Average price of an engagement ring?
 

I looked at the other thread about people's "dream rings" but I'm curious - what is the average range for the engagement rings that people actually buy (not just dream about)?

I've heard the "2 months salary" thing but that seems awfully high and unrealistic (it screams "marketing ploy")

Thoughts?

I have heard that as well . .I don't know about two months - because if you make like 5000 a month (60,000) a year - that would mean you would purchase a 10k ring. I would say - look at your finances, and purchase a ring (I strongly recommend wholesale places that is where my husband got mine from and I will NOT complain - he did GOOD!), that is in line with how you feel about the person you are proposing to. If she loves you, size won't matter and you can always upgrade . . .

When my sister got engaged her ring was very simple and cost $1500. Her fiance worked at the UPS store and they were 19, so that seems high to me for kids so young and broke. When my best friend got engaged, she split the cost with her fiance to make sure she got the ring she wanted since he didn't have a lot of money, and in the end the ring was about $6000.

I personally would rather not have a ring worth two months of my boyfriend's salary. I know you can get jewelry insured, but I lose everything, and I don't want to be a stress monster every day from wearing precious stones! I just want to enjoy something pretty on my finger. :p

$0.

If you're buying one, go to a jeweler you know, and you won't get ripped off. Go to a random jewelry store, chances are you'll get ripped off.

As far as prices, I'm not going to say how much I spent on my wife's ring, because I think it's no one's business, a personal thing. My wife liked it, I liked it, and that's really all that matters.

The average for my recently engaged friends seems to be in the 8-12k range. There are a couple outliers like 6 or 17, but for the most part it seems to hover around 10.

I'm a girl, so I don't plan on buying one. Just curious :)

Just for reference: the two months salary thing is Debeers propaganda. Don't listen to it.

Had a date with a guy tonight who was previously engaged (it's amazing how many people I know that have been previously engaged). Somehow it came up in a roundabout way. He spent $15K on the ring. :eek: and that's when he was an asst. golf pro instead of a head golf pro like he is now...

I think I would be rather intimidated to wear something worth that much. But that's just me.

I feel the same way. I'd really be afraid that I'd lose it, or someone would hold me up at gun point for my ring or something. Thats why when I see some of the NPC badges that are decked out in diamonds, rubies, opals, etc, I could never see myself wearing one.

I like nice things, but not to wear every day. Not only do I walk by myself at night in a downtown area, but I'd probably beat the heck out of it. I can't even keep a manicure nice. I don't want anything huge anyway because I have small fingers, so something huge would both look ostentatious and probably be unwieldy.

My friend Lisa has a REALLY nice engagement ring. But she has one that looks similar but is a CZ that she wears when she's traveling, etc. So that if something happened to it she'd only be out a couple hundred instead of thousands.

I think it's up to the couple to decide what kind of money to drop on an engagement ring. I will say, you shouldn't be overly worried about losing it, it getting stolen, etc. That's what insurance is for. My ring (as well as a few other jewelry pieces I own) are insured and covered if ANYTHING happens...stone falls out, goes down a drain, gets lost, gets stolen, gets burned in a house fire, falls off the in the ocean, ANYTHING! I obviously would not want to lose it, but I know we'll get a check for the appraised value if something does happen.

Though, being held a gun point would be bad.

I've never really thought about a replica engagement ring, thats not a terrible idea I guess. I know people with replica watches for traveling, so I guess it'd be similar.

The 2 month salary thing is bunk. It's whatever you feel comfortable with.

At the end of the day, we're talking about a rock (or several) that a woman wears on her finger. It's not what it's made of that's significant, it's that it's there.

Exactly - plus, from a practical standpoint, if you're spending 10K on a crap diamond, then the price really doesn't matter so much. If you don't think you can afford it, you probably can't.

To be honest, I don't see the point in a really expensive ring! I know a girl who got a 4 carat and to me, it doesn't look that great! It almost looks fake to me. I would rather have something that is very nice with good clarity. I also think heirloom rings (like your great-grandmother's engagement ring) are very nice too.

I've hinted (ok, basically told) my SO that if he decides to propose, I want him to use my grandmother's diamond, but have it set in something different/more modern (it's an OLD ring)...but I think it is very special, plus it isn't a conflict diamond.

Whatever the hell you feel like spending.

I was lucky. Perhaps it's from my wife's very humble small town upbringing, but she fell in love with a ring that was around $600. She casually mentioned it to me. I went out the next day and bought the thing. I waited about a year to propose, but still... she loved/loves the ring.

When I'm through with school and doing pretty well, I'll be able to look like a hero again when I upgrade it.

1ct
 

A girl I dated said she wouldn't marry me if I didn't spend at least 20. She was a snatch but I always thought wedding rings were like 500 bucks. The lucky girl in my life is gonna get an onion ring.

-Rudey
--Onion ring ladies!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. No seriously.

