Cheap engagement ring? Would you be bothered?

[hacky]

This is pure curiosity as I've been thinking about this for a few weeks!

If I was young, just starting out, buying a home together etc, then I would be happy with a Haribo. Now I'm older I wouldnt accept a proposal with a cheap ring. For me to be interested he would have paid off his mortgage and should have a well paid job and plenty saved for the pension pot. A cheap ring would mean they aren't in an equal position to me fiancially.

I don’t care what anyone else has or spends. Mine was cheap stone but gold. But I don’t wear it or my wedding ring because I can’t stand anything on my finger. Still married over 30 years.

Both of my grannies had wartime utility jewelry for their wedding rings, it's made of basic metal but both marriages ended with the deaths of my respective grandpas.

Don't get sucked in to marketing nonsense. Diamonds do not equal love.

Mine cost £2.50, I cannot wear it, but I have kept it. It wasn't the ring, it was what it meant. 25 years later it has not been replaced.

Depends what you mean by cheap. if your partner earned £200k and they spent £200, I'd question that. But for me, an engagement ring was a symbol of our commitment, the value didn't matter. I liked that my DH chose it, and he got an ethical choice of diamond which was important to me.

I’m not bothered about a ring. In fact I’d hate to wear something on my hand worth a decent amount of money cos I would live in fear of losing or damaging it, especially as my hobbies involve animals or my hands in an engine bay (not at the same time, no animals get oily lol).

What matters is how he treats me.

We bought my first one with nectar points from argos. Have since upgraded but I've still got the first one. I don't wear it because its white gold and needs re-plating.

Spent a lot on my wedding ring though, it's 950 palladium with white and yellow diamonds, and blue and pink sapphires.

We bought my first one with nectar points from argos. Have since upgraded but I've still got the first one. I don't wear it because its white gold and needs re-plating.

Spent a lot on my wedding ring though, it's 950 palladium with white and yellow diamonds, and blue and pink sapphires.

I have an expensive ring and no I wouldn’t have accepted a cheap ring. I was financially stable and a good earner myself so I would have only got engaged to a man who was similar and it would have been rather odd and telling if he’d then produced a cheap ring.

As usual on mumsnet there’s already a lot of nasty comments about being materialistic 🙄. My husband chose a beautiful ring which I adore and will last a lifetime, it makes me happy every day and I get so many comments on it. He saved up and delayed buying himself treats to get it for me, which I think is a lovely way to start a marriage.

I think it’s nice for a man so spend a significant part of his budget on such an important gift for his future wife, provided he can afford it. We had a lovely wedding/honeymoon and a beautiful home so we certainly didn’t forgo anything for the sake of a diamond.

As for the person who said they’d love to see a study of the relationship between ring cost and marriage longevity 🙄🙄🙄 I don’t think that’s anything to do with it, if anything I think it can be the inverse if a man has plenty of spare money but isn’t bothered to spend much on his future wife it’s not a great sign. We’re really happy together and the couple I know who are constantly on the rocks is one with a cheap ring.

I never had an engagement ring.
Wedding Ring cost about £25 from Argos.
I recently broke it - and haven't replaced it yet.
I'm not a jewellery person tbh.

We didn't bother getting me an engagement ring - i'd rather pay £1K or whatever it would cost off the mortgage than have it sit on my finger doing nothing

Having said that I do have tiny fingers & did get a less plain wedding ring (not expensive)

No, I wouldn’t be bothered. My engagement ring cost £100 because we were teenagers at the time.

20 years later and we’re still together and happily married. That ring is extremely precious to me.

I didn't get one at all as we couldn't afford it. Been married a long time.

Marriage is about a lot more than a piece of metal on your finger.

Totally depends on your definition of cheap. Mine was cheaper end of the scale compared to friends in early 2000s but it was about a month’s take home for dh at the time - £800. I love it - very simple and dainty. My wedding band was cheaper at £200 and I bought dh an Xbox for our new home. 9 years later dh bought me an eternity ring which was more expensive but we could afford it.

I think there’s a balance but context is everything and if you can’t afford food then buying an expensive ring is madness.

I love the idea of a ring being an investment and something I can hand on to my dc.

I think it’s nice for a man so spend a significant part of his budget on such an important gift for his future wife

I think the point is that clearly not everyone thinks it's an 'important' gift!

I didn't have an engagement ring but my wedding ring cost less than £25, we were marrying because he was dying and the cost of the ring was immaterial to what lay ahead.

What’s cheap to one person will be expensive to someone else. I wouldn’t have wanted my husband to get into debt for an engagement ring

Don't cripple yourself on a ring, but a bit of value shows you plan to stick about.

@doppelganger2 but there’s also a large number of posters who think grown up women shouldn’t ever expect gifts for birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s Day and should be grateful for a card so if someone did get lovely gifts you’re called materialistic just because you have a husband who wants to demonstrate love by making a woman happy. If people don’t want a ring then fine but I can see many saying “oh just something cheap - I’m not worth more”.

The resale value of diamonds is shockingly low. I loved the idea of a vintage ring too, so it meant I could get a ring that I love to wear whilst being cheaper.

I got a 1ct, platinum band engagement ring which I wear every day and I adore! I was over the moon that DH went for a second hand ring and saved a fortune in the process.

Oh @Ratfinkstinkypink I'm so sorry. 😞

Don't know what mine cost as DH surprised me with it, I admit my heart sank when I saw the box as I wanted to choose my own, but the ring he picked is beautiful and really suits my finger and I absolutely love it.

@MissingMoominMamma ,Something similar happened to somebody I knew. Her now ex husband told her the ring was platinum and a diamond. She loved to tell everybody who listened. Anyway we were out one day and she decided to leave her "platinum and diamond ring" into the jewellers to be cleaned. Jeweller had a quick look and told her it wasn't real, cubic zircona stone and silver band, basically just a bit of costume jewellery.

Next time I seen her she had a new ring.

My engagement ring cost £75. No diamonds. I chose, I love it, I love him.

My ring was from an antique shop and the “diamond” has a mark in it. It was under £500. I wouldn’t be able to tell you what grade the stone is or any detail on it other than the fact I love it and it’s now very sentimental to me. Costs don’t matter to me.

I'm 41 and got engaged aged 21 and we didn't have much money, I think my ring was about £100 and I'm happy with it. I'm not into flashy jewellery and it's not about showing off plus I'm not stressed about damaging it. My wedding band was about the same amount. We will celebrate 17 years married this year.