Ring Shopping

[smitdavi]

Well I went engagement ring shopping with my G/F........WOW what a shocker. She has expensive tastes. It was cool though. I so can't wait to marry this girl and this just felt like a step in the right direction. So....How much did you guys spend on your engagement rings? Just curious. My G/F fell in love with one that was like 3300!



David

[Ron1YY]

Get the girl what she wants. She is the one who will bring you years of happiness.

Ron

[smitdavi]

Yeah, that's what I figured. I've been writing down everything that she's looked at and said she's liked.

[cb25]

Originally Posted by Ron1YY

Get the girl what she wants. She is the one who will bring you years of happiness.

Ron

well said.

just got engaged myself (about 3 mo ago) and i spent a little over 2K - and that's because i'm a broke-ass. but i found a ring that was a style that she liked, and was a good compromise of quality and quantity. she's very happy, as am i.

seriously, $3300 is *nothing* when it comes to engagement rings. be thankful she's not asking for bigger ones!!!

[smitdavi]

Originally Posted by cb25

seriously, $3300 is *nothing* when it comes to engagement rings. be thankful she's not asking for bigger ones!!!

Oh I know, she tried on one that was 8500 and I almost passed out, lol.

[Neuromancer]

Originally Posted by smitdavi

Well I went engagement ring shopping with my G/F........WOW what a shocker. She has expensive tastes. It was cool though. I so can't wait to marry this girl and this just felt like a step in the right direction. So....How much did you guys spend on your engagement rings? Just curious. My G/F fell in love with one that was like 3300!



David

$3300? Hell, mine's angling for a 2 carat stone...sigh...there's goes the PAD/TAD/CAD budget...

[smitdavi]

LOL, the one she's eyeing is a 1.5 carat princess cut stone with a stone on either side, on a white gold band. I must say it is beautiful thought.

[Eternal Rider]

Get her what she wants in the long run you will pay for it anyway.

[Desert Rat]

Heres a thought from a romantic old fart.

27 years ago, we went to the jewelery store together and picked out some stones my wife-to-be liked (diamonds and sapphires). I then worked with the jewler to create the setting.

My wife adored it then and even today if asked she'll say "and my husband designed my ring".

Bottom line is you can do this because loose stones are generally a good enough bargain to pay for the custom setting, so you end up with a custom ring for the same or less than one off the shelf.

And in the price range you guys are throwing around (2-3K) you can do this at a reputable store that will not burn you for the stones.

[White97Jimmy]

I had my fiances made by the jeweler. Princess center stone that is tension mounted and "floats" above 12 channel set princess diamonds on the band.

[ToddziLLa]

Congrats man, going through that same process myself.

[montecristo#2]

It all depends on what matters. For some people size matters, for others it is quality of the stone. If it is 3300 for a 1.5 carat stone, the quality (color, inclusions, cut) may not be that good, however, if it looks good and it is what she wants, then go for it, that price doesn't sound too bad. You might want to search the internet (something like bluenile.com or diamonds.com) to get a range of prices for what you can expect to pay. Sadly, 3300 dollars for an engagement ring is not that much. If she doesn't want anything fancy, you could try an engagement band, but this probably won't fly. You can get very nice bands loaded with smaller diamonds for a decent price. A friend of mines fiancee didn't want anything large so they went with a band to start.

When I was looking for mine, I looked at the mall stores to get an idea about the design and how many stones, but I don't think I would buy from a mall store. Usually, they mark things up pretty high and the quality is not that good.

My wife didn't want anything that big and I am a poor student, so we decided on a smaller center stone that was a higher quality with a couple of smaller stones on the sides. I have always been a fan of the round ideal cut stones, so I don't know that much about princess cut diamonds.

If you directly compare the color between a D, E or F with something like an G, H, I it really makes a difference, however, if the two stones are not right next to one another, it is harder to tell (assuming the stone is not yellow). So unless you are worried about your fiancee comparing the stone with her friends, it may not be worth it to pay the premium for the "colorless" stones. It is really hard to tell the difference between a D and an E stone. Same goes for quality, VS1 (or VS2) or better is pretty good. SI stones are usually not that good. I recommend reading up on diamonds before you purchase, that way you are much better prepared when you go into stores.

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond_search.asp?track=56 - has some good info on different characteristics of diamonds if you are not familar with the lingo.

I believe, if you go into boutique stores you can bargain for a better price, I am not sure if you can at the mall stores or something like Tiffany's. I know I went into a store to look for a band for me and the sales guy would clearly negotiate the price to make a sale.

Congrats on your future engagement. Hopefully she doesn't mind the cigar smoking.

[RPB67]

Been there and done that.

Get her what she wants or she will never be realy happy. Then niether will you.

[68TriShield]

Congrats on your engagment! Now about the cost of wifeys ring...is there going to be a test at the end of class ? I suffer from CRS being a FOG and all that so I need time to study up. I'll take a shot though, $3000 or there abouts...Dave

[neoflex]

Congrats! $3300 really is not too bad. I spent close to five but I had my wifes ring custom made. I know someone who just dropped 10 on his fiances. I lucked out on the wedding ring. Had I bought it here in NY it would have cost $10,000 but we got it when we were on our cruise and stopped at St Thomas. Only cost me $6,000. Got it through Diamonds International so if I had any prolems with the ring they had a location here in NY. Now you have an excuse to take a vacation.