How many carats is the average engagement ring?

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I have a question- what is the average quality of engagment rings? I keep hearing how NYC ( live within an hour from NY) has rings that are above 1.5-2 carats. I definately can say that through my visits I have seen many spectacular rings. I can also say through my travels to NYC I have seen many rings that were just large and did not have great color or clarity.

Also, do countries, like England, go for better quality and smaller stones? Just a thought!

I agree on the quality. I work in a luxury brand's boutique and I see a lot of beautiful rings. We also get MANY tourists since we're in walking distance of the nicest hotel here.

There are exceptions (like athletes wives, FI/DH being much older, family heirloom), but usually the BIG rings with beautiful quality belong to the 40+ set.

I notice a lot of the bigger rings worn by women closer to my age are princess cuts (which is still probably their preference) (but it's a less expensive cut than RB), set higher, holding color or cloudy. Again, that's their preference to get as much "look" as they can with their budget. I just don't think the "Average 2ct" for a 26 year old is the average 2ct for a 40+ woman (more likely to afford high color and high clarity, ideal cut). Most people in their 20s have to choose between size and quality.
 
Also, do countries, like England, go for better quality and smaller stones? Just a thought!

I'd say so. I remember reading a discussion about it on a UK forum (stemmed from someone noticing a huge rock on a tourist in London) and that was more or less the general consensus. Also, I'd say there's less emphasis on the whole ideal cut, hearts and arrows, etc., thing. It would appear that as far as 4Cs are concerned, in UK/Europe ladies seem to care about colour and clarity while I notice that US folks often put emphasis on carat and cut.
 
I'd say so. I remember reading a discussion about it on a UK forum (stemmed from someone noticing a huge rock on a tourist in London) and that was more or less the general consensus. Also, I'd say there's less emphasis on the whole ideal cut, hearts and arrows, etc., thing. It would appear that as far as 4Cs are concerned, in UK/Europe ladies seem to care about colour and clarity while I notice that US folks often put emphasis on carat and cut.

I agree. As I mentioned, I was shopping this past weekend for my ring, and I kept asking about the cut grade of stones and the SA's were having to look for and pull out the certs as the only information they stored on the tags was the colour and clarity. I think I was bugging them more than just a bit as the certs were all in different folders all around the shop but oh well! I think most people were picking a stone, deciding to purchase and then asking to see the cert but I was kind of doing it the other way around.
 
I have also been noticing cloudy big rings. I'd prefer a smaller stone with excellent specs than a larger stone with poor specs.

I agree. I saw this beautiful 2 carat at Ben Bridge for around 11k under the case . . . but when the SA took it out for me to see, on closer inspection I could see it was cloudy and not eye-clean at all. I mentioned that to the SA and he said that nowadays, women prefer size over quality and that most will go for that wow-factor over anything else. That's not how I roll!
 
We live in a major metropolitan midwest town. I can't even begin to explain how much the "average" ring varies here. It changes drastically with a 15 minute drive. I think because of this I's say .30ct is the average here...using "average" in the true mathematical sense. Most people I know have .50-.75 cts. I don't personally know anyone else with a 1.5ct, although in the affluent areas I do see the occasional 2-3ct large diamond.
I will say nobody else around me is that into diamonds. I'm the only person in my group of friends that knows the cut, clarity and color of my diamond. Weird.
 
My cousin wore a ring for years that I assumed was a 2 carat marquise on a thick, unique band. It wasn't until three years ago that she told me it was a very good quality CZ. She wanted a 2 carat but the price was prohibitive. Last year her husband gave her the go-ahead for a real diamond; she bought it with money left to her by an aunt of ours; he wanted to invest it. lol
She now has a 1.80 marquise with a spread of a 2 carat. A lot of her friends have bigger stones but most are cloudy.
 
I am glad you ladies don't agree with me that 1ct is considered small in America. I was there recently and just saw massive rocks everywhere!

My round brilliant is D Colour, 3 excellents and VS2 and that was much more important than having a cloudy, yellow 3 carat ring!!!!
 
I live in the UK and I read recently that the average diamond engagement ring stone is a round 1/3 of a carat.

I agree also though that lots of people upgrade further down the line.
 
Ill put my 2 cents in on the matter. I have 2 ways of looking at it. 1 I dont think you should go into getting the biggest ring possible right out of the gate only getting it because it was the biggest thing you could afford at the time. When I bought my wifes ring I bought a quarter carat ring from tiffanys because it was my thinking she would rather spend more money on the wedding and honeymoon. (Which she did) Then for are 1 year anniversery I let her pick out a new ring. she ended up getting a .6 ct. ring with diamonds on the side from tiffanys. And in a few years if she wants to upgrade again im all for it. It gives you something to look foward to and build toward. And my second opinion maybe I this is the guy im me that thinks like this but quality is always number 1! You can buy a Z06 Vette that goes just as fast as a ferrari but at the end of the day its still a chevy. Quality over quantity I think a perfect .75 is much more beautiful than a cloudy yellowish 2ct.
 
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