Engagement Ring

Smashing

Idiophreak wrote: »

I always thought it was supposed to be three months wages?

:eek:
Who the hell comes up with these ridiculous guidelines? Have we not moved on slightly?
Are all us women supposed to be judging the depth of love by the amount the ring costs? And this is before the cost of the sodding wedding!

*spasm*

Horace

I echo others' sentiments about the Jewellery Quarter, I swear by it and won't buy my jewellery anywhere else (except for the two items bought at a gemstore in Bangkok but that is another story).

In less leaner times I have been to the Quarter on several occasions to have items made: rings, earrings, tie pin, cufflinks (2 sets) - all of the items I designed myself. (About 15 years' ago).

To give an idea, my diamond earrings made using 2 white perfect diamonds (that I bought in Amsterdam and came home with them in my pocket) and two canary yellow diamonds supplied by the jeweller cost me £500 to have made - my perfect diamonds were bought for £350 so all in all they cost me £850 I have recently had them re-valued and they are now worth £5000:eek: I never wear them but I would never sell them either.

When my mate got engaged she had her engagement ring from QVC - it came with a certificate. I have brought one ring from them - an 18ct white gold and Tanzanite dress ring that I wear most of the time.

To get an idea of what your g/f likes take her window shopping because she is bound to comment on what she likes.

hev_2

I bought my own engagement ring (I'm female).

It cost £12.50 (yes, twelve pounds and fifty pence) from Ratners in 1987. We are still married. I still have the setting but I lost the stone (cz) a few years back.

I would take the approach of asking her what she wants as you hope she will wear it for the rest of her life. Make a big deal of choosing it together and if she dithers, umms, aahs and goes back to the first shop this is one time you should humour her.

I think the way the buying of the engagement ring goes will be a good indicator of how the preparations for the wedding will go. I think the average cost of a wedding is fast approaching what a house cost when I got wed.

As for how much - see if she will join you in choosing a style and then hunting for the perfect place to get it and the best price. Believe me, the way you approach this together will be the way you approach joint finances together and now is a good time to learn how to work together.

Good luck with the proposal!

Jo_F

My fiance just went down on one knee, he hadn't given any thought to a ring, a couple of weeks later we were browsing round the Trafford Centre, looking in jewellers, to be honest there wasn't that much that caught my eye, and I really didn't want a flashy ring that I would be scared of wearing. And I am not all that keen on diamonds. In the end I saw just the ring for me, I think it was in F Hinds, its a lovely lilac cz (that seems to change colour depending on the light) on a simple gold shank, I loved it from the moment I spotted it, and would have been devastated had it not fit! I think it cost him about £40.

I know that makes me sound like a real cheapskate, he had a budget (but never told me how much), but he know's that I don't like to spend much on stuff, and as long as I was happy, then he was. If I had found something a lot more expensive, then he would have been ok with that.

But as it was, I got one that I love.

BillScarab

Smashing wrote: »

:eek:
Who the hell comes up with these ridiculous guidelines? Have we not moved on slightly?
Are all us women supposed to be judging the depth of love by the amount the ring costs? And this is before the cost of the sodding wedding!

*spasm*

They are ridiculous guidelines I agree. For us it was a coincidence it came to roughly one month's wages, I would have spent more or less depending on what she wanted. I was happy to spend a lot on the ring though as we only spent about £200 on our wedding! I'd rather spend the cash on something she'll have and wear for the rest of her life than a fancy party.

jessbrown100

My hubby bought my ring from an antiques auction which was wonderful as I love antique jewellery plus it was much cheaper than a jewellers. I have to say I would have freaked out if I had found out that he had spent a month's salary on it never mind three months :eek:

dawnybabes

My hubby proposed and presented me with a ring box - I remember thinking omg I hope I like it and when I opened it it was small piece of hosepipe and we went and looked at rings that night.

We're 15 yrs wed in Sept and I still have the hosepipe in its box !

Oldernotwiser

I'm probably older than many of you here and I've never heard of these "guidelines" before! Sounds to me like a rumour put about by the jewellery industry to catch the gullible.

BillScarab

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I'm probably older than many of you here and I've never heard of these "guidelines" before! Sounds to me like a rumour put about by the jewellery industry to catch the gullible.

well it's been around for a century or so but your assumption of where the idea comes form is pretty accurate.

Taken from Wikipedia

"A conventional buying price ranging from two to three months wages for a ring guideline originated from De Beers marketing materials in the early 20th century, in an effort to increase the sale of diamonds."

Sounds similar to them basically controlling the diamond market and keeping prices high.

CB1979_2

i'd rather choose the ring myself but only if i had a VERY good idea of what she wanted/liked, but would probably let her choose it.

I would however get a cheapy ring for about £1-200 for the proposing bit and then go shopping with her to pick it out.

I'll be looking to spend at least £2000 for a decent engagement ring, end of the day it's supposed to be for life and possibly handed down to family too.

agree with BillScarab too, if i'm gonna spend £10k on my marriage, would much rather spend £2k on a ring, £7k on the honeymoon and £1k max on the wedding, don't agree with spending the majority of cost on other people getting fed and lashed on my cash! lol