Engagement Rings (merged)

homealone_2

i had always wanted a big rock as i have quite large hands for a woman and all the delicate ones look a bit lost on me. we have been married 3 years now but got engaged 9 months before wedding at time we got a one carat solitaire that cost £1500, which was lovely but not very good qulaity. it was bought of a catalogue, not a god place but he wanted to get me something biggish and only way he could afford it. i did protest at time and said we could wait till we could afford it,but he went ahead and did it without my knowledge. then 2 years ago we were in turkey on holiday and this huge rock caught my eye, well joke is nearly took my eye out. it was 2.94 carats and set in platinum it was gorgeous and a real if we won the lottery type of thing. had to go and try it on and it was amazing. the price was 12k and i was almost on the floor. the jewellers was next to hotel so we passed it at least twice a day and i couldnt help but look longingly in window. couple of times sales assistant dragged me off street to try on again. salespeople in turkey are like that. spoke of it a few times as you do but never thought of buying it. well cut my long story short as a surprise while on plane going home hubby presented it to me with glass of champagne i almost passed out. he has bartered him down to £8k and had it reset in yellow gold to match wedding ring. i was speechless. had it valued in hatton garden when we got it back home and it worth £15k. totally mad thing to do but i adore it and couldnt care less if he never bought me another thing. felt guilty about original and so he had it reset as a pendant what a lucky girl i am. 2 years on i stare at it constantly

newlywed

fuzed wrote:

I'm going to find out what she wants style wise, then take it from there, I want to choose it... and suprise her... she's still deciding on whether she wants a classic ring or something contemporary...

That's what my OH did, chose a ring for me and surprised me. Although I don't have a clue what it cost, I'm certain it wasn't 2.5K as he didn't have that kind of money (and still doesn't ) I love it and wouldn't want to know it's price - I know he took weeks of looking round shops to choose it and that's plenty enough for me.

Everyone keeps saying how brave he was to have chosen it. But he already knew I didn't like yellow gold and didn't want diamonds or sapphires as I wanted summat different .

fuzed

Again, thank you all... some good advise here... will decide what to do as the date gets a little closer...

victory

My ring was from Argos! I know if I had that much money I would want to put it towards the house, wedding, future etc, it really is the thought, not the size and cost xxx

Bloke

I'll just add my 2cents as you mentioned possibly getting the ring from the US. I bought my now wifes engagement ring from Tiffanys in New York after proposing in Central Park. I wont mention how much it was for fear of reprisals, however I had saved, didn't go into debt to buy it and was something I really wanted to do.

Anyway, the ring was slightly cheaper than it would have been if we'd have bought it in the UK, which may be more now with the current exchange rates but was nothing to write home about. One thing that I thought about later which could help is to buy from a state with a lower sales tax? This wouldn't have had the desired effect from the Tiffanys point of view, but could help you?

I hope it all works out for you and you find a ring that meets all the specs.

Paul.

fuzed

thanks for that... I will look into it...

a friend gave me the contact for a friend of her's in india who makes rings etc, but the prices seemed to be around the same as the UK... sooo unsure about that at the mo...

I do have the money for the ring already... the wedding costs should be covered quite easily... so nothing major to stress about, already have everything else I need...

Destined_to_be_skint

I'm wondering about India too. OH wants to get it from there and my best friend (whose parents live there) says its a great place to buy diamonds. Am worried about us getting ripped off, but I've looked at the high street prices and for our £1K budget the diamonds are tiny (I have large hands for a lady too). Anyone got any experience of diamond shopping in India?

liney

I visited a diamond factory in Israel. Apprently the stones were very good value, not that i could afford one as we were on our honeymoon.

As this ring will be worn daily, i would deem 2.5k to be value for money. Not that the OP actually asked us to comment on the cash he has chosen to part with.

I do hope she loves whatever you pick out. ))

[Deleted User]

I'd rather spend 2.5k on a ring that i hope to see on my loved one's hand for the rest of my days than on a 2 week holiday....

Where abouts was this israeli diamond factory? That sounds like a new place to buy them from i've not heard of

liney

It was 6 years ago so i'm afraid i dont remember the name. I do know that it wasn't far from the Gaza Strip and they arrange factory tours for tourists, if that's any help at all.