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Original poster

Engagement ring

194 replies

EagerGreenShaker · 27/02/2026 13:45

If your partner was to propose to you today, roughly how much would you expect them to spend on an engagement ring?

i get that the value of a ring is not important and most people would be happy with any ring at all but just curious as to what people would say for they would expect a partner to pay on a ring you would love

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
girljulian · 27/02/2026 16:27

NovemberMorn · 27/02/2026 16:26

'Dare'?

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As in I'd be petrified of losing it so I'd just never wear it.

Anonmousse · 27/02/2026 16:27

Im a jeweller and I think the 1-2 months salary is ridiculous and was made up as a marketing ploy....but equally an engagement is meant to be something youll wear for the rest of your life....so im dubious about people saying theirs was silver and cost £7.50 or whatever, because cheaply made rings are usually not substantial enough to wear every day for years on end.
At the moment though gold prices (and platinum) are sky high so that pushes the cost of all types of rings up. Lab grown diamonds have made the stone more affordable though.

NovemberMorn · 27/02/2026 16:28

girljulian · 27/02/2026 16:27

As in I'd be petrified of losing it so I'd just never wear it.

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Ahhh, thanks for explaining. x

TsunamiTsunami · 27/02/2026 16:30

NovemberMorn · 27/02/2026 16:20

That is my pet hate.
Could you ask a jeweller to change the setting? sometimes the claws are too pronounced.

Show quote history

Yeah, I hate it. Maybe I'll see if it can be reset.

Duckiewasthefirstniceguy · 27/02/2026 16:30

Mine was £12K, which was about 1.5 months’ salary at the time. That seems about right to me.

NotAnotherMNUsername · 27/02/2026 16:35

No less than £30k

Brightbluesomething · 27/02/2026 16:36

It’s never going to happen as I’ve no plans to marry again, but if anyone spent a months salary on a ring I’d turn him down immediately as he clearly doesn’t know me. That’s insane and I wouldn’t wear it.
Discuss it. Find something you like and focus on the person you’re marrying.
I think mine cost about £100 in 1998 and it’s still in a drawer somewhere. It’s what I wanted at the time with my birthstone.

Teresavonlichenstein · 27/02/2026 16:36

My DH offered but I couldn’t see one I liked and shrugged and said don’t really agree with the concept anyway it’s like man marks his woman / he would spent £20 K on one if I wanted it - I don’t.

My ex spent 20 K on a lovely art deco ring didn’t make the marriage longer.

category12 · 27/02/2026 16:36

I'm not a big jewellery person, I've never worn it much - and found it annoying and tended to lose it when I did.

If you own a really expensive one aren't you afraid to wear it? I was looking in a jewellery shop window yesterday and there were rings for the cost of a small car and I was a bit boggled by the notion of having that much money on my finger! 🤣

I had one that was a couple of hundred I think, as it was what he could afford. I loved it at the time.

LeavesOnTrees · 27/02/2026 16:39

Mine was probably about 1 month salary.

I'm not materialistic but I love it. 18kt gold solitaire dimond, so simple which is what I wanted.
That and our wedding rings are the only pieces of jewellery he's bought and I love wearing them both.

NovemberMorn · 27/02/2026 16:39

No matter the cost, if it's a diamond solitaire, choose it small...(not the diamond, the ring size)
There is nothing more annoying than a ring that slips round on the finger so the stone is on the palm side of the hand...plus, smaller size means you have less chance of it slipping off.

MintyBiscuit · 27/02/2026 16:42

I know it's a bit wierd but mine was £60, I picked it and went to collect it from the jewellers myself 😂 I do love it though. We had been together for so long that getting married was really just a formality by that point.

Oblivionnnnn · 27/02/2026 16:43

My first engagement ring cost about £200 20 years ago.

I’ve seen what my partner is considering getting for my next one and it’s about the same amount. But it’s the most me ring he could have found, and that matters a lot to me after getting it wrong the first time round.

BubbleFree · 27/02/2026 16:45

I’ve never thought about price. I always knew when we decided to get engaged I’d be going to Dubai for my ring as that’s where DH’s family are from and his mum told me. I was proposed to with a fake ring, I’ve no idea how much it cost. I’ve no idea how much my engagement ring cost either as there were no prices on the rings when I chose the one I wanted.

