Growing up with two older sisters, I learned a lot about girls and their relationship with diamonds. It became very clear at an early age that women of all ages love shiny jewelry, especially diamonds. When getting married, the ring has become a tradition and is typically the time when a girl gets the ring of her dreams. Some men like to surprise their future spouse when choosing a ring and some like to make SURE that she gets the ring she really wants. I have always known that whomever I marry, needs to have the ring they love and will cherish for years. It was also a sure way to know that she wanted to marry me because we went ring shopping together.

Just a little over nine years ago, the day came when Jayme and I were to be engaged. I remember taking her to the Shane company, Kay Jewelers and several other stores so she could try to find a ring that she loves. We FOUND IT! We saw it at the Shane Company and immediately fell in love with it. I knew the setting she wanted, but then I took it from there. I hand picked out the diamond and had it put in the setting and I was so excited to give it to her.

Friday, October 11, 2013 I proposed at my work (Keap formerly known as Infusionsoft) to Jayme and she finally got her ring. Well, part of it. She got the wedding band that goes with the engagement ring on our wedding day. But she was in love!

I have also seen over the years many men have wedding rings that also have diamonds in them. Some men hate wearing a wedding ring because of their profession or it is cumbersome while working out. Silicone rings have become something of a fad as well. At my place of work, frequently, a man’s wedding ring would be turned in to the front desk. Whether they left it in the bathroom, the gym, at the lunch tables, guys were losing their rings left and right. It is easy to see that culturally men don’t value their wedding rings as women do.

I would like to suggest that sometimes, diamonds can be a man’s best friend too!

I hadn’t really thought about the ring I would have. I originally wanted to have a ring that had a few diamonds but really more of a unique design. Here is the image of the ring I wanted years ago.

I wanted to have it be a match to the look and feel of my wife’s ring. As years went on, I kind of didn’t care for this design, though I still think it a cool ring. The night of my proposal to Jayme, we went to Kay Jewelers in Chandler to look at men’s wedding bands. We saw a ring that I absolutely loved. Luckily, I had a major discount on the wedding band because of the holiday promotion Kay was doing that time of year. Sorry to say they aren’t doing it now, but lucky for me, they were. So because I got the diamond from Kay for Jayme’s ring, I had rewards points to get me a diamond ring at a much cheaper cost than originally marked. I told Jayme, I guess if you have diamonds, maybe I can have some too!

Here is the ring that we got! Isn’t it awesome?

Now, the best part of Kay (and most jewelry stores) is their warranty plan. You can have it resized, re-dipped in white gold, diamonds replaced if they fall out etc. The only thing you have to do is have it cleaned and inspected every 6 months. The first year of our marriage, I lost a bunch of weight and my wedding ring got way to big. I needed it downsized. I took it to Kay and had it resized. The week I got my ring back, one of the diamonds fell out. It was the saddest looking thing seeing a diamond missing.

Kay of course replaced the diamond. Unfortunately, this kept happening for a period of about 6 months. They literally replaced 6 diamonds that fell out. They even tried to add more gold to the diamonds to try to keep them in. They explained to me that because of the way the ring is, by making it smaller, opened up the top and caused the diamonds to fall out. That made sense to me, but then this happened. I went to pick up the ring and this is what I saw.

As you can see, the way they added gold covered the diamonds and it wasn’t even straight. Not only that, they cut off the beveled edges of the gold squares between the diamonds. It was so ugly and NOT any where close to my original looking wedding band.

I love Kay so much because as I showed them the workmanship of this, they were appalled. They said they were just going to make a me a new ring at the exact size I needed so that the diamonds won’t fall out. And it would fix the hack job they did trying to make the original ring work. I tell you what, I was a happy camper! Here is a picture of my new ring.

Since then, each time I got my ring re-dipped in white gold and polished, I had to give very detailed instructions of what to do. I am happy to say they are still doing a great job! I just picked up my ring on Thursday this week and it inspired this post as I just love looking at my ring knowing it is the symbol of the love I have for my wife as it reminds me that I am married to the woman of my dreams! Jayme is my best friend as your spouse should be. And the diamonds on my finger remind me of my best friend. So I guess the phrase could be changed to “Diamonds are a reminder of a man’s best friend!”

What do you think? Which one are you? Or which one is your husband? Wedding ring or silicone band? Whatever he decides, is perfect! And if it’s diamonds….then it is completely acceptable!