How Much Was Your E-Ring?

[whoops]

"Something fun to know would be maybe what the intended budget is versus actual."

When we originally started talking about engagement rings my darling fiance said he didn't have a specific budget in mind. (And mind you while he does well, he is by no means wealthy). I told him that was ridiculous and I would be comfortable with him spending $xxxxx and he said let's see. We ended up being about 70% over budget. When he saw my ring he asked the jeweler to take it out and for me to try it on. I LOVED it but I didn't want to say I did because it was well over the original budget and I didn't want to seem like I had to have this expensive ring. He ended up going back the next day and buying the ring. He said he knew by the look on my face that I loved that ring but didn't want to say it and he said the cost didn't matter to him because I "deserve it". What a doll! Love him!

That's such a sweet story! My bf and I set our budget at one ammount then jumped about 50%. we planned to have a diamond on a plain solitaire but then once I tried on the Tacori he saw it on my face and wouldn't sacrafice it because he knew anything after that point was settling. I love that your husband could tell how you felt without you saying it.

 

[gabz]

i dont wanna say specific figures although i did vote. DH has a v v close family friend who owns a jewelery store in toronto so he got a good deal but i believe he did go over budget by about 40% or so. we had just finished uni at the tme so my ring isnt huge by most standards- a .75 ct cushion cut w a baguette on each side. i love it! i myself designed a band of 4 baguettes to go w it.

 

[Stophle]

I don't have a problem stating how much my ring cost. I'm very proud of it and I think we got an excellent value for the money. My ring ended up being approximately $2800 after tax and I got a .99 ctw asscher center stone with an octagonal halo that borders it. I don't remember what the carat weight of the accent stones in the halo or down the shank are, but the metal is 14k white gold. We went with that to really reduce the price of the ring, which allowed me to get a nicer center stone.

My ring is the perfect compromise for my fiance and I and I love it.

Oh and about going over budget, we did go over. Initially my fiance wanted to spend around $1500. We looked for quite a while at pawn shops for a ring that I loved but weren't able to find one. Most of the ones I liked were over that amount. I wanted to keep looking because I was sure I could find one for that price, it would just take time, but my fiance got frustrated and upped the budget. *LOL*

 

[black jade]

I voted, but it probably skewed the poll as I got engaged in 1977. My .50 ct oval was $456.00. It was a real stretch for my husband and took every penny he'd saved. The stone now lives with a small pair of diamond earrings in a 3 stone necklace. Recycled!

My engagement ring was bought in 1982. It is a .38 ct RB in a YG tiffany style setting, and its H color VS2 clarity. It cost $500 which was a decent amount of money back then. You can google what prices of everything were in the late 1970's/early 80's and see that $$ were just worth a lot more.

I bought an anniversary ring which is a platinum solitaire tiffany style in 2008 on Blue Nile. The diamond cost $1700--it is a .66 F SI1 AGS0 ideal cut. the ring itself cost $700. You could still get a ring like that for the price at Blue Nile and it would be about $300 cheaper if you went with white or yellow gold. That is the online price though. I compared prices at upscale brick and mortar stores and the exact same ring was $3500- that is $1000 more.

Many girls want a ring that is 'at least a carat'. I bought earrings that were .91 each (looks like a carat) H VS2 AGS0 ideal cut in 2009. This is a good quality of diamond for an engagement ring in the US. Each diamond was $5000. So had I put one of them in a plain platinum Tiffany style, I would have had an e-ring for $5700. Of course if I wanted a fancier style, which some girls want, I would have paid more--or got a smaller stone.

If you find a good pawn shop, prices get quite different. I had a friend bought an e-ring recently at a pawn shop, 1.25ct diamond EGL-USA graded g VS (it had the cert) in a white gold ring with baguettes at the side (I don't know the total carat weight)--and she paid $5,000. (Or rather, her husband did). There is no way anyone could match this deal even online, much less in a B & M store.

If you are willing to go with a diamond that is not a round brilliant, you can get even better deals. I just bought a marquise diamond, 1.20 carats, I SI, with a cert at the same pawnshop, with 28 diamond sidestones totalling over 78 points for $1500. Marquise diamonds right now cost very much less than RBs because they are not in style--but they are beautiful.

So there are all kinds of choices in different venues.

Blue Nile IS a good place to get an idea of ring prices on the internet. there is a place where they tell you what was recently bought and show the rings. The rings range from usually $500 up to $70,000, sometimes $100,000. Most purchases are clustered in the $1500-$6000 range. This means, most people who buy there range from about 1/2 to 1 carat diamond, in different qualities and the rings themselves cost different prices depending on more or less elaborate. Remember though that Blue Nile has an affluent customer base. But go there yourself and look.

Hope this was helpful

 

[vanbruntsa]

I voted but we got mine through a jewelry broker and got a great deal! 1.5 carat center stone and about a carat total weight in small diamonds on my setting and band.

 

[Gimmethebag]

I'll back up the previous posters that mentioned how much cheaper diamonds are when you buy them "used." We bought my e-ring UNDER budget. I wanted a Tiffany ring and we had the budget for 1-1.2 carats. When the opportunity presented itself to buy a 2.07ct three stone from an estate/auction dealer, we jumped on it.

We paid less because it is a vintage ring without it's paperwork (but their in-house appraisers were pretty sure it was authentic). We negotiated a clause that if it wasn't, we could return it for money back. We had our local Tiffany send it to NYC to be sized and valued, which came back as authentic and is valued by Tiffany for close to $30k.

