Brilliant Earth — Oh how I love thee. Ariel's already written (hell, practically gushed) about their conflict-free diamonds so allow me to gush about their ethically-sourced sapphires…

Sapphire rings are one of my favorite alternatives to traditional diamond rings and Brilliant Earth has some ridiculously stunning engagement rings and wedding bands. I mean, check out that beauty in the picture. I'm about to conveniently "lose" my current ring just to have excuse to get my hands on that baby. That way Ariel can stop teasing me with her very own Brilliant Earth sapphire ring. That bitch. [Editor's note: Oh Meeeegan! My bezel-set sapphire is twinkling at me right now! La la la! Kissies, Ariel]

Feast your face on their custom design gallery to see more pictures of my favorite ring and other equally incredible designs.

OR, even better, head over to their site and create your own custom ring using sapphires or their ethically-sourced diamonds and have yourself a merry little engagement. Or do it just for fun, like I do.

If you're magnetically drawn to the bling, but repulsed and nauseated by the horror of the diamond trade, then you should check out the conflict free diamonds from Brilliant Earth.

In a sea of sketchy mall stores, these guys stand out as a socially responsible jeweler with their conflict-free Canadian diamonds, ethically sourced sapphires, and recycled gold and platinum.

And if that weren't enough? They donate 5% of their profits back to communities in Africa harmed by the jewelry trade. If you've heard of conflict free diamonds but are a little rusty on the specifics, Brilliant Earth has some great resources, including questions to ask any jeweler who you might be working with … and a blog that will continue the education.

They have tons of wedding ring designs — and of course they wouldn't be an offbeat vendor unless they had completely custom wedding rings, too!

I know I crammed a ton of links into this post — but Brilliant Earth's website is so crammed full of both beautiful wedding rings AND well-written information about the jewelry trade that I couldn't help myself. Spend some time and go look around!