Engagement rings...

[steviedog]

Hey, I've been havin a little look around the web for engagement rings but to be honest, I've no idea what I'm looking at. My budget is between £800 and £1200, not a lot I know, but I'm not too flush.

I'd like the ring to be silver/white gold, the girlfriend isn't in to gold much. The key thing has to be the size of the rock, the bigger the better.

Are there any good jewlers online which anyone might recommend? Also do you think I might need to save a bit more first? I told a mate the most I could spend was £1200 and he laughed.

 

[Abbeygoo]

£800-£1200 is more than enough, tell your mate!

Rather than viewing online, I would pick a local friendly jeweller tell them your budget etc and I'm sure they can show you various options. Seeing them in the flesh would be a better experience - you'll just have to work out how to get your girlfriend's ring size off her!

 

[kBm]

How about a simple white gold 9 or 18ct band with a stone on top. I found that proper diamond has the sparkle in the right light, so its not the size that counts as other friends have larger stones that just dont sparkle in the same way....

Bear in mind the type of ring you buy will play a big part on the type of wedding ring she'll get as im sure its better to match/ compliment.

 

[BB3Lions]

Sounding a little radio rental but If you can get yourself over to Palma as the gold is allot cheaper and the diamonds are a better quality for the price.

#i bought our wedding rings from a jewellers in the centre, x2 18 carat white gold with a ring of diamonds going around the outside ~ (in the middle) the diamonds are VVs1 round white cut - both rings cost £2k in total but they are beautiful ( i chose them).

Only annoying thing is the rings need re-coating every 4 months or so as the white wears off and turns yellow..... Costs about £30 to recoat each ring...

BB

 

[BB3Lions]

PS an engagement ring historically should be x3 your monthly income.

Sod that!

BB

 

[Dancook]

Shopping online for an engagement ring isn't very romantic...

Go to Birmingham jewellery quarter, there are lots of shops selling rings - and a fair few make themselves, so the mark-up is much less than a high street shop.

Make sure you ask the assistants whether they make them there, if they don't find a shop that does.

 

[John]

PS an engagement ring historically should be x3 your monthly income.

The jewellers made that up , bit like the bottled water companies made up the "should drink 5 litres a day"

 

[Marky1973]

Shopping online for an engagement ring isn't very romantic...

Go to Birmingham jewellery quarter, there are lots of shops selling rings - and a fair few make themselves, so the mark-up is much less than a high street shop.

Make sure you ask the assistants whether they make them there, if they don't find a shop that does.

Good advice - loads of choice there - although I ended up getting the engagement ring elsewhere in the end! And 3 times your
salary is a load of old tosh - buy something you think she will like - I did.....platinum band with a small stone mounted in a style she liked - £700 - at the time, less than one month's salary - but she loved it - you have to be subtle figuring out what she is after, but I don't believe that bigger or more expensive is necessarily better.

We got my wedding ring from the jewelry quarter for £75 - cheap as chips as they say, but we both really liked the ring - so job done.

Worry less about what other people tell you you SHOULD spend/buy and try and find out what she wants.

 

[nheather]

I'm not sure about the need to spend so much on rings.

Whilst I understand that it is an important thing and if you have the money then I can understand that you want to show how much she means, but if you look at most long and successful marriages many of them are not based on such a material outlook.

I got engaged when at University. Didn't have a lot of money - think the ring was about £50-£75. We got married a couple of years later and our wedding rings were about £100 each.

Does a cheap marriage mean no real commitment and no true feelings??? - well last Sunday was our 23rd anniversary. What's more although we can now afford much better and we have discussed it, we have never felt the need to replace the rings with something better, because their meaning is more significant than their value.

Cheers,

Nigel

 

[lurcher]

My sons partner has just got hers from Argos about £120 recently , I was a bit suprised cos they have the money but she says its better put in the house.
I paid about the same in 1976 , dont know what that would be the equivalent of now tho .

Julian

 

[IronGiant]

I got engaged when at University. Didn't have a lot of money - think the ring was about £50-£75.

£64

well last Sunday was our 23rd anniversary.

Next month for us

Cheers,

Nigel

Cool

 

[FZR400RRSP]

PS an engagement ring historically should be x3 your monthly income.
Sod that!
BB

I agree, that's mental money.
£1200 is perfectly ample for an engagement ring.

 

[Dancook]

I agree, that's mental money.
£1200 is perfectly ample for an engagement ring.

I suppose x2 is nothing to scoff at

 

[Sonic67]

I agree with above, get yourself to the Jewellery Quarter. Spend what you think is right as well. Spend too much and she might be terrified to wear it.

