engagement ring!

[Andrew Jackson]

For me it was most important to just find a ring that was in the color (yellow gold), size and design that she was looking for. As far as how much I was willing to spend, I started saving up for this purchase a few months in advance. I also knew that I wanted to spend no more than $2500. Like you said, we are young and just starting out and trying to save up for many things including a house down payment. I ended up finding a ring that I liked and it was well under my budget. Most of all she loves it and gets compliments on it all the time.

Be careful at the jewelry store though. Most of them are nice people, but they will always try to sell you their best cut diamond. And they will show you and tell you how it is superior to the others.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

$1k i think maybe less. $50 for the wedding band? Not a big deal. I wish my grandmother had offered her ring but she was still wearing it and I would LOVE to have it.

[snafu]

[QUOTE=Shewillbemine;291922] An engagement ring is the one time in your life in which the moment, the occasion and the act of giving it are far more important than the monetary value of the ring itself. The engagement story will be retold year after year...we all remember those circumstances.

I hope you will do some research to fully understand what you are buying since gold is so incredibly expensive just now. Wm. gave Kate a blue sapphire so I wonder if some women prefer non traditional gems given the issues of diamond mines.

[Coronet]

Oh wow, I would not want a ring that cost 3 months of my SO's salary! I feel like that'd be too much! I'd much rather spend it on buying our first house, a vacation, or something else. I say go with whatever you think is reasonable. A real lady won't care how much you spent on the ring!

For me personally I could see MAYBE spending up to $5000 on a ring, but then again I'd rather find a ring I liked than pick the most expensive one.

[NolaP]

It's not the ring that is important, but what it symbolizes. A plain band is enough for a lot of people, I think, and not nearly enough for others. Anything more than a few thousand seems like a waste of money to me though, unless you have money to burn. And you can get some nice looking rings for less than that, if you know where to look. And if you "outgrow" your first one financially, well you can always upgrade.

[Pansori]

[QUOTE=snafu;292095]

I hope you will do some research to fully understand what you are buying since gold is so incredibly expensive just now. Wm. gave Kate a blue sapphire so I wonder if some women prefer non traditional gems given the issues of diamond mines.

I think William gave Kate his mom's engagement ring, so I am not sure he had blood diamonds in mind. It is something I am *kind of* aware of, but something my SO feels particularly passionate about. He does not like the DeBeers co. feels they are ruthless crooks, so he would never buy a diamond. I am sure if I pushed the issue he would cave, but I think he would be disappointed.

[Frugal]

We got both our wedding rings at about 85-95% off. Lucked out that there were multiple disocunts going on, and my diamond had a slightly noticeable flaw that dropped its price down a lot for a full one-carat wedding band. If you shop around and use discounts, you can save. We paid under $600 for a very nice wedding ring for me, and about $500 some for my spouse's nice gold band. Both were 14 karat gold, mine white, the other yellow gold. We got our rings both at JC Penney, and had looked at many other stores and invested hours to compare prices.

It is absolutely ridiculous that people feel obligated to go into debt, or hurt themselves financially at the onset of their married lives to buy a ring! Who cares what people think, get a nice deal on a ring, and no one will know any differently what you paid for it, once it is on the hand! Trust me, your pocketbook will thank you later, when you are paying for stuff like a honeymoon, a new house or apartment, etc. after getting married. There are SO MANY expenses up front, don't sweat over having the perfect ring. I should be one you want, not what you feel you "have to buy", according to some old tradition.

[Little House]

This is a really personal choice. Some people are fine with something simple and frugal and would much rather spend their hard-earned money on other things. Others feel it is a time to splurge.

I got married years ago and we didn't have much money. We spent very little on a beautiful, alternative, ring. My husband has brought up replacing it many times, but I just can't justify spending the money on a piece of jewelry - I'd much rather spend it on other things!

[khosta]

Cost shouldn't matter? People always say that when they don't have to foot the bills. I rather spend it on a house or reliable transportation to work and make more money than to throw a lavish party for other losers to enjoy. You can't buy happiness if the money is hard-earned and should be used wisely instead of being wasted.

I meant as in teh "bride" shouldn't care how much was spent on her ring. Sorry you took that the wrong way!

[glmattox]

An engagement ring/wedding ring is a symbol of the promise of marriage. It is also a symbol of the commitment to join as one in a lifelong relationship as husband and wife. An engagement ring is not an absolute necessity in order to be married. However, in American culture engagement rings are common because it is a pledge of love and is a symbol that a woman is no longer available to be courted by other men. The act of wearing an engagement ring lets other men know that the woman’s feelings are “engaged by somebody else.”
The tradition of the engagement ring dates back many years. It was once believed that the fourth finger of the left hand contained the vena amoris (or vein of love) and that this vein connected directly to the heart. This tradition has endured and that is why today both engagement rings and wedding rings are placed on this particular finger. In this way then the wedded couple was believed to be “joined at the heart.”

[Frugal]

We did about one and a half weeks of pay per ring. Got rings on sale (deeply discounted) at Penney's. However, after a negative experience with their jewelry, I will not buy any jewelry there again. I think it is ridiculous to spend a lot on an engagement ring or wedding ring, esp. if the woman will not wear the engagement ring later. Mine got sized down too much, and now I can't wear the engagement ring, because it hurts. Thus, all that money on the ring seems kind of odd. It is only a good idea to spend a lot if she will wear it all the time.

[edg126]

hello resurrected thread.

I make good money, paid $1500 cash for my ring. Some tips:

1) If you hear the word 'investment' scream BS! It's NOT an investment, most people will be buried with it.

2) Don't be too cheap. Think of it as an object that she'll be using every day for the rest of her life. You'll want it to last, and not look like complete crap.

3) Come up with a number that you feel comfortable with. Walk away if the final cost is .01 more. Then when they say, "this is a $1000 diamond with blah blah blah" ask them to compare it to a $600 diamond (and look at the price tag). I did that and could see absolutely no difference. I also told them that if I have to look under a microscope to see it's flaws than that's too much to spend then. That part is all marketing BS.

[krantcents]

Admittedly it was a long time ago (44 years), I gave my then girlfriend (mow wife) an engagement ring that had a value of about 2.5 months pay. I paid a little less than 2 times a month's pay.

[arezianL]

If I got married I wanna get an expensive engagement ring!