Cost of engagement ring

[brightbluesky]

Recently had a chat with a colleague who is expecting a proposal soon, she said that she has been looking at rings for sometime, and was specifically only looking at rings that were 3k plus with as large a solitaire centre as possible...! She has made it clear to her boyfriend she is "worth it" and won't accept any less, her words, and he isn't to go anywhere near a high street jewellers or spend less than 3k!

For a moment I felt a pang of envy and the thought of owning such a rock, then I got a grip! my own ring is a white gold cluster and cost £700 in 2008. We went to look at different jewellers, and I picked out a handful of rings I loved. My husband then went pack and made the finally choice.

Cost didn't come into it. We didn't have a budget, just wanted to pick something that was durable and a bit unusual (I didn't want a solitaire).

Was the cost of your ring important to you? Or did you just go for something you loved too?

Photos welcome :)

Here's mine

This is mine (hands are a bit swollen as I'm pregnant and it's hot!).

It cost - I think - about half what DH has budgeted but it was the one I wanted. It was actually the first one I tried on but we wandered round most of Hatton Garden to make sure! I knew I didn't want diamonds or a big stone of any kind.

I didn’t have a budget in mind, but I knew I wanted a princess cut solitaire set in platinum. Clarity and colour were more important to me than carat. Mine was around £4K four years ago.

So one has bought well and into the advertising.

DH spent £800 on my ring in 2008. I love it. He could have afforded more, but I didn't see the need.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen any advertising about engagement rings. I have heard the 3 month rule but I assumed that was just something people did in the olden days along with dowrys

This is mine. Cost way less than your friend’s budget. We chose it together and I did know the cost but can’t remember really now, couldn’t have been less interested I just loved it and didn’t want to take it off. We actually tried a bigger/ more expensive version of the same ring but it didn’t look right on my little fat fingers.

Think it’s looking super glamorous right now against the backdrop of my pyjamas

Mine cost nearly £4,000. I know this because he used to thrust the valuation certificate in my face every time he was an arsehole, almost like a get out of jail free card.

Needless to say, he was extremely abusive and thank goodness the wedding (scheduled for last summer) never went ahead. I still have the ring although it's pretty worthless (no-one will touch a second hand diamond ring and he took the certificates of its value when the police got him to leave), occasionally I do get it out and try it on. Not because of anything, but because it is a very pretty ring!

My sister has just got engaged. Our mum gave her my grandma's engagement ring. Which I think is lovely. My friend thinks it's cheapskate as it should come from her partner. It's perfect for them. They aren't bothered about things like that at all. Dsis would be mortified if her partner had spent a lot of money on a ring.
Slightly jealous, as I wanted that ring! Apparently I'll get my mums ring. Which I'm not as keen on. But since I have no one to marry I can't complain!

Mabellavender... love it!

Mine was £700. I think that's an awful lot for one piece of jewellery tbh. The old tradition of three months salary is ridiculous if you ask me. A ring won't make you happy for the rest of your life, it's nice to have one but a ring is just a ring. Some people never get married and are the happiest of all of us.

@wheresmymojo yours is gorgeous.

Mine was less than £500 from an antiques jeweller

I love it and wouldn’t have wanted him to over stretch

We were buying a house and having a baby all at the same time but even if that wasn’t that case I can’t imagine it being any different

My exh didn’t spend a penny on an engagement ring and reused a ring I already owned as it was my grandmothers engagement ring she’d left to me

I have had four marriage proposals and three engagement rings

The first was a sapphire surrounded by diamonds, second a aquamarine with diamond set shoulders that we designed together. The ring that happily made it to the altar is a solitaire diamond that we chose together. It was about £800, 22 years ago.

For me the cost is unimportant, solitaires aren't to my taste. I do love a cluster or a halo though! Mine isn't the most expensive but I just love it - it's one I'd loved when I was hoping to get engaged, and independently it was his favourite too

Mine cost nothing.

My parents got engaged shortly before they moved to England. My Mum got a job in a local factory. She came home from work one day & noticed her ring was missing; she was devastated.

My Dad saved up and bought her a replacement. Years later, Mum found her original ring at home. It didn't occur to her to look in the house as she was so convinced that she'd lost it at work in the factory!

When my Dad died, Mum gave her engagement rings to me and my sister. I adore mine. I like to think of it as my Dad's blessing for my fiance, who unfortunately he was not able to meet.

My DF (DH next week) proposed last year on holiday.

He popped the question and then let me loose on a famous row of jewellery shops to pick a ring!

I had no idea what I wanted. He quietly told me he had 2 months salary set aside as ‘that’s tradition’ ... this gave me a budget of approx £8.5k. For context I grew up modestly, £10 was a lot of money.

So there I am...famous jewellery street...£8.5k to spend...what is a girl to do???😂❤️

🙄 I spent approx £650 on a ring that I cried when I tried on. I knew imediatley and still adore it!!! Would not change it for the world! DF was a bit 😦 but was happy I was happy and we put the rest of the budget to good use planning the wedding/honeymoon. X

Mine was about £1800 in 1999.

It's one my dh choose. When we were looking I was looking around the £500, but he saw it, he liked and he could afford. He had to convince me that it was OK.

OP it sounds like your colleague wants the 'ring, dress and wedding' but not necessarily be married, and relationship. Which does not bode well for the future of her relationship.

I think mine was about £350. The cost is unimportant imo, the rings are meant to be symbolic not a display of ostentatious wealth. My wedding ring was only £40, still married after 15 years.

Love seeing all the photos, I think every ring is beautiful on this thread!

Also lovely to hear proposal stories etc...

Will be interesting to see my colleagues ring If and when the proposal happens! X

My engagement ring cost £200. The price of the jewellery was unimportant. I know someone who bought his now fiancée three grands worth of hand designed ring. He's cheating on her. It's the sentiment that matters, not how much it cost.

A friend spent 14k on the engagement ring, 8k on the dress. do not ask what the wedding cost. They are no more nor less happy than many other couples.

@goldierocks

That’s a beautiful ring and a lovely story.

Sterling silver, CZ and a simulated sapphire, was under £50. Don’t care how much it cost and don’t really care if anyone wants to snigger at the price because I love it.

The price of mine isn't important to me. It was my beloved Nana's who have it to my now DH when he asked her and my grandpa for their blessing to marry me. They sadly died within a day of each other a month after my wedding and my ring reminds me of them and how wonderful their love was.