(I googled it because that was a good question actually )
Google is your friend .
You're better than I am - I would appreciate the gesture, but I would refuse to wear a piece of jewelry I don't like. It's not about expecting the bling either, I honestly would hate for my other half to purchase an expensive piece of jewelry and be all excited, for me to just toss it in a drawer never to be seen again. I can say thank you for the gift, but at the "do you like it?" question, if I don't like it, I am not lying either, sorry.
For fair disclosure, I wear very little bling and dislike 99% of the jewelry I see, so maybe it's me
3Wishes - thanks for the emerald tips! I am very ignorant as far as stones - except for diamonds, funny enough, due to having worked with folks in the industry in the past, and I don't even put the knowledge to good use, hehehe!
OK, so the obvious answer from those pictures seems to be "make it yourself, from plasticine".
Awww, come on. There are a few nice once there.
And anyway, it was OP who mentioned organic looking ....
With four digits you can easily have one made personally for you/your wife to be.
I happen to know a good goldsmith, Peter Schafroth in Zürich Seefeld. He is not fluent in English (to be nice ) but his wife or kids have helped to translate occasionally. Service is great.
As a person who appreciates when the stories have an ending, happy or sad, I feel it valuable to at least provide an update
First of all: thank you for all the advice, ideas, feedback and personal views; it really helps a lot and opening up how folks feel personally about these things can give others something to relate to, even if it isn't reliving someone else's choices, it is a measure of comfort. I really apprecaite it!
After a lot of deliberation, what felt right at the moment was to provide a symbol that meant something to us but wasn't a ring... However, on the day that was to be, there was an actual ring purchased (not with the intention of it being an engagement ring, it was just beautiful and the moment was half the value), then later the symbol (which originally came as an idea from the other person) + a knee on sand was presented... only to be met with genuine confusion and "I said that? Really? Is this ... wait what? Why didn't you just use the ring we just bought!? Yes! Of course yes! Get up!"
Sooooo... I won't win any awards for being a smooth criminal, nor is it the most fairytale execution, but it is a story that makes us laugh and we definitely won't forget, and we're planning our wedding now with hearts full of anticipation to the decades ahead!
Lucky me
If anyone in the future comes across this, just follow your heart, and really the object doesn't matter, it's better to just give it your best and let love lead the dance!
(It was the ribbon in this thread that gave me the inspiration to break out of the mental box of "rings"... thank you meloncollie)
i took a couple of rings to some shop n put it on a ring meter: voila.
i went into gazillions of shops in D, CH, F, AT and all had only crap on offer.
then i looked up online and found nothing. either crap or too much
up in the 5 digits area. the last picture of 3 million pinterest pages finally
had the perfect band, only i had to choose the diamond... fin.
We used James Allen. I happened to have a relative coming, so they brought the ring but you can also have it shipped to a drop point in Italy, Germany or France and pick it up.
My husband didn’t propose We knew we wanted to get married, we knew what had to happen first and when everything went well with my family, he asked if I wanted a ring. We picked it out together.
I recommend you propose with a “fake” ring and let her pick it out with you. It was a lovely experience for us, and I was very touched that he let me have such a big say in it. After all, it is me who wears it every day If you use an online store like James Allen (I know it’s not the only one, but it is on the lower end of the budget, we found the prices to be very good, mine is low 4 digets and it looks like much more) then you can always make a romantic getaway to pick it up in one of the countries aforementioned
ETA: just saw the update, thank you for sharing, sounds very sweet and you definitely know your fiancée well!