CarrierbagsAndPJs · 27/02/2026 16:46

The op asked if your partner was to propose to you TODAY! Not what did he pay ten to twenty years ago when prices were very different.

Posting the links to that rings you would like today would be more interesting. Because saying £200 is enough is one thing, but can you find one for that price? Prices for diamond solitaire engagement rings are very high.

TorroFerney · 27/02/2026 16:50

BatchCookBabe · 27/02/2026 14:50

You're going to get a bunch of posters come on here soon @EagerGreenShaker and tell you that they didn't even HAVE an engagement ring, and they were happy just to have their partner's LURRVVVE! 😆

I don't need to have a lot of money spent, but it would have to be gold, with a solitaire diamond.

.

Edited

Here I am! I don’t have an engagement ring but that was my choice.

Megifer · 27/02/2026 16:52

Id be absolutely fuming if my partner pissed away thousands on a metal circle 😂

The nicest potential engagement ring I ever saw was sterling silver with red and green stones in it as the flowers and leaves. It was stunning and cost around £150 from memory. Didnt want get married though so i said no, Im good when he asked if i wanted it as an engagement ring, and when I went back to buy it anyway the next week it had gone 😩 should have said yes 😬

Anonmousse · 27/02/2026 16:54

CarrierbagsAndPJs · 27/02/2026 16:46

The op asked if your partner was to propose to you TODAY! Not what did he pay ten to twenty years ago when prices were very different.

Posting the links to that rings you would like today would be more interesting. Because saying £200 is enough is one thing, but can you find one for that price? Prices for diamond solitaire engagement rings are very high.

I dont think i could make a ring for 200 let alone sell it and make a profit.
Raw materials, net price - 18ct gold is around £120 per gram (9ct is half of that, platinum is around 75)
Thats before you add any diamonds or coloured stones....

schnubbins · 27/02/2026 16:57

I didn't get any engagement ring as we had no money and I was just happy to be getting married to my husband .It was 1996 and he had just finished his studies and I was working as a nurse so not much in the way of savings .All my friends had already got engagement rings and the envy and cattiness about who got what and how much just put me off .I got a beautiful diamond ring 15 years later when our ship came in .

oviraptor21 · 27/02/2026 17:01

I wouldn't be bothered about how much money was spent - would be more interested in the thought behind it. But no more than £500 really. Any more is silly and I probably wouldn't feel safe to wear it.

CampingInTheSnow · 27/02/2026 17:01

There are so many variables in this. My husband spent about a month's salary, but that was many moons ago when we could afford to spend money as we wished. Now, with two young kids and a much larger mortgage, I'd be furious if he wasted a month's salary on a ring! If we were getting engaged in our current situation, I'd take a £50 ring with a bit of thought behind it, over an expensive ring that's going to be on a credit card for the next two years.

DelinquentSnails · 27/02/2026 17:04

I would not want to know what my engagement ring cost, and would never ask.

Mine is a family stone which was reset by a Hatton Garden jeweller. I have no idea whatsoever what that cost, or what it is insured for. It is very, very lovely.

SalmonOnFinnCrisp · 27/02/2026 17:04

Gold is expensive now but You can get a decent sized lab diamond that is a good size and looks nice for about 3k

So I'd 2-4k absolute max.

RawBloomers · 27/02/2026 17:04

BatchCookBabe · 27/02/2026 14:50

You're going to get a bunch of posters come on here soon @EagerGreenShaker and tell you that they didn't even HAVE an engagement ring, and they were happy just to have their partner's LURRVVVE! 😆

I don't need to have a lot of money spent, but it would have to be gold, with a solitaire diamond.

.

Edited

Yep. That's me.

I didn't get or give an engagement ring (nor a wedding ring). I wasn't that keen on jewelry, especially rings, then anyway. The whole tradition seemed old fashioned and with unequal connotations. Though I get there's still plenty about family dynamics that's unequal anyway, so I'm not of a mind that rejecting one of the few things where women do better financially is a step towards equality - it just made my skin crawl a bit.

SlouchyBeanie · 27/02/2026 17:09

You're going to get a bunch of posters come on here soon and tell you that they didn't even HAVE an engagement ring, and they were happy just to have their partner's LURRVVVE!

That's me, as it happens:) We got married within a month of him asking so there wasn't much time to be 'engaged' Seemed silly to fork out for an engagement ring when we were getting married in a couple of weeks. The subject just didn't arise. Neither of us thought about it.