Engagement ring... for £700?!

ginvzt

My engagement ring was £500. I picked it out myself at H Samuels, and I don't care what people say about it. It is platinum with 5 inset diamonds and doesn't look like 'standard' engagement ring, as I didn't want it like that.

fernliebee

My DH carved me a beautiful heart shaped ring from wood to propose, as he knew I'm a fussy so n so. I only had up to £300 to buy my engagement ring as with all other wedding costs we couldn't afford any more. We had been together 8 yrs when he proposed so we wanted to get married quickly. I found that online was cheaper, and searched for ages. I didn't want a big diamond as IMO for £300 we couldn't have afforded a good quality large diamond, so I wanted a pink tourmaline with small diamonds. The nicest one I found cost £99, so that was my choice. I love it and after 2 yrs it's showing no signs of needing re-plating (white gold)
Hope you find a lovely one, £700 is plenty IMO, but only you know your OH to know her opinion.

DKLS

I proposed with a plastic ring, then took her to Birmingham for a weekend where we picked a ring in the Jewellery quarter.
There was a huge range for all budgets. We ended up choosing a Designer and Diamond wholesaler who did us a very good deal.
The platinum diamond ring cost the equivalent of 3 months salary.

amandada

kindofagilr wrote: »

Because you dont need to spend money to have a nice ring? Just becasue he has £700 to spend on a ring doesnt mean to say he should go buy one for that price just cos he can?

If he sees one he loves more for £450 then he should go for that one!

I didn't say you did have to spend a huge amount to get a nice ring, but I shall reiterate that if the OP can afford it and is happy to spend that kind of money, then that is his prerogative.

Ms_Piggy_2

DKLS wrote: »

The platinum diamond ring cost the equivalent of 3 months salary.

I was always told an engagement ring should be between 1 and 3 months salary, which is what we went for. It's nice to think we have a ring to pass down to daughters/in law.

However, I understood that one of the points of an eternity ring was to get another (larger??) ring at a point in time when there was more money available as so many couples are broke to start with.

amandada

Ms_Piggy wrote: »

I was always told an engagement ring should be between 1 and 3 months salary, which is what we went for. It's nice to think we have a ring to pass down to daughters/in law.

However, I understood that one of the points of an eternity ring was to get another (larger??) ring at a point in time when there was more money available as so many couples are broke to start with.

We were the other way round....2 full time salaries, low rent flat, no children.....now it's a "slightly" different matter!:rotfl:

debtfreein4years

my ring cost £350. We could have spent more, but I felt that the more expensive rings were not me as im not a jewlery person and didnt want a ring that I would be scared of damaging through every day wear. Go shopping with her when you want to buy it and never tell the shop your true budget. Always tell them a few hundred less as I found that every sales assistant automatically showed me rings that were more expensive than my budget which peed me off as it was like you cant afford to spend an extra few hundred on the love of your life!

Its not the budget that counts, its making sure that your gf loves the ring that she is going to be wearing for the rest of her life.

this is my ring and i love it http://www.ernestjones.co.uk/webstore/detail/R/3312100/

Silverbird

I'm not sure entirely how much my OH spent on mine, but I know it was under £400 because I was petrified at the time that he'd spent so much and he assured me he really hadn't gone 'silly'.

He designed it himself and chose a pure South African Amethyst for the centre stone (it's my birthstone) and 3 tiny diamonds on each side of the stone going down the sides. It is white gold (my favourite) and is a 'twist' design.

(My wedding ring was made to match and is a twist design with a little extra, so that the 2 rings fit together beautifully and contains 7 tiny diamonds - I'm always getting complimented on them).

I read once that an engagement ring should be 1 months' wages, but to be honest that's ridiculous in my opinion. An engagement ring should be special to the person who is going to wear it and should last a long time (good quality and craftmanship). A lot of rings are incredibly overpriced. Of course, I have no problem with those who choose to spend thousands on their rings, but not all of us can afford to do that.

If it helps, OH got both of mine at the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter - lots of amazing deals and huge range there.

dipsy

found this on Guardian website ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2002/feb/13/shopping.familyandrelationships1 )as list of places for advice buying a ring

www.thediamondshop.co.uk
www.approveddiamonds.com
www.jewellerywebshop.co.uk
www.cooldiamonds.com
www.nydex.com
www.diasource.com
www.theofennell.com
www.mondera.com
www.jewellerywebshop.co.uk

pamelab21

I think my 18ct gold engagement ring cost hubby 350.00 8 years ago, 3 diamonds on straight, not all setting and looks a good size to me, I picked my wedding band which is an 18ct gold band with 11 diamonds set into it, this was 250.00 4 years ago.
We found Rox quite reasonable and also got hubbys Titanium wedding band in there. They have a website that could be worth checking out?