Engagement Ring

DItto. I paid about £200 - can't remember exactly as it was nearly 13 years ago and we're still going strong. At the time (age 23) it was 1/15th my monthly salary, but money has never been a measure of our "worth" or happiness.

This is a strong contender for a GD Bingo winning post.

Edit: Oh helo thar.
 
Spend what you want and what you can afford, and what you think SHE will like.

Personally I had mine custom made as I had a specific idea of what I wanted and what she would like.
 
You are supposed to spend 4x times your expected life time earning squared, plus 7x any expected inheritance from your parents, round up tithe nearest million. If you really love her then you will raise the above to the 4th power.
 
I sent my wife out to buy her own...at least I couldn't get it wrong.
Seems a bit harsh but it made sense at the time.
She spent way less than I was expecting...somewhere in the region of £160. IIRC. ( I didn't give her a budget but expected anything upto a grand !)
That either means she thinks I'm a cheap b'stard or money doesn't come into it but probably the former.

Just buy what she wants, there is no point having an unhappy woman...none at all.
 
I didn't buy my wife an engagement ring. We also didn't buy each other wedding rings. It just wasn't a big deal at the time.

I was in a pub with some friends recently and some girls came over to chat to us. They wouldn't believe I was married as I didn't have a ring and thought I was lying to them. Made me smile :)
 
It really depends but you need to know what she likes before going to buy one. I think getting something personally made is lovely but that might not be her thing. Maybe you could propose first and then go together after to pick?
 
You are supposed to spend 4x times your expected life time earning squared, plus 7x any expected inheritance from your parents, round up tithe nearest million. If you really love her then you will raise the above to the 4th power.

Not sure if serious...
 
Go to a small independent jewellers, someone that takes time and pride in their work. Do it properly and get it made!
 
My original plan was to get a cheap christmas cracker and hope a plastic one drops fro0m it but that did not go down too well, lol. What grade to get? VVS1 VVS2 or VS1.....
 
Me and fiancée bought matching rings for about £70.

Pretty similar here. I got a cobalt one for about £60 and she got one for about £200 (not sure what metal it is).

She already had a nice ring which I had bought her years before, that was/is worth a grand or so.
 
The banter on this thread. Remember everyone:
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Whatever you do, don't go to h Samuel and buy the first thing you see. I've seen 3 blokes buy exactly the same ring. Got my mrs ring custom made and it wasn't as expensive compared to your off the shelf ones.
 
To the OP. My way of thinking is this. If you & your GF have talked about getting married I would've thought she'd have dragged you around every Jewelery shop in your town to pick a ring. Unless you plan on surprising her.
 
Don't buy from Hatton Gardens...seriously overpriced.

Nothing better than getting a custom made one off ring that no one else in the world has.

BB x
 
"Bargains" Just don't exist when you're looking at diamonds - as some will already have found out if you ever try to sell an engagement ring on again its actual worth will probably come as a shock. Its daft to get worked up in how much you should spend. Something she will like matters far more than how much it costs and you will know what feels about the right financial ball park

Decide what certification (and be aware of the likely differences in grading between institutes) and grading you would be happy with (once you're into the zone where imperfections cannot be seen with the eye and the top few colours you're really into diminishing returns on £'s vs differences you can ever see. Go see stones in the range you're happy with then decide what you want to aim for - then pick a ring or speak to someone about designing one. It's really not that much more expensive to have one made. If you're particularly fussy you can even tweak something existing slightly - it'll still be unique.

I was able to get high street jewellers very close on price to equivalent online retailers or wholesalers ( who generally wouldn't move more than a token amount, which is understandable) this was usually a massive reduction on the daft window price and had the key advantage of being able to actually see what kind of things they could produce rather than clicking and hoping.

If you're happy online there can be great savings had by buying from the states
 
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Someone I know went to Sri Lanker, visited a store which sold diamonds from the mines, bought one and had it sent back in the mail, melted down some old tatt earrings and left over jewelry and had it made into a diamond ring. Cost them about £500. Had it valued at around £3-4k.

Questionable legality. But it is only illegal if you get caught.

Smuggling diamonds from Ceylon could save you a fortune.
 
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