How much did you spend on your engagement ring?

ROOG

I think it was about £160, back in the mid 80's, the wedding day all up didn't cost much more.

It didn't occur to me that I was supposed to spend a certain proportion of my monthly earnings on the ring.

My missus seemed happy enough with it!  

kin

  The wife loves jewellery and has items ranging from  centuries old Roman cloak pins and rings to qvc shite, most of which she bought for herself.

 First engagement ring i bought her cost about £150 but i replaced it for her 40th birthday last year and that cost me approx 2.5k, though it's valued for insurance much higher than that.

I am a jeweller though, so i was able to source the diamond for a good price and make the ring myself. 

She's currently saving up for a new guitar for my 50th, so rather than gold digging i see it more like two people buying each other things we will enjoy.

jellyroll

About a month's gross salary........ each time.....

crunchman

I think it was £400 - around 17 years ago.  I proposed first and we went shopping together to choose the ring.  She didn't want anything too expensive as she wouldn't be comfortable wearing it.  It is a simple solitaire diamond one.  It's when you start to add extra stones that they seem to get a lot more expensive.

There's a lad I work with who has just spent a lot (around 3 grand I think) on a ring from Tiffany's.  I think he's mad.  This whole "spend a month's salary" (or two months salary) definitely seems to be a massive success from the marketing industry.

eSully

About £800, I took a chance and bought online (77 Diamonds) as with the returns policy I thought if I wasn't happy with it I'd just send it back but ended up really happy with it. Some people may regard it as a bit impersonal but I got to choose the diamond and ring so got what I thought she'd like. 

My wife isn't one for shiny jewelry and would have told me not to spend much if I'd given her a choice but she cherishes it, money well spent

joneve

CabbageCat said:

joneve said:

Errr about £2k I think. Best money I ever spent. 

Why? (Fair warning...this might be a trap)

Obviously the correct answer is because she said yes and she has made me the happiest bloke around

Also, she was very grateful for it which was a nice feeling. 

It also shut her up from moaning about us not being married after 7 years together. Now she just moans about how I don't do anything around the house and that I've STILL not removed the cobweb in the hallway that she can't reach...oh and that I never walk the dog...

Ok...I take that back. Worst. Decision. Ever.

Nitefly

About £30 from Beaverbrooks, in 1975, so probably about one week's wages.  Wedding ring was a bit less.  

I don't have a wedding ring - didn't want one, as I don't wear jewellery of any sort, except a wristwatch. 

Roland

CabbageCat;1004341" said:

Roland said:

Two weeks wages. Afterwards I asked other people, and they seemed to have spent similar amounts. It was a learning experience because we both knew nothing about jewelry, and still have little interest in it.


Two weeks wages is a lot of money to spend on something neither of you had any interest in.

The symbolism is the important thing, and it's pretty.

TimmyO

About £1500 in the early 2000s - I'd been looking online at specialist places then saw one in t'local jeweller where he sets the stones himself, so that was a bit of a 'nicer' way to do it 

zepp76

It cost the same as a pair of really nice exhaust pipes for my Ducati that I had at the time, the engagement never lasted, I should have bought them bloody exhausts!

Winny_Pooh

First one £30 (older woman)

Second £1150 (younger woman)

I believe it's an exponential ratio from there on

Gassage

£50 for the ring.

But £500 for the Prince Albert piercing.

Branshen

Gassage;1004744" said:

£50 for the ring.





But £500 for the Prince Albert piercing.

Goddamn I just googled that

Nikko

Drew_fx said:

hungrymark said:

No, she just makes secret holes in the condoms, much better ;-)

Nah, we weren't using them. I don't like 'em. Feels like I'm raping MYSELF!

And they make your dick look like a bank robber. Horrible things.

Snap

Sporky said:

Snap said:

Our wedding had 5 people attending, including us, and cost about 200 quid all in. No fuss. Perfect.

Nice!

Ours spiralled out of control; we had five guests. It was going to be seven at one point.

It was just what we wanted. Neither of us are remotely religious, nor fans of your traditional wedding. It wasn't well received by my family. My mum was seriously miffed that she wasn't there, which I can understand. However, it was, in our opinion, about us, not anyone else, and this was what I said at the time. In retrospect, maybe a little selfish. We;d been living together for 7 years or so, had a baby, and it seemed, we'd done all the other stuff, so the wedding was a formality.

I think people get so over the top with weddings that the actual thing you are doing (pledging your lives to each other) gets lost, maybe.

A mate of mine recently got married and he did it well iMO too. They had about 20 or 30 at the ceremony, then a few more at a do in a village hall. BBQ and barn dance. It was great. No speeches, no bollocks, just a good do.

All i'd say to anyone getting married is do what you want, not what your parents/in laws want. Its not their day after all.

quarky

I paid about £1500 in '99. Less than a weeks wage at the time, but I never seemed to have much money though..

Still married, and thinking about about it really cost

oaf

If you're buying a diamond then http://www.pricescope.com/forum/rockytalky/ is a helpful and friendly forum and this tool is handy for picking which diamonds from your shortlist you should follow up/exclude (higher score = worse, with over 2 being the usual cut off, though after that it's often about personal preference - i.e. you may not prefer a 0.8 scoring diamond over a 1.5 scoring diamond).

Consider buying online (and from non-UK websites) as most jewellers in the UK are a lot more expensive than those abroad and aren't likely to have the range either. You'll pay duty and VAT on import but likely still make a substantial saving. I've had decent service in Birmingham Jewellery Quarter but don't think they can match price or range of online.

Whiteflash, Brian Gavin, Blue Nile and Good Old Gold all seem to be pretty well-regarded and each has pros/cons. Check return policies and the diamond certification/stats though before buying...!

Oh ...and my (now) wife bought me a new LP Custom when we got engaged!

Stevepage

Initially £80 as I wanted to propose but didn't have the money for a really nice ring. So I proposed and said I'd be getting her another ring when I had the cash.

Luckily her Dad gave her his mum's engagement ring. 2ct diamond set in platinum. It didn't fit her so we all decided that I'd pay to have the diamond set in a new ring and the old platinum ring will hell pay towards it.

In all I paid £700. She got a lovely sentimental ring that also looks perfect for her. Only thing is our contents insurance costs a bit more than it should because we had to put her ring on it as it's quite valuable.

doogz84

£3k, 3 years ago.

I actually bought a £50 swarovski thing to use, as I was planning on doing out in Florida on holiday, and let her and both our mothers go shopping for one that she wanted when we got home.

Which was an expensive, but nice day out for the 3 of them. And I got utterly steaming and ate a load of lovely tapas while they were at it.

Wedding ring was just shy of £1k.

Mine was £75. the woman in the shop was utterly astounded that I picked one up and said "That's titanium"

"How could you possibly tell that?! Are you a jeweller?!"

Erm, no.

hotpot

Back in 1972 I paid £15 for a secondhand diamond engagement ring, It was either that or the crap from the then Ratners jewellers lol.