My Boyfriend Proposed with 100lbs of Sapphire Gravel

(IDEX Online) - It was a proposal with an unusual twist - 100lbs of sapphire gravel instead of the more traditional diamond ring.

She said yes - and the couple then set about picking through every single stone in search of the perfect gems to have heat-treated for her engagement ring.

The recipient, identified only as Stefanie, posted: "My boyfriend proposed with 100lbs of sapphire gravel UPDATE" on the online discussion forum Reddit.

"We FINALLY got the stones heat treated and I'm obsessed! ended up with 43 gem quality stones out of the 105ish total that were found in the gravel," she said, with pictures of the stones.

"The largest of which is 4 carats. Next step is to narrow down my choices and have 4 or 5 of them cut for my ring."

The woman, using the handle u/AssilemJA on the r/Gemstones subreddit, first posted last February saying: "My boyfriend proposed with 100lbs of Montana sapphire gravel."

She said at the time that they still had 25lbs to go through.

The boyfriend had the sapphire gravel delivered from Montana, where there are multiple sapphire‑bearing deposits and a few working mines.

Pic of the selected sapphire, courtesy Reddit user u/AssilemJA.