to think that people who spent £12,000 on an engagment ring are very silly and pretentious.?

[vio]

Recently a very good friend of mine just got engaged, she was given the chance of choosing an engagnment ring at Cartier in London, with a budget up to £12.000 ..though at the end she chose one cost £8.500 but I thought that's a complete waste of money...on the other hand, I felt bad for judging people becos everyone has its own right to spend money right?

I would definitely not spend 3months salary on a ring.

I wouldn't spend a months salary either, I'd say half a month or even a quarter seems more propotionate to me.

Mine cost about just over quarter his slary at the time I reckon.

So, if you earn £24, 000 a month, £12,000 is just about reasonable.

Daphne are you asking me?!

I'm asking anyone who feels like answering

Wow my whole wedding probably didnt cost £12000!

I guess it's their money but personally I couldn't justify it myself.

Daphne, mine is a 1 carat diamond solitaire on a plain band.

If its 3 months salary then for an average earner that's £6,000. Not a lot more than your friends ring.

My niece got engaged and the ring was new but had diamond airlooms set into it too. It cost a bit, was let into the secret no where near £12,000, but its beautiful, catches my eye everytime, you can tell it wasn't cheap. I wouldn't turn a ring like that down and I'm not materialistic.

ivykaty, I don't think that reasoning stands up very well as you never really recoup the original cost - my engagement ring from st engagement (broken) was from Garrard's but is only worth about 1/3 of what it cost new.

If you know what you are doing then it is a different story and you shouldn't lose on dimonds, gold, etc - possibly cartier and the like you are paying over the odds and will lose - but long term if you know what you are spending your money on you shouldn't be lossing a third on the cost of jewellery. The op just asked 12k on a ring? So ok perhaps they where riped off I dont know?

At the moment though put the money in the bank and they pay 4% interest and you are lossing money as inflation is going going going up....... and whatever the gov stats say inflation is running at far more than 4-5% So the money you had in the bank last year is now worth less even when the interest has been paid

5 stone eternity. ranging from 1/4 to 1/2 carat each.white gold.princess cut.

far better to go to a manafacturing jeweller, choose your own stones and design and get twice as much ring for the money IMO

tacky to discuss prices etc.. but £12 000 for something you will wear for a lifetime works out very good value at price per wear !

Souhds like mine PG however mine is not a WHOLE carat

I do have an eternity ring though 7 small diamonds, it was my late mothers, my late father gave it to her, it is not particularly valuable but it is very precious to me. It sits very nicely with my engagement ring, just waiting for a wedding band to go with them now

seems like a monumental waste of money to me
but then am not arsed about jewellery at all-I mean I like stuff that looks nice but don't care about posh brands/huge rocks etc etc
but i guess for some people that floats their boat!
i just don't understand it, that's all

It's all relative isn't it?

I know people who view engagement rings as investments to be handed down to children and sold.

My engagement ring was cheap and cheerful but we were buying a house at the time and dh was we were being sensible about it.

I'd love a fk off rock too.
I fantasise about an engagement ring like this

But what I actually have is something like this

i would have liked 12k to spend on a ring.

I don't really care about engagement rings. But the whole thing about "one month's salary" (which is now two month's in the USA I think) was all dreamt up by De Beers to make more profit. There's nothing traditional about bankrupting yourself over the ring.
Each to their own though, I suppose.

I like what you have wicked, it is contemporary

TBH, I think I would be shocked at this too.

I hope the diamonds are certified conflict-free for that price!

Well let's face it we all walk away from the jewellers having taken their word for it that the ring we have purchased is actually real! If it is passed through the generations it might never get spotted that it is not!

Message withdrawn

You can think what you like, just hope she isn't reading this.

I wouldn't allow my DH to spend that much on a ring but I got a very nice one and I am happy with that.

OSTG - I would love to see your ring.

YABU. It's all relative. A bit brash of her to tell your her budget however

What is 'pretentious' about spending lots of money on a wedding ring? Ostentatious, materialistic maybe?
Quite foul that she chose to tell you and I hope that they are perfectly loaded, nothing more tacky than 'bling' on a tracksuit and hairpeice.

its a bit ott ( I do remember a colleague saying something on hearing of a similar engagement ring about why she didnt wear the price tag instead)but each to their own