Engagment ring

[Sentinel]

She will be thrilled with whatever you get her. It doesn't have to be a 2 carat diamond.

Secondly, don't go through with it.

 

[Sasiki]

I went to a local jeweler and paid $900 cash for my wife's wedding set. A similar set was around $1400 at the mall. I don't remember the clarity, carats, or anything, but since it was from me to her, it was the most beautiful rings she had ever seen.

I would never spend 5k for the first set. Maybe at our 15 year mark she'll get some new rings. Spend $2,000 or so and bank the other 3 grand. Sure, a $5,000 ring would be a nice surprise, but I think you'd get more use out of a $2,000 ring and $3,000 worth of furniture.

Just think about it. $35,000 annual salary doesn't last long this day in age.

That is all~

 

[Stiganator]

You should get a NiTinol wedding ring, nothing says I love you like a ring that is superelastic shape memory alloy!

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: Rob9874

Originally posted by: Haui
What is so good about bluenile.com? What do they offer that others dont?

Selection and good prices. I got my finacee's ring there. 1.28-ct, F color, SI1 clarity, but it's totally eye clean (I lucked out!). $6400. I set it in a beautiful antique style hand-made eternity (carved design and diamond accents all around) Beverly K ring for $1750. It's a gorgeous ring that everyone comments on. Cost me $8300 total.

To these yahoos who say not to spend over $2000. You're not going to get a carat for $2000, and it's going to be yellow and filled with inclusions. It's not about getting her to marry you. My finacee would have said yes with a CZ. And it's not about impressing others, but you want to make an impression that you've got your life together. A Wal-Mart employee can buy a $2000 ring. (I'm assuming you're a college grad making $50k+). You want the ring to let people know that she's marrying someone who can afford a decent ring. Now, one of her friends is REQUIRING her bf to buy a 3-ct ring. That's ridiculous. You don't have to spend $30,000 and get gaudy. But it should be 1-ct, should be H color or better, and should be SI1 or better (SI only if eye clean...do not want to see ANYTHING with the naked eye).

Why is it important to me that other people think I can afford a decent ring? Sorry, I don't care too much about what other people think we can afford. The ring I got my wife is G color and SI1 clarity. Nothing special, but it sparkles brilliantly in the light and you can't see any inclusions when you look at it with the naked eye. I could of paid a lot more for something else, but I don't care to impress jewelers who look at it under a microscope.

 

[RKS]

I spent a lot of money on my wife's ring. I believe it was a 1 carat stone with about another .5 carats in channels on either side in a platinum setting.

I then went to Walmart and bought the cheapest CZ I could find. I think it was about $19.86 after tax. I proposed to my wife with the Wally-world ring and she was estatic.

Since she passed the 'I better get a big rock' test I gave her the real ring.

 

[everman]

Originally posted by: RKS
I spent a lot of money on my wife's ring. I believe it was a 1 carat stone with about another .5 carats in channels on either side in a platinum setting.

I then went to Walmart and bought the cheapest CZ I could find. I think it was about $19.86 after tax. I proposed to my wife with the Wally-world ring and she was estatic.

Since she passed the 'I better get a big rock' test I gave her the real ring.

That's a pretty good idea.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Rob9874
And it's not about impressing others, but you want to make an impression that you've got your life together. A Wal-Mart employee can buy a $2000 ring. (I'm assuming you're a college grad making $50k+). You want the ring to let people know that she's marrying someone who can afford a decent ring.

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Man, I'm so glad I'm not you. What a small life...

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Rob9874

Originally posted by: Haui
What is so good about bluenile.com? What do they offer that others dont?

Selection and good prices. I got my finacee's ring there. 1.28-ct, F color, SI1 clarity, but it's totally eye clean (I lucked out!). $6400. I set it in a beautiful antique style hand-made eternity (carved design and diamond accents all around) Beverly K ring for $1750. It's a gorgeous ring that everyone comments on. Cost me $8300 total.

To these yahoos who say not to spend over $2000. You're not going to get a carat for $2000, and it's going to be yellow and filled with inclusions. It's not about getting her to marry you. My finacee would have said yes with a CZ. And it's not about impressing others, but you want to make an impression that you've got your life together. A Wal-Mart employee can buy a $2000 ring. (I'm assuming you're a college grad making $50k+). You want the ring to let people know that she's marrying someone who can afford a decent ring. Now, one of her friends is REQUIRING her bf to buy a 3-ct ring. That's ridiculous. You don't have to spend $30,000 and get gaudy. But it should be 1-ct, should be H color or better, and should be SI1 or better (SI only if eye clean...do not want to see ANYTHING with the naked eye).

I hope I'm not the only one here who thinks 1ct+ stones look a bit chintzy. Girls I've dated all say huge solitaires look odd on their fingers (then again, I haven't dated any girls with fat fingers). Three stone rings are my favorite; a nicely sized center solitaire flanked by two smaller diamonds.

When buying diamonds, you need to rank them with cut over clarity over color, in that order. An average (mall jewelry store) cut F color VS2 would pale in comparison to a super ideal cut J color SI1.

 

[ponyo]

If a girl tells you she doesn't like the look of a big stone, she's lying.

If a guy tells you he would never buy a big stone for his woman, he's poor.

 

[sdifox]

Err, I didn't buy a big ring... In fact. I bought something that cost 700 bux... Canadian... back when it was weak

I did buy her a decent size ring a few years later.

 

[440sixpack]

Forget the exact specs, but my wife's was $4500 for a .70ct marquise cut diamond with another 0.17ct in side stones, in a white gold band. She has tiny hands so anything much bigger would have looked odd.

