Why I've banned the band.

Yesterday we went to design my wedding band.

Cue sad music.

And now, I'm not getting one.

Crazy, right? Well, the engagement ring my FH bought me is AH-mazing. It's an emerald cut ruby set between 4 baguette diamonds on a palladium/18K gold band. It cost a small fortune (see my previous ER post), so we wanted to be a bit more practical with the wedding band.

I took my inspiration photo to the custom jewellery show and showed the jeweller. He liked it, but said he'd prefer if I got a wedding jacket. No, not a coat, but a wedding jacket. It looks something like this:

via Limoges Jewelery

Beautiful, right? It'll be fused at the bottom and my ring will slide into it, preventing any movement of the ER and thereby preventing any scratching. Perfect.

Well, Mr. Jeweller left and calculated our quote and came back with a piece of paper that said $3300. Um, not perfect. That's like half a house down payment. I could buy a car for that!

So, he offered to make just one band, as I'd originally wanted, for $1600. Still out of our preset price range of $1100.

Mr. Jeweller, clearly realizing that I'm in the midst of a minor panic attack, says he'll talk with the manager of the store and see what he can do. They come back with a new quote for the jacket - $2600.

Still far too much. So, we kindly turn down their offer and leave.

Yes, leave.

I don't have a wedding band and I don't really know what to do about it.

Should I settle for something not custom made, that will, in all likelihood, look like crap next to my beautiful ER? Or should I get a 3rd job to pay for my dream ring?