Sapphires are actually even more bizarre. They can be produced artifically, at perfect quality and any size, relatively cheaply. The only way to distinguish natural ones is by their impurities. The artificial ones are literally a superior product in every way, yet are considered "fake" and thus disgraceful to wear.

If one of my friends were to hold up a loupe to my wife's ring and say, let's see how much you paid for this, James, I would probably just save them the trouble and let them know they were dead to me already. That's the funny thing about this. You can't even tell with your bare eyes whether it is the real product or not (diamonds too). The only person who can know is the person buying it and anyone they tell.

I haven’t noticed such a trend, but it would be welcome. Never liked the look of diamonds, myself, so I always figured if I got engaged I’d just look for the gemstone that’s right for my partner—their look, their personality.

As I said purely anecdotal, but it does seem to be a trend in my circle of friends.

BTW you will have little to no say in the process. Just go with whatever she requests it will make your life easier.

The fact that you (and probably she) are presuming that a stone is required in the first place means that DeBeers has won the larger victory.

I don’t; jewelry is just nice.

So I presented the sapphire option to my girlfriend. She was hesitant at first because she wasn't sure what it would look like on her hand. After scouring Toronto, I found the Fair Trade Jewellery Co. (http://ftjco.com/). I'm linking to them because they are fantastic.

They stayed open past their normal hours so that my girlfriend and I could make it down. They sourced 3 purple sapphires for us so she could see, and 1 of which was absolutely gorgeous. My girlfriend loved it, and it's what I ended up going with. Putting a payment down next week.

But the best part appeals to the nerd and engineer in me. They do bespoke rings, fully in-house. They will customize the ring to any design you want, to fit your finger and the gem. That way, it's not only designed the way you want, it's made to uniquely fit you.

They design everything in CAD, and iterate with you via e-mail. Then they print it on their 3D printer, where you have a chance to go in, see it in person on your finger and with the gem. If changes are needed, they can iterate again. Otherwise, they go ahead and make a plaster mold. Then they melt the metal (i.e. gold, platinum) and cast it. They have all the equipment for this in-house in the back of their store. Honestly, I haven't been more excited about buying a ring than now. I'm super happy I found them.