Help on engagement ring costs

Idiophreak

USM wrote: »

A colleague of mine bought his fiance's ring from Tiffany and paid more than I did but ended up with a smaller stone of lesser quality - crazy but well done to Tiffany for a successful marketing business!

Off topic, I know, but I think "crazy" is pretty harsh, actually.

Buying from Tiffany, you buy into a level of service (which I can't fault), you get complimentary resizing and servicing for the wedding. You're ensured a certified ring of a certain quality and they have nice premises and really helpful staff (the guy who sold me mine had a degree in gemology). There's a tangible value attached to this stuff.

Then there's the little blue box branding, which is extremely strong. Yes, you pay for a name - but you can do this in any part of your life. Personally, I swear by Fairy washing up liquid, M+S boxers, Skechers shoes, etc.

I don't view an engagement ring as an investment, I don't want to sit and go "I got the biggest, shiniest ring, for the best price". I want something to make the OH feel special. The look on her face when she saw it was from Tiffany was worth the premium paid alone, the looks on the faces of her friends etc when they notice is just a bonus. Whether they should react that way is a different question, but the fact is they do.

You, obviously, thought it was important just to get the biggest rock you could afford - that wasn't so much a big deal for me. It's horses for courses, but I don't consider either of us to be particularly crazy...

LEJC

Tiffany is a brand..Tiffany is an experience...and some girls long to own a piece of jewellery from there but its not for everyone....you can buy beautiful elsewhere....each piece of jewellery a woman owns is beautiful whether it cost £200 or £2000...the simple fact is that the engagement ring is given with love and starts a story...and each piece I have tells a story....and yes the Tiffany ring I have forms part of that story...but then I do know a bit about diamonds!

Scotsbride

saw in tesco mag that tesco do vouchers you can convert into goldsmith vouchers if money is tight

74jax

LEJC wrote: »

Tiffany is a brand..Tiffany is an experience...and some girls long to own a piece of jewellery from there but its not for everyone....you can buy beautiful elsewhere....each piece of jewellery a woman owns is beautiful whether it cost £200 or £2000...the simple fact is that the engagement ring is given with love and starts a story...and each piece I have tells a story....and yes the Tiffany ring I have forms part of that story...but then I do know a bit about diamonds!

Aw that's a lovely post!

It is strange that after 6 years of being together, I do feel that we are 'starting afresh' again now. It's like starting to go out all over again. I'm like a big kid.

Engagement ring is being ordered today.... we have spent all week on the phone to different people, changing ring shanks, adding a bit here, can it take this diamond etc and we have 3 possibles. I have no idea which one he's going for or the cost involved in any of them and so when he opens that box it will be a huge surprise to me :j

LEJC

74jax wrote: »

Aw that's a lovely post!

It is strange that after 6 years of being together, I do feel that we are 'starting afresh' again now. It's like starting to go out all over again. I'm like a big kid.

Engagement ring is being ordered today.... we have spent all week on the phone to different people, changing ring shanks, adding a bit here, can it take this diamond etc and we have 3 possibles. I have no idea which one he's going for or the cost involved in any of them and so when he opens that box it will be a huge surprise to me :j

Quite simply...enjoy the moment...congratulations to you both and the best of luck with all your wedding plans!

RainbowDrops

Idiophreak wrote: »

Buying from Tiffany, you buy into a level of service (which I can't fault), you get complimentary resizing and servicing for the wedding. You're ensured a certified ring of a certain quality and they have nice premises and really helpful staff (the guy who sold me mine had a degree in gemology).

You can get this elsewhere too though without the hefty Tiffany's pricetag.
The jeweller OH got mine from provided all of these things too!

74jax

RainbowDrops wrote: »

You can get this elsewhere too though without the hefty Tiffany's pricetag.
The jeweller OH got mine from provided all of these things too!

I agree.

Beaverbrooks offered glasses of champagne and I got so excited with the coffee they gave me as the more I drunk, you could see the wording 'Making it special with Beaverbrooks' appearing on the inside of the coffee cup.

Idiophreak

74jax wrote: »

I agree.

Beaverbrooks offered glasses of champagne and I got so excited with the coffee they gave me as the more I drunk, you could see the wording 'Making it special with Beaverbrooks' appearing on the inside of the coffee cup.

Err...But Beaverbrooks is just as expensive as Tiffany...
(at least it was for the ring I bought...)

74jax

Idiophreak wrote: »

Err...But Beaverbrooks is just as expensive as Tiffany...
(at least it was for the ring I bought...)

I was meaning the service is the same in many places, not just Tiffany's.

We didn't buy from there (obviously hence this thread :j) But we did sample their freebies whilst getting ideas on shapes and diamonds to design our own online.

Idiophreak

74jax wrote: »

I was meaning the service is the same in many places, not just Tiffany's.

We didn't buy from there (obviously hence this thread :j) But we did sample their freebies whilst getting ideas on shapes and diamonds to design our own online.

Sorry, you said you agreed that you could get the same level of service elsewhere for cheaper, then went and proved my point.

You wanted a premium service, so went and wasted Beaverbrooks' time to get it, then ordered online so you didn't have to pay the premium for that service.

Different people's moral compasses are wired differently, I guess.