Cheap engagement ring? Would you be bothered?

[hacky]

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

I think it all depends. Maybe I’ll get hate for saying this but ex fiancee bought me a £25 ring from TK maxx and he used to earn a decent wage as was joint ownership with someone else in a company. It was when a “diamond” fell out 2 weeks later and I asked him to complain to place he bought it that I found out it was cheap. I was young at the time, now I think about it, the ring was so light and obviously fake diamonds

Yes it hurt when I knew he spent more than x box games

Personally yes I wouldve be disappointed with a cheap ring. I don't need one worth 1000s but I would want it to be relative to what the person can afford

My DH is a very practical man. The fact that he set aside a decent amount of money (that he could afford) meant so much to me. We went shopping together and he was so excited to look at all the rings and chose something that I loved. I wear it everyday, and I love it.

If I had to buy Dh a present that symbolised my desire to spend the rest of my life with him I would spend the same.

My engagement ring wasn’t that expensive, but we couldn’t afford a lot.

I love the ring, as I loved him until he died.🙂

Depends what you mean by cheap? Some naff thing from Temu that'll turn your finger green? Aye I'd be fuming.

Couple of hundred quid, but still a nice quality wearable ring, because that's what they can afford? Fair enough.

I don't like buying into hype, and the whole expensive engagement ring thing was just a marketing campaign by DeBeers. So I would prefer a cheap one tbh!

Also I didn't think I wanted something fancy before he proposed. But actually going together and chosing a ring, seeing the effort he put in and excitement he got out of chosing it was so lovely and I love being able to look at my ring and remember that time.

We were both living at home had bought a house which needed decorating, carpeting etc. I never expected an engagement ring. We'd booked the wedding. One day he asked me to meet him outside Woolworths. I did. Two doors down was Wartskis. He took me in. They had trays of spanking new gems. Guess who fell in love with the much cheaper antique ring.

I've had a love of antique jewellery since then.

One persons cheap is another persons luxury though I guess.

It rather depends on whether I liked the ring or not.

A £50 ring from H Samuel’s might do nothing for me, but a bargain £50
from an antique fair might be perfect. I’d need to choose the ring though!

Correct, but if a man earns good money, doesn’t have any financial issues and buys you a very cheap ring, then that’s not a great gesture, is it?

Depends. Personally, it was a really beautiful ring that matched my tastes exactly, I wouldn't have a problem with it being cheap as it'd feel personal to me, which is surely the point.

Different if it looks like it's come out of a cracker, of course. 😄

Maybe if that’s your line of thinking. I earn good money but I’d not spaff thousands on a diamond, as I have better things to spend my money on!

If it was a choice between an expensive ring, or a cheap ring and a holiday - l will happily have the cheap ring.

I always question this... Relationships are meant to be equal, so if you get him, and he gets you, why should he have to pay more for you? £1000, £5000, £10000... does he get an equivalent token from you?

I think it's arrogance to feel you deserve an expensive ring, no matter how much he earns. This is not equality, this is a purchase (of you).

That's really sweet and worth much more than the £3000 I have sitting in my drawer as we broke up 🫣

It's probably been said on here but it's a tradition that began in a time when women were property. Engagement rings were an outward sign of impending ownership - this one is taken. Find another. You obviously know this though.

I believe the reason they eventually became to be high value is so that, in times when women couldn't own things or have income of their own, it was a type of insurance so that, of the man broke off the engagement, the woman could sell it and she'd have a bit of money behind her. Of course, women wouldn't break off engagements because everyone knows, all every woman wants is to be married! But he also wouldn't need the insurance in the same way.

Nowadays, some people like them and some people don't.

I got engaged recently. I had a budget in mind for a ring of about £300. In the end, we could find nothing in that price range that either of us liked (if at all tbh!) and the one we both liked was around £500. So we got that.

Most we saw that we liked were around £1500 - £3000, and he would have spent more if I'd wanted but I can think of things I'd rather spend £3k on that a bit of bling on my finger!! 😄

We did see a beautiful diamond solitaire for £68,000 mind... totally impractical but it looked lovely in the shop window!

The amount spent on a ring or on the wedding is not relevant, what counts is whether you love each other. I have a mid priced ring, could have afforded far more but I don't want it to stand out too much especially when travelling

It’s all relative isn’t it.
My DF bought my DM a cheap ring from a pawn shop as he was broke but desperate to ask her. I still have it 60 years later and despite being cheap it is pretty.

DH asked me without a ring as he wanted me to choose my own. We went shopping together and I asked him what ballpark he was thinking and he said we’d look at what I wanted and he’d see what he could do…. I think it was about $700 in the end.

I’d feel very anxious wearing an insanely expensive ring, worth many thousands. As it is I lost a diamond from mine last year and it wasn’t even mega expensive to replace but I was really upset.

My husband proposed with his grandmother’s ring, so it didn’t cost him anything, but it was a deeply sentimental ring and showed a great deal of trust in me.

I have an old friend who once said that the old ladies she knew through work all had modest engagement rings and then an assortment of far more valuable and flash cocktail rings and knuckledusters that they wore on other fingers. These were rings that had been purchased over a long married life. But the engagement ring was never discarded for something more valuable.

I would hate an expensive ring (over £500) I would constantly be worried about losing it at the stables/farm, even though you'd have it insured.

@TerriPie has it spot on
Cheap - definitely no
Affordable - yes. As cost depends upon personal circumstances.