I am planning to propose to my GF in July for her bday

diable

USM wrote: »

I recently paid £6,750 in Hatton Garden for my fiance's engagement ring.

Unless you are on at least £60k a year that is sheer madness.

Percy1983

True, if I spent that on an engagement ring she would have made me take it back.

USM

I knew I shouldn't have used the real cost to illustrate But it's all relative and I have a good job so it's less madness than it may seem.

The point I was trying to make was that the high street should be the last place the author of this post looks if he wants to stretch his budget a lot further. There are amazing deals to be had if you're willing to go out there and bargain hard.

maisiescamp

Bless you, you sound so nice and you have clearly put so much thought into this.

You will be able to get something beautiful for your budget, which I think is quite high but if you can afford it and want to spend it then so be it!

As pp said though, don't pick something just because it is expensive, there are loads of equally if not more so beautiful rings for lots less. My DH took me to pick my ring, and what I picked cost £250, I could of had the same ring but in a bigger carat for a lot more money but they looked the same so why bother.

I must admit that I was only 16 then and as much as I still love my ring nearly 13 years later, I do sometimes think I would pick a bigger, more striking ring now if I could

Anyway lots of luck and let us know how you get on!

kelpie35

It's not the size of the diamond that counts, it's the love that goes with it.

Hope she says yes and that you both have a lovely holiday and a long and happy life together!

coin_operated_girl

CDaniels1987 wrote: »

I have a quick question, what is more important in your opinions the size of the ring or how its done?

I have it all planned out and I am hoping I am doing the right thing because I have had to comprimise how much I can spend on the ring, basically my GF is a massive disney nut and she loves disneyland, our first holiday together was in Disneyland, so I am taking her for her bday (she has no idea) staying at a nice hotel for 5 nights, I plan on taking her for a walk around Disney Lake one of the nights while the fireworks are on and proposing there with the fireworks in the background, then I will have roses scattered over the bed and champaign on ice ready for when we get back to the hotel (all arranged with the hotel) however all of this has cost over £1000 so instead of spending like £1800 on a ring I am now looking at about £700, I thought this was a decent price however she has dropped hints in the past that she would like a nice ring, having looked at rings I am struggling to find anything above 0.4carat for £700 and i'm worried that she will be embarassed by the ring, I want her to be proud to wear it, not embaressed! I just wanted to make the proposal as special as possible and I am still working on a few things, I didn't like the idea of just taking her out for a meal back home and then proposing with a really nice ring.

But now I am starting to wonder if I have done the right thing!
what do you guys think? oh and if you have any suggestions for a place for rings that would be great, I am planning on going to the jewlery quatre in Birmingham tomorrow after work ( I live near there) and I am hoping I can find something really special for about £700

Awww, that sounds amazing. Can you have words with my boyfriend please?

Seriously though, in my opinion, you have got it spot on. [STRIKE]When[/STRIKE] if my boyfriend ever proposes i would much prefer he put a lot of thought and consideration into the proposal itself than spending loads of money on a ring. That being said i think £700 is a good amount to spend. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable wearing a ring much more expensive than that- but i'm sure lots of people would.

hislan

One thing that the other posters haven't mentioned, is along with haggling, take the money in cash (if you're definate you want to purchase the day you go shopping) as shops will often offer a cash discount if you ask for it!

You sound truely lovely and your girlfriend is lucky to have you!

gwhizz75

To be honest, for me the ring was the most important thing because I will wear it every day for the rest of my life. My ring cost almost £5,500 but this was affordable to us and I certainly wouldn't encourage anyone to spend that much money on a piece of jewellery if they didn't have it in the bank.

The proposal was sweet, a treasure hunt in our home after a lovely meal at a nice restaurant on our anniversary. So the proposal didn't really cost anything but I'll always remember it and I have kept the clues that were hidden around the house to look back on.

Ultimately though, it depends on the individual. Your proposal idea sounds lovely and romantic and you know your GF better than any of us so hopefully you know what is important to her. £700 will buy you a very pretty, sparkly diamond, but personally I would recommend looking online rather than the jewellery quarter. We looked at both and online was about 20% cheaper (even considering jewellers in the JQ would knock a big chunk off the price) and most offer a no quibble returns policy. My ring has been independently valued at £8000 and on the high street, you'd pay over £10,000, easily. Blue Nile is a good site to start off with as it's simple to use.

I went a bit diamond crazy and did research for aaaages before deciding exactly what I wanted so if you have any diamond questions, feel free to PM me. My main tip would be that a well cut diamond will sparkle way more, and will appear bigger than an average-poorly cut diamond. For me, quality was much more important than quantity. You should do some research yourself before buying as it's a V important purchase and some of the jewellers in the Jewellery Quarter will flat out lie about certain things to get you to buy. I encountered this myself as they obviously didn't realise I probably knew more than they did about diamonds. Don't trust anyone that tries to give you the hard sell and if it seems too good to be true, it usually is!!

I would have said "yes" no matter what ring my OH proposed with but after 7 months of being engaged, I still spend a good few minutes every day staring at my beautiful diamond... It never fails to make me smile and is the most amazing, precious thing I have ever owned or ever will own

pigpen

My first engagement ring was £25.. the replacement was beautiful but didn't mean half as much

CDaniels1987

Ok so I have just got back from the Jewellery Quarter and I must say I am bitterly disappointed, to be fair only one shop was left open by time I got there, I went in and started talking to this lady told her what I was looking for and how much I wanted to spend, and the they had absolutely nothing under £1000! what I was looking for which is a 0.4-0.5 carat princess cut diamond on shoulders she quoted me a and showed me a ring which was £1899! I have found the exact same ring on http://www.serendipitydiamonds.co.uk for £734! everything was so expensive in there and she was not willing to haggle at all, I think if they are all like that I will be looking online!