Actually, this isn't necessarily true. I just think that if people go into it with what they have to spend, they're going to get taken for a ride.

My boyfriend and I have been discussing this stuff a bunch later. I have told him that I just want a really nice diamond thats it, he can get me a small one or bigger one - but just make sure its good quality because you can always change/upgrade it later down the road for like an anniversary.

This is a little off topic...

We have just been talking about money situations lately, and I don't see how some people our age (Mid-20s) can afford to get engaged, get a house, and get married without their parents basically doing it for them. We both come from families (my parents will help some) that we will be paying for all of this pretty much on our own.

We both have really good jobs, and have been saving money, but feel like we are choosing a house or getting married now. Of course, everyone would rather see us get married first, but I hate wasting money living in seperate apartments.

hmm.
 

When my fiance got my ring he wen to a family friend who got him a good deal. The 1 ct he was looking at was 12k..just the diamond. Really good quality diamond, expensive retail place. I didn't say it was right, just what he told me.

Laboratory created diamonds are significantly cheapter, too.

Expensive retail place...ding, ding, ding! He paid too much, sorry. Never pay retail! :p

I have 1.5 plus some side stones to make the whole thing just over 2cts, set in platinum - whole thing was less than 10K. Now, it's not a "perfect" diamond (no one aside from a jewler with his scope thingy is ever going to know that from looking at it), but all the stones in the the ring are very good quality. My husband went to the diamond district in NYC, but even when he went to a local jewler in town he saw a flawless 1 ct, it was still less than 10K mounted in platinum.

Yes, and in whatever size, color, shape, stone, setting you want.

Seriously, even though I have a diamond/platinum ering that I like very much, don't do what everyone else is doing just because it's the "thing" to do. I've seen some gorgeous non-diamond erings that are just as meaningful (if not moreso) and less expensive.

nope
 

Maybe if he hadn't blown all that money on a ring you could have had a big wedding with your family instead of a destination wedding. But here's an appropriate venue for you:

http://www.bdb.co.za/kimberley/

It's funny because it's true.


Although I guess you could say that a wedding is a one-day thing, and she'll have her engagment ring the rest of her life. (Or, if she doesn't beat the odds - until the divorce is final.)

That's the thing - I didn't get the most expensive ring for my wife, but then again I couldn't afford it. We ended up with the wedding we wanted, and we were able to buy our first home this year.

I won't criticize someone for spending too much on ring/wedding/whatever, because people made comments to me, and it's not really any of their business how much I spent. It's not any of anyone's business what people spend on these things. At the end of the day, you have to be comfortable with the amount, and it shouldn't negatively affect the rest of your life; that would kind of take away the point, right?

real nice.
 

I'm not sure what your problem is, but I'm not going to feel guilty about having a diamond ring. He didn't "blow" any money on my ring, either. It was a thoughtful, loving gift that he could afford. IF you had read what I wrote properly, you would have realized that he didn't pay $12,000 (not that there is anything wrong for those of you who do have a 12k ring). Also, I'm not sure what your idea of a big wedding is, but $12,000 doesn't buy much these days.

By the way, corruption touches a lot more than just diamonds (oil, healthcare, clothing, food...all thing I'm sure you use on a dialy basis), so don't think you're high and holy or super progressive because you watched some Leonardo DiCaprio movie, okay? Not to belittle the seriousness of the issue, as I am well aware of the blood diamond isssue.

No need for snotty remarks or unfounded personal attacks against me.

Have a lovely day.

The last Leonardo DiCaprio movie I watched was Romeo+Juliet so I'm not quite sure what you're talking about. I'm glad you're "aware" of the issue but you also should be "aware" of the fact that when you come on GC whining about not being able to afford a wedding and then say your fiance spent "nearly 12k" on a ring and that you can only get a good 1 carat ring if you spend that amount nobody is going to feel bad for you.

It's not unfounded when it's true.

Not 12k.
 

I said NOT nearly 12k. Read it. I was simply relaying what I had learned on the prices of diamonds. I didn't say charging that much was right, that $12,000 is the bottom line.

Nor was I whining about the wedding. I'm sorry if you (or anyone for that matter) saw it that way. Seriously. All I wanted was some advise from other people, not sympathy.

Isn't not nearly 12K something around 11.5K? I don't see how saying "not nearly" means much less.

nope
 

Not the way I see it. "Not nearly" means it is not anywhere near 12,000. I would think that 11.5k is very near 12,000.

Let's get married.

If you're aware of it, do you know where your diamond came from? Did you ask? And to assume that people are socially conscious because of a movie is shallow.
http://www.nodirtygold.org
Try that one for starters. You're right; it's not just diamonds. The issues spread much farther out, all in the name of vanity. Me? I have an antique ring waiting for me.
For the record, Blood Diamond is an excellent way to publicize an issue that's been ongoing for years so don't belittle its impact on the general public.
http://www.maketradefair.com