 

[Citizen J]

Hey, I've been havin a little look around the web for engagement rings but to be honest, I've no idea what I'm looking at. My budget is between £800 and £1200, not a lot I know, but I'm not too flush.

No disrespect but what planet are you on?!?! £800-1200 is more than enough! (IMO). There is so much more to getting engaged than the price of a ring. It is also about the moment and how you convey your thoughts etc.

Good luck with it all

 

[steviedog]

Thanks for the replies.

I wouldn't normally spend so much on jewlery (or anything for that matter) but I happen to know that the 'ring' side of the proposal means a lot to her and she doesn't spend hundreds on clothes and stuff like other girls so I want to get her this as a treat. She'd be happy with a £100 ring but I know she'd love something big and expensive.

 

[FZR400RRSP]

I suppose x2 is nothing to scoff at

Yeah, and I forgot to ask for the first one back.
So she's, presumably, still walking around with a £1200 ring courtesy of me.
Or she's sold it.

 

[Jenn]

I'm in the "cheap" ring boat too. My engagement ring was £69 if I remember correctly.

I'd have been livid if my husband had spent a fortune on a ring.

 

[FZR400RRSP]

According to the TV advert, women would be delighted getting a ring from Cash Convertors.
Probably the most misleading advert on TV.

 

[Kristian]

Only annoying thing is the rings need re-coating every 4 months or so as the white wears off and turns yellow..... Costs about £30 to recoat each ring...

The wife's (got married a few weeks ago ) engagement ring is white gold and got re-plated for the first time about a month ago when it was four years old and it cost £15 from a local jewellers. Maybe shop around a bit...?

Regarding the cost of the engagement ring. If you both like it and can afford it then spend whatever you like whether it's £100 or £10k. I think I spent about £1k. Don't forget that the quality rather than the quantity of the diamond can be important too.

Have fun shopping.

Congratulations btw

 

[FZR400RRSP]

The wife's (got married a few weeks ago ) engagement ring is white gold and got re-plated for the first time about a month ago when it was four years old and it cost £15 from a local jewellers. Maybe shop around a bit...?
Regarding the cost of the engagement ring. If you both like it and can afford it then spend whatever you like whether it's £100 or £10k. I think I spent about £1k. Don't forget that the quality rather than the quantity of the diamond can be important too.
Have fun shopping.
Congratulations btw

A £1k ring needed replated after four years?
Is that normal?
Isn't that like a four year old car needing resprayed?

 

[Prowse]

Don't forget that the quality rather than the quantity of the diamond can be important too...

Very much so, do some reading-up on diamonds, basically; colour is important (the whiter the better), bad cut means it won't sparkle as much as it could and inclusions are black carbon spots.

I spent just over two months salary as I had been saving.

At the end of the day, shop around and get best you can afford. I'm sure she'll be happy.

NB: We were in Tiffany (London) some time ago, another couple in there were complaining as 'she' didn't like the engagement ring he'd bought. We'd spotted a similar ring, worth around £25,000! She didn't like anything else that Tiffany sell either. This should be a good indication for the groom-to-be to do a runner!

 

[leeince]

Heres a little chart to give you an idea of Diamond quality, you should try to get the best quality diamond you can, you wont get a flawless (FL) stone but aim to get one with the least amount of inclusions (VVS1) as you can.

You also want a colourless stone, D (clear) being the best and V (Yellow) Being the worst.

For your budget you should be able to get a good quality 2/3 ct stone in a white gold mount, you can get a bigger stone but you will sacrifice stone quality. Where ever you go to buy make sure you give the diamond a good look over and check it to see if you can see any internal or external inclusions (carbon)
and go with what your happy with, £1200 is more than enough money!!

I didnt see were your based but I have bought a few stones from covent garden in the past, you could make a day of it and grab some launch and that while your there.

Heres the chart:



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[DrPhil]

Just to clarify, you're picking the ring yourself? Do you know what style she likes? Single stone, 3-stone etc. We picked the wife's ring together because I knew she was fussy.

Spent £1300 on a thin gold band and 3 stones. Style is important, she has very small hands and most rings are too too thick for her fingers which makes them look bulky. Check the colour and clarity I think, both are on a scale which the jewellers (or google) can demonstrate. Our jeweller was excellent, let us basicallt design the ring ourselves, picked the style of the clasps, the side view of how the clasps are designed and the height from the ring of the stones. Clasps are important too if your missus has small hands. Big bulky clasps with smaller diamonds tend to detract from the look of the stone(s).

 

[DrPhil]

Ah there's the chart...

The wife's ring has 3 stones, colour G, clarity the second one down, VVS1/2 and round cut. Each stone is .28 carat, .84 for the 3 combined.