We saved so much by not buying new! And my ring is beautiful... I love it!

 

[cobalt71]

mine was around $1600 which DH bought on his own. 0.50 c princess cut, set in white gold

 

[Babestaaa]

What mine is retail and what we got due to the store going out of business was a little under $5000 less. My now fiancee gave me a rough budget of 15-20k and we were thinking at least 1ct. When we tried it on he immediately said 1ct was too small on my fingers..and I said 2ct was too big on my finger..so we met halfway Overall, ended up with a gorgeous 1.52ct round brilliant stone I agree with above posters about bluenile being a great reference.

 

[shells]

dh always likes to tease me that i went over budget...by 1%! i think it's interesting to see how much people are willing to spend on their e-rings and i dont know why but i love looking through blue nile's recently purchased rings! just interesting to see what people like/buy

 

[darkangel07760]

You can also browse Blue Nile's "recently purchased engagement rings" to see commonly purchased specs and prices.

I would just focus on your budget and which Cs matter the most to you. There are so many other factors that affect perceived "average" carat size like age, level of career, upgrades over the course of a marriage... I would just trust your eye and find a ring that flatters you at a price point you can comfortably spend (because trust me, weddings are crazy expensive). HTH!

Hey that is a great idea! I never thought of that (hits hand on forehead). I will defintiely check that out.

 

[darkangel07760]

I voted - a lot of tpf members helped me in my decision making for the ring

Also, something else to consider is the time these rings were purchased. Inflation and cost of materials changes all the time. For example, a ring that cost $10k in the 80s or 90s will most likely be significantly more now.

Something fun to know would be maybe what the intended budget is versus actual. My sister and I were both ring shopping at about the same initial price but we both went over budget and landed around the same place.

It's just hard to say.

That is true. I was just curious as to what the average going rate is for an e-ring. But to throw in intended and actual would be very interesting!

 

[darkangel07760]

I read somewhere that the average price of an engagement ring in the US in recent years is $3-4K. You can google for statistics.

My Tiffany solitaire was about $27K for a 1.9 carat stone.

http://www.tiffany.com/Engagement/item.aspx?GroupSku=GRP10001&selectedSku=19683133#f+

So overpriced for what it is. I'm not a fan of the classic, simple setting, so for a future anniversary, we'll have to spend more to upgrade the setting.

Thanks for the info! Google is awesome, isn't it?

 

[darkangel07760]

I voted, but it probably skewed the poll as I got engaged in 1977. My .50 ct oval was $456.00. It was a real stretch for my husband and took every penny he'd saved. The stone now lives with a small pair of diamond earrings in a 3 stone necklace. Recycled!

That sounds so pretty! Do you wear it often?

 

[darkangel07760]

My engagement ring was bought in 1982. It is a .38 ct RB in a YG tiffany style setting, and its H color VS2 clarity. It cost $500 which was a decent amount of money back then. You can google what prices of everything were in the late 1970's/early 80's and see that $$ were just worth a lot more.

I bought an anniversary ring which is a platinum solitaire tiffany style in 2008 on Blue Nile. The diamond cost $1700--it is a .66 F SI1 AGS0 ideal cut. the ring itself cost $700. You could still get a ring like that for the price at Blue Nile and it would be about $300 cheaper if you went with white or yellow gold. That is the online price though. I compared prices at upscale brick and mortar stores and the exact same ring was $3500- that is $1000 more.

Many girls want a ring that is 'at least a carat'. I bought earrings that were .91 each (looks like a carat) H VS2 AGS0 ideal cut in 2009. This is a good quality of diamond for an engagement ring in the US. Each diamond was $5000. So had I put one of them in a plain platinum Tiffany style, I would have had an e-ring for $5700. Of course if I wanted a fancier style, which some girls want, I would have paid more--or got a smaller stone.

If you find a good pawn shop, prices get quite different. I had a friend bought an e-ring recently at a pawn shop, 1.25ct diamond EGL-USA graded g VS (it had the cert) in a white gold ring with baguettes at the side (I don't know the total carat weight)--and she paid $5,000. (Or rather, her husband did). There is no way anyone could match this deal even online, much less in a B & M store.

If you are willing to go with a diamond that is not a round brilliant, you can get even better deals. I just bought a marquise diamond, 1.20 carats, I SI, with a cert at the same pawnshop, with 28 diamond sidestones totalling over 78 points for $1500. Marquise diamonds right now cost very much less than RBs because they are not in style--but they are beautiful.

So there are all kinds of choices in different venues.

Blue Nile IS a good place to get an idea of ring prices on the internet. there is a place where they tell you what was recently bought and show the rings. The rings range from usually $500 up to $70,000, sometimes $100,000. Most purchases are clustered in the $1500-$6000 range. This means, most people who buy there range from about 1/2 to 1 carat diamond, in different qualities and the rings themselves cost different prices depending on more or less elaborate. Remember though that Blue Nile has an affluent customer base. But go there yourself and look.

Hope this was helpful

Thank you!

 

[marialc121]

My BF and I just recently purchased my e-ring. Our thoughts were to get something that was within his budget and what he was comfortable spending. I already knew ahead of time what kind of cut I liked so that was easy and then it was finding the design and the quality of stone. I think the most important thing to keep in mind is to find an e-ring that you both love and he is comfortable with spending.