear it all the time and looks really nice my only problem is them falling off sometimes (i lost my engagement ring in the car about one hour after getting it lol, and in a potted plant. it has been resized now lol)

[Trace]

I actually wear a wedding band that has diamonds in it so that I can wear it doing anything and never have to worry about knocking it.

[Jess!]

My setting is pretty high, and the only issue I have it not with the horses, but at work my gloves get caught on it when I pull them off.

But I also have it inspected twice a year and they tighten up everything and clean it, etc. So if they are kept up with, I'm sure solitary sets would be fine.

[Tack Collector]

I was always afraid of a horse making an erratic move and getting speared in the eye by a stone set in prongs (like a Tiffany) or a basket, or whatever so that it's elevated. I never wore anything but a plain wedding band. But a bezel set stone or hammer set or channel or anything else that makes the diamond recessed or flush with the mounting, not raised above the finger much, would also work.

[meljean]

You can get a solitaire setting that isn't quite as high. A good jeweler will ask you what you do with your hands, and advise you.

Do not get a diamond at Wally World without looking at a jewelry store too. If you stop to look at their stones, they advertise "I" stones as almost colorless, when the "I" is starting to near the end of the almost colorless range. " D,E,F", those are the ones called colorless, and the most "sparkle" when the light hits them, and look best in white gold/platinum settings. For the money you spend, you can generally spend the same at a reputable jewelers, and get a better stone, and there are sales going on many times.

G,H,I,J are getting closer to a more "yellow" diamond, to see what I am talking about, go to a reputable jewelers, and ask to see stones in D, alongside an I stone, on a paper. Then you can tell the difference definitely. Those look best in yellow gold mounts. Or you can go to www.debeers and look under "The Four C" and there will be a scale showing the gradual yellowing of stones.

Also, Wally Worlds stones generally have inclusions that can be seen by the naked eye, as you look into the stone. A good stone will have a VS, very slight, or VVS for very very slight, and will tell to what degree, whether have to get out a loupe to see, and at what XX. Wally Worlds's have "I" for inclusion, which means when you buy a diamond that says..."I" (for color) and "I" for inclusion, you have a stone that is NOT "near colorless", and has an inclusion that can be seen by naked eye.

Get the best stone you can find, if you want a good diamond, not the biggest.

My ring has a $3500 dollar stone alone. It is slightly over 1/2 carat, is an "E-F", for color, jeweler said right between those two, and a VVS I two. It sparkles in the sunlight, and will shoot prisms all over the car as I am driving. For that money, if I had wanted to, I could have gotten a huge stone, but in the "J,K,L" range, with extremely noticeable inclusions.

And ask your jeweler to show you many different settings. Stones are nicest set into a 4 prong mount, but I wanted the six prong, because of working with horses, I felt it would be more secure.

Are we planning something that we aren't sharing? Hmmmmm?

Fess up.

[rwinksters]

Well I have a rather high set ring from wally world and I love it. It isn't huge at all and never gets in my way. I haven't raked in on anything at the barn or scratched it. I suppose that I'm careful about where my hands go and what I'm doing.
As for the diamond itself, it's colorless, but shines like crazy in the right light. I'm not a huge jewelry fan so I'm sure I wouldn't mind even if it wasn't high quality.

[endurgirl]

When I was just wearing my engagement ring, I'd take it off before I went outside. I've very physical with my hands (and yes Jenje, I bloody up my knuckles all the time ) so I'd take my ring off. He would get mad about it at first but when he saw how sharp the prongs were and how dangerous I was with it, he left me alone about it. I'd get it hung up in the mane as I'd clear the blanket from the withers, and I'm sure I'd scratch myself up while out training.

It's a solitaire:



Since I've married, I still take my engagement ring off, but leave my band on.




Just to add, I don't DARE sleep with my engagement ring on. I've already caused enough damage to my car window, my husband and myself during the day. I'd look like a fight victim if I wore it while sleeping.