Engagement Rings

[warpig1]

Sorry, couldn't find an appropriate section under shopping. What are men expected to pay for engagement rings, I remember something about 3 weeks salary or 3 months salary, can anyone confirm this? Obvoiusly I realise its not about cost but about commitment and love.

[redcrx]

i think traditionally its supposed to be a months salary but its really all down to what you like and what you can afford nowadays.

[Miss Zippy]

Three months' salary was the figure bandied about some years ago by de Beers in an ad campaign. One month's salary is the guide to go by, though it is purely that, a "guide".

[debsoutho]

Its not about cost, My partner and I are getting engaged, and I have looked for the one that I like the best and its 150.00. Didnt know that there was a certain price to pay, if you like it get it, if you can afford something expensive then fair dos, if you dont and you love one another price doesnt come into it. If we were looking at a months salary I would he would be paying 1600.00 for one. The money could be spent on doing the house up etc.

[MrBen5]

Hmmm, all depends on how much he values the woman, and what he earns :)

[lindaloo]

I have heard its 3 months salary but at the end of the day it is whatever you can afford at the moment and maybe in a few years when you have more money to spend (remember you have a wedding coming up now) you can always spash out on a bigger one!!

[warpig1]

Thanks Guys for your comments

Miss Zippy, why does it not surprise me that De Beers would bandy this amount around, did I not read somewhere that they only release a certain number of diamons a year to keep the prices up?

debsoutho, as I said it is not about cost but about commitment and love, and if the money can be better spent somewhere else then it should be.

[Octavius]

Too right warpig. There are no rules other than:

a) the receiver must like the style, the colour (of the gem), the material (gold, white gold, platinum etc) the assumed quality and the manner of your proposal, and of course � you, enough to agree!

Money spent doesn�t really come in to it if all the above are ticked. If you can afford it and have 3 months salary saved up then why not splash out, providing you choose the right one of course, it could be thrown back at you! One set standard though amongst many women I know is that you try to, where possible, avoid Argos jewellery.

As you have said yourself, I would assume (although there is an endemic of materialism among many, but not all, women) that the recipient would prefer that you spent what was sensible to afford whilst leaving enough money in the bank for regular treats and/or future endeavours together (home, car, holidays, family etc).

[warpig1]

Oops sorry I should have clarified, I am the recipient and Whilst I would like a ring that I will cherish I don't want to break my partners bank. He has asked me to have a look around to see if I see anything I liked and when he comes back at Christmas we will go looking but he didn't give me any range of prices. Basically he is not hugely rich but I was looking for something under �1000 as I thought given our situations this was an appropriate amount.

[jake-the-peg]

Remember you don't have to money into de Beers' coffers.

I personally have huge issues with the so called "ethics" of those gentlemen.

And you'll probably get a lot more for your money too!

I mean I know something like this:
http://www.jewelryexpert.com/CATALOG/Sapphire- Tapestry-Ring.htm

at about �1700 is a bit over your budget but the point is it doesn't have to be just a big diamond stuck on a gold band

[warpig1]

Thanks JTP. Was considering getting one designed as I wanted something unusual but thought that would be way too pricey. Nice to know that there are some unusual designs on the market.

[OBonio]

Just remember, if you go for a platinum engagement ring, you need to buy a platinum wedding ring too.... platinum can wear down gold as it's much harder.

[Octavius]

Ah warpig, glad you clarified, obviously my reply assumed an answer from a male perspective. You are ever so lucky in that you get to choose what you like, rather than the poor man who has to guess and hope that he has chosen right and spent the right amount of money and got the right size!

If you are after a unique style/design then if you are ever near Hatton Garden you may well find something that suits and providing you can haggle over half a Denari then perhaps something in budget as well. Good luck with the search wherever it takes you.

[OBonio]

Oh, and I spent a month's salary on my wife's engagement ring, but she chose it. Turned out to be a bit more than a month's net salary.

[warpig1]

Thanks everyone.

LOL Octavius if I left it up to him I would have a washer on my finger.

[jake-the-peg]

By the way if you've ever wonderred how it is that diamonds are worth so much when they dug out of the ground by the tonne.

Or why you never see an antique eternity ring there's a facinating article here called "Have you ever tried to sell a diamond"

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198202/diamond

[Pippa68]

Traditionally it is supposed to be a months salary..

If Mr P had spent a months salary on mine I would be afraid to wear it, so it would have been a real waste of money! I have slightly modest taste anyway, so luckily the one I chose was probably just under a weeks salary (about �500). I still get stressed out wearing it!!!

Just choose the one you like, whether it be �100 or �1000..nobody will know anyway ;o)

[Eve]

Mine was incredibly cheap when me and my ex got engaged, we were both kinda broke at the time.

I loved it though, chose it cos I did, under �30.00 from Argos at the time but it was the meaning for me and still very special to me now despite things not working out as it's a memory and reminder of a man I loved very deeply.

Maybe get one from somewhere special? It wasn't an engagement ring but me and my ex had a lovely romantic weekend away and found some nearly matching rings in a little curio shop, spent ages searching through them to find one each and was a lovely memory, often wear it in a chain round my neck now.

[noxlumos]

I got engaged 3 times altogether and spent respectively �50 the first time �150 the second time, then to my second wife I spent a absolute bloody fortune, but she'd have been as happy with something for �50 from Argos, which is actually the point. You should be able to get engaged with a plastic ring out of a christmas cracker and if you are right for each other, you'll be jumping up and down like teenagers.If I were you I'd ask him for a guide price though, then you are both reading from the same hymn sheet.