Lovely, you've captured the essense of what a girl dreams of when she dreams of a man putting a ring on her finger. Not the gem itself, but the love of the guy who puts it there.
I've never particularly cared for diamonds. Just a matter of taste really, I've always preferred colored stones; garnets, rubies and sapphires. My future husband took me ring shopping and we looked over several types of rings until he had a really firm idea of which ones I preferred. (
He got the firm idea from me saying "I like that one and that one. That one, not so much.") When he proposed, he put a beautiful sapphire ring surrounded in little diamonds on my finger. I cherish it and will wear it until the day I die, then I will give it to my daughter. Again, no so much because of the jewels on it, but because of the love of the guy who put it on my finger.
It surprised me when a couple of the women that I worked with disparaged my beautiful ring. I heard several comments along the line of "my guy better get me the biggest rock there is or else..." The thing is, those women were women who were either divorced then, or are divorced now. Maybe if they had cherished their man rather than things, perhaps thier marriages would have worked out better. I don't know, hard to say.
But, Dave, you're not only hot stuff, you're a real man. I'm sure you'll find a real woman who will appreciate YOU. As long as the ring you put on her finger reflects the love you have for her, I'm sure she'll cherish it forever.
BTW, one of my friends wears a wedding ring that isn't made of gold and gems. It was carved, polished and stained by her husband from a piece of driftwood from the beach where they met, and where he proposed to her. It is one of the most unique and beautiful rings I've ever seen.