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Original poster

How much should an engagement ring cost??

181 replies

Sounbelievablydull · 04/06/2016 21:24

Humour me here please.
My original ring has disintegrated back has split and one ( v small diamond) has fallen out and is now lost.
Now I never thought I was a jewellery type person ...but... Now I find I'm noticing other people's rings and feeling envious.
So, if I were to put my original ring plus a few bits of trivial hideous 80s stuff together what would I need to come up with to have nice piece of bling???

OP posts:
DirtyBlonde · 04/06/2016 23:59

I've just put the cost price of mine into a historic inflation site, and today it would cost £700.

Which still seems a lot of money for a finger adornment (thinks how many school loo blocks, or just plain safe water pumps it could buy)

SovietKitsch · 05/06/2016 00:08

Mine cost approx £4K I think, but what I love most about it, is not what it cost but the fact that DH had it designed for me, but it was exactly what I would have chosen myself!

I don't wear jewellery, but I do wear my engagement ring every day. I love how blingy it looks (to me at least) sitting there with my wedding ring!

StickTheDMWhereTheSunDontShine · 05/06/2016 00:10

Is should cost whatever you (ie the buyer) wants and feels able to spend.

So much of it is produced by slave labour that I never felt comfortable with an ostentatious one.

FastWindow · 05/06/2016 00:13

Mine was 100 quid off gems.com or some such. But it's just the right colour of red, which ruby isn't. Ruby is pink when you really look at it.

I wouldn't feel comfortable walking around/cleaning/whatever with so much money on my finger, the £1500 or whatever. Its too much, for me.

Pinkheart5915 · 05/06/2016 00:17

It's whatever you can afford

Mine was 5k DH designed it himself and I love it haven't taken it off once since I got it.

luellabelle · 05/06/2016 00:24

It's whatever you can afford. Personally I would never buy on the high street as the mark up is ridiculous. I'd either buy an antique ring and have the stones reset by an independent jeweller, preferably one not working in a shop say in Hatton garden or I would source a stone and have it set to your design. My engagement ring is valued at about £7500 but we paid a fraction of that by using a diamond dealer to source the stones and then a setter to make it up. It's a one carat emerald cut diamond set in a diamond halo with a diamond shank. It's large and in your face but I absolutely adore it.

CauliflowerBalti · 05/06/2016 00:28

Mine cost £12 from a junk shop. I love it but it's already looking worm after 2 months. Who knew it was plated?! Funny.

It doesn't matter though. We are using the stones in my wedding ring. Their monetary value is pence - it's a semi-precious stone eternity ring - but the sentimental value makes them priceless. I love this ring. The style, what it represents, the impulsive way it was bought.... I may or may not get an engagement ring to replace it. If I do, it will be because something sparkly catches my eye. I will make sure it's not plated next time...

Yeah. Spend more than £12, OK?

DailyMaui · 05/06/2016 00:39

Mine cost about £250. I wear it everyday (nothing to do with finger too fat to get it iff... oh no) It is is worth a whole lot more than that though.

It is a bit shamed by the ring I was given by a family member (husband's side) which is heritage family jewelry and is rather amazing. I have to wear it on the other hand as it makes my engagement ring look puny. I wear that every day too. I probably shouldn't but hey.

I have to add that my engagement ring was originally my "baby ring" - a present after I'd had DS. So I actually don't have one at all. Not even a haribo one. Bastard. I'll mention the two month thing to my DH. He's rarely parted from a tenner so this could be interesting...

Terrifiedandregretful · 05/06/2016 00:47

What you can afford. Who can afford to forego a month's wages? I'd be scared to leave the house with that much money on my finger.

Sleepingonthebus · 05/06/2016 00:49

It should cost as much as is needed to buy the ring you love. Mine cost less than £100.

JaceLancs · 05/06/2016 01:25

I would consider having something new made using the original stones and gold with whatever is needed in addition
Otherwise buy secondhand
I love vintage jewellery - my oldest ring dates from 1730
DP wanted me to have something new that no one else had worn so had ring made but I did part exchange stones from another ring and used the gold - spent £1600 over 20 years ago - it still gives me pleasure every day

GiddyOnZackHunt · 05/06/2016 01:51

Mine was about 1.5k which was a good month's salary for DH. We both loved it. It was adapted by a jeweller from a standard design so it's a one off. I rarely take it off and it's something special as is DH. :)
My parents were burgled and my mum's beautiful engagement ring was stolen so I made sure my ring was wearable.