 

[Babbles]

Originally posted by: everman

Originally posted by: RKS
I spent a lot of money on my wife's ring. I believe it was a 1 carat stone with about another .5 carats in channels on either side in a platinum setting.

I then went to Walmart and bought the cheapest CZ I could find. I think it was about $19.86 after tax. I proposed to my wife with the Wally-world ring and she was estatic.

Since she passed the 'I better get a big rock' test I gave her the real ring.

That's a pretty good idea.

That is a good idea! I am going to have to squirrel that idea away for the future.

 

[JEDI]

$2k 1 carat perfect

manmade

FU DeBeers!

 

[Archenemy]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
I made WAY more than you are making now and did not spend much more than that. Don't bankrupt yourself to get a ring.

No kidding, I spent $200 on my wifes ring. Spend the money on a honeymoon or downpayment on a house or something. Jewelry is a waste of money imo.

 

[Drako]

Originally posted by: Archenemy

Originally posted by: Mwilding
I made WAY more than you are making now and did not spend much more than that. Don't bankrupt yourself to get a ring.

No kidding, I spent $200 on my wifes ring. Spend the money on a honeymoon or downpayment on a house or something. Jewelry is a waste of money imo.

I concur, don't waste money on a big ring. When I proposed to my wife, I gave her a picture of a ring, and let her choose whatever she wanted. Thankfully, she is not into gaudy rings, and got herself a nicely sized 1/2 carat stone.

Spend your money on the important things, and you can always get her a big ring if she wants one later down the road for an aniversary present.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: mrCide
which is 100s of % less than you will pay retail for the same thing.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Babbles

Originally posted by: everman

Originally posted by: RKS
I spent a lot of money on my wife's ring. I believe it was a 1 carat stone with about another .5 carats in channels on either side in a platinum setting.

I then went to Walmart and bought the cheapest CZ I could find. I think it was about $19.86 after tax. I proposed to my wife with the Wally-world ring and she was estatic.

Since she passed the 'I better get a big rock' test I gave her the real ring.

That's a pretty good idea.

That is a good idea! I am going to have to squirrel that idea away for the future.

How is it a good idea to not have any idea if your g/f really loves you before you ask her to marry you?


Maybe a better idea is to figure it out slowly over time, then get engaged when you're sure and don't have to test her.

 

[RKS]

Originally posted by: silverpig

Originally posted by: Babbles

Originally posted by: everman

Originally posted by: RKS
I spent a lot of money on my wife's ring. I believe it was a 1 carat stone with about another .5 carats in channels on either side in a platinum setting.

I then went to Walmart and bought the cheapest CZ I could find. I think it was about $19.86 after tax. I proposed to my wife with the Wally-world ring and she was estatic.

Since she passed the 'I better get a big rock' test I gave her the real ring.

That's a pretty good idea.

That is a good idea! I am going to have to squirrel that idea away for the future.

How is it a good idea to not have any idea if your g/f really loves you before you ask her to marry you?


Maybe a better idea is to figure it out slowly over time, then get engaged when you're sure and don't have to test her.

Are you married? If you are, are you stuck in a humorless existance?

My wife and I dated for 7 years before I proposed, and we will be married 7 years this fall. Do you honestly think people would pull a switch-a-roo to honestly 'test' their spouse?

I know my wife well enough to know what what I did would be a memorable proposal that we could easy chuckle about many years later rather than the run of the mill event.

and BTW what's love got to do with the size of the rock a SO may want?

 

[Anghang]

Originally posted by: ColdFusion718
Get an Apollo Diamond instead. It's cheaper. Plus, no blood was shed over it.

Are they selling 1 carat diamonds yet? They don't take orders on their website and I've only received jewelry offerings from them via email, but not loose diamonds or engagement rings.

 

[killface]

$16 and some change. Just a temporary though.

 

[AznMaverick]

this thread is going to make me depressed...haha.

 

[Crazee]

I got my wife's engagement ring at an estate sale. I went to many of them before finding the right one. She loves rubies so I knew that was the stone I wanted to get. I found an antique platinum three stone ring with a center Burmese Natural Ruby 2.25 Carat Exceptional quality surrounded by 2 round half carat diamonds that are D color and IF clarity.

I am not going to mention what I paid, but it was much less than the ring was appraised at when I had it checked. Also, before any remarks about it not being worth it are spouted out, remember it might not be worth it to you, but it was to me. She would have married me if I gave her the ring out of a Captain Crunch cereal box, but I wanted to give her something that could be passed down to family members after we are gone.

I would recommend that the OP go to GIA's site and read up. Whether you go for a diamond or another gemstone there is great information on there about how to select a stone.

As for how to ask, do you have any special talents that you can incorporate into your proposal? I have a friend who is a good amateur magician and he performed a trick where the ring ended up in a box at the end of the trick instead of the card that was supposed to be there.

For mine, I hired a band at a jazz club we went to for dinner to play one of her favorite songs Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me Till the End of Love" which I sang to her and then dropped to my knee and asked when the song was completed.

 

[jackace]

I watched the movie blood diamond last night and this thread was all I thought about when watching those African slaves getting shot for diamonds.

 

[DangerAardvark]

The vast majority of diamonds these days come with certification that they are conflict-free. However, the agency that hands them out is run by the diamond industry. Regardless, even "conflict-free" diamonds are usually mined under terrible conditions.

 

[jackace]

Yeah I have heard about the conflict free diamonds, but the Debeer's company seems to have a strangle hold on the entire industry from what I have heard. I remember reading an article about the guys growing diamonds and they feared for their lives they told the reporters, and would not give them any addresses or names to publish. That was several years ago now though so I'm not sure what is happening now. I just remembered this tread while watching the movie.