Hirosleaftunnel · 05/06/2016 02:15

DH spent over £10k on a vintage ring for his ExDW. They got divorced after less than two years and he sold it back to the shop at a loss. It was bought by a celeb and now her marriage is also over. That ring is cursed I'm sure. The ring he bought me was much more modest, he had learned his lesson I think. Big posh ring and big posh wedding don't equal happiness!

ThePinkOcelot · 05/06/2016 09:06

My 18c gold solitaire diamond ring cost £1600 but we bought second hand and its valued at £3200. Definitely worth a look at second hand.

Zoomtothespoon · 05/06/2016 15:49

Mine was £2.5k which I personally think is ridiculous but I love it anyway!

I always pointed my partner in the direction of cheap and quirky rings (I actually fell in love with a £50 one we saw!) but I think he freaked out and felt he had to do it 'properly'

Kenduskeag · 05/06/2016 15:56

My DH had little to do with my ring (combined wedding/engagement, I only want to wear one.) I chose the design, material, price range and paid for it myself.

Don't fall for the sexist guff about salary levels.

Arfarfanarf · 05/06/2016 16:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SpecialStains · 05/06/2016 16:19

It should cost however much you can afford. One months salary is ridiculous if it means you struggle to pay bills/rent/food etc.

Mine cost £400 from an antique jewellery shop in Brighton. It's 1920s art deco diamond and opal ring, with a platinum front and gold band. The first bit of jewellery DH bought me when he was a very skint student was an opal necklace and earring set, and I wore it constantly, so I wanted an opal engagement ring. I absolutely love it and have never seen anything similar. It was recently valued for more than we paid for it.

My wedding ring cost £150 as I went for palladium, instead of platinum like dh was trying to persuade me to get. The two metals looked identical to me. DH then got a similar ring and we have each others names engraved inside.

DH is a high earner and we could afford more, but I would be uncomfortable wearing a really valuable piece of jewellery each day.

ErNope · 05/06/2016 16:20

I think you (or he if he wants to choose) should set a realistic budget and go from there. See what you like.
I set a budget of 2,000 for both engagement and wedding ring so 1k each. As it happens I spent 99p on my engagement ring and 3 pounds on my wedding ring because I just fell in love with them! EBay/Amazon (eBay for engagement ring Amazon for wedding) 925 sterling silver cheapies from Asia but I've never spotted them on any one else and I adore them. Look as they did when I bought them. Love a good bargain lol

BonnieF · 05/06/2016 16:40

The problem with obsessing about the cost of engagement and wedding rings, is that it just seems horribly shallow, tacky, materialistic and grasping.

This is one time when it really is the thought that counts.

LogicalThinking · 05/06/2016 17:35

The most you can afford I would say surely?
Bollocks
It's a symbol of love, not wealth.
More expensive does not mean more love.
I would have been furious if my DH had spent a month's salary on my ring!

NavyAndWhite · 05/06/2016 17:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

HowVeryOdd · 05/06/2016 17:57

Whatever you can afford and I say this as someone who has a 2 carat diamond (I do not know the cost). Being with my DH who has never given me a moment of shit and been there through the difficult times we've faced together means more than my ring and I wouldn't have cared if it had cost £10.

KittySnow86 · 05/06/2016 18:10

Mine is an heirloom from DH great grandmother so it cost him nothing but in terms of sentiment is priceless. I still panic about something happening to it.

A similar ring now would cost £1500 ish. I would never have expected him to pay that though. I think no more than £300 (though again I don't think I would have wanted him to pay that)

pigsDOfly · 05/06/2016 18:11

My engagement ring was pretty expensive and was made for me with a matching wedding ring.

Marriage lasted 20 years and throughout most of that I was thoroughly miserable.

It doesn't matter what an engagement ring costs, I'd rather have had one that was made of plastic and a happy marriage.

Any new ring won't be your engagement ring OP. In your shoes I'd be getting my engagement ring repaired rather than trying to replace it.

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