Conquer Club

How much should one spend on an engagement ring ?

I'm a fairly low paid guy, maybe €40,000 a year. I have planned to fly to Dubai to buy one, as the prices over there mean the saving should more than cover the cost of flights and accomadation. I should add, that i ain't travelling so far to save money, just to get a better ring for my angel for my bucks.


So, if you were buying in your country, what would you spend/did you spend, and is there a conventional rule for these things ?

i was in dubai the other day, is it really that much cheaper, i cant say i looked at any jewelry or anything but i cant say other things were that much cheaper as to warrant a flight all the way there and a hotel stay....

i have no idea, but the best place to get help for this stuff (as in any question) is [url]answers.yahoo.com[/url]

alex_white101 wrote:i was in dubai the other day, is it really that much cheaper, i cant say i looked at any jewelry or anything but i cant say other things were that much cheaper as to warrant a flight all the way there and a hotel stay....

Yes, it will. We have looked into this, and this is definitely the best option, especially as i was planning on going abroad on holiday anyway.

I'm just looking for a ballpark figure, so i know what is normal spends on a ring.....it's not like i do this all the time, so i honestly don't know

Well, DeBeers says you should spend 3 months' salary... though that seems very excessive to me.

Anyway, why Dubai of all places? Why not Djibouti?

btownmeggy wrote:Anyway, why Dubai of all places? Why not Djibouti?

Cheapest gold in the world, and flights direct from Dublin for €400 return.

There are souks and shops all over the city, and a big diamond shop aswell. I checked the internet, and it claims that the prices here are 2 & 1/2 times dearer over here, therefore i can maybe buy a €5000 ring for €2000.....sounds good to me, and maybe i can buy the wedding rings aswell while i'm there.


I was planning on going abroad anyway (8 nights in Hongkong), so i'm just changing destination.

Personally, I know a lot of people who buy engagement rings seeing as how I live in Provo, UT where BYU students are known as the most easily engaged on earth.

Don't spend more than you can afford. It isn't going to do you any good to buy a fancy, lavish and expensive ring if you are going to be paying it off for the rest of your life. You also don't want to overspend if it means you are going to not be able to pay the bills or pay for the wedding or just be flat out of money.

I don't know if Blue Nile ships to where you are at, but if they do, I would recommend visiting http://bluenile.com. That is where my wife of almost a year designed her own ring and then showed it to me. Then it was just up to me to figure out how much I could afford to spend on the diamond and that pretty much determines your cost. I know a couple of guys who have bought rings from that site and have all been pleased. My wife, known as Luxurious here on CC, absolutely loves her ring.

Hers cost me $879 for the engagement rind and another $300 for the matching wedding band.

In my honest opinion, it shouldn't be so much about the ring as it is about the special day and the memories you are going to make afterwards. In the end, you can always get her an upgrade for the 5th or 10th anniversary anyways.

Hope that is helpful.

Most of the guys I know have spent somewhere between $1400-2000 on a ring if that helps too.

Don't have a clue. Congrats and good luck. Make it a romantic and memorable proposal and she won't careas much about the ring. You know her just pick one that you like and you think she'd like.

I know how much my ring was. If you need any help or suggestions, feel free to PM me.

Can't you just pop down to your local jewellery store?
I mean please, keep it simple.

Minister Masket wrote:Can't you just pop down to your local jewellery store?
I mean please, keep it simple.

and you would know, how old are you 16.

is does not matter how much the ring cost. that is all that matters and the rest is history.

^ Agreed
http://www.silvershake.com (we're both total cheapskates )

Optimus Prime wrote:Most of the guys I know have spent somewhere between $1400-2000 on a ring if that helps too.

Cheers mate, i've actually been given a bit of advice since,and an old Dublin secret place....kinda like southerby's a la ireland.....and i've been warned off Dubai for sound reasons.

Get a ring she would like, and make it a day she will remember.

DAZMCFC wrote:is does not matter how much the ring cost. that is all that matters and the rest is history.

Of course, you're right Daz mate, but i plan to do this right, and don't think that she has had any hand in me wanting to spend a bob or two.

I love her, and think she deserves a bit of a sparkler. Cost is something i am concious of, because i don't do this sort of thing often so i am quite blank on knowledge. I do, however, want to knock her socks off a bit.

Maybe i can't afford a 3 carat masterpiece, but i want to make her feel special.

Why is price the issue here? It should be about the kind of ring that your girlfriend would like.
My fiance spent about $3K on mine, but that's 'cause we could afford it, and it was exactly the ring I was after. Why put yourself into debt for a ring? If you're stressing over the price of the ring, wait until you get to the wedding planning stage, where things can get seriously out of hand if you have interfering mothers and/or mother in laws That's why we're eloping. We're not stupid enough to spend thousands of dollars on one day and it's a celebration of our love, not the whole family's.

... Diamonds....

.... slavery.... Africa.... warlords... death ....

... Get her a stuffed animal.

... (just kiddin')

...

debra79 wrote:Why is price the issue here? It should be about the kind of ring that your girlfriend would like.
My fiance spent about $3K on mine, but that's 'cause we could afford it, and it was exactly the ring I was after. Why put yourself into debt for a ring? If you're stressing over the price of the ring, wait until you get to the wedding planning stage, where things can get seriously out of hand if you have interfering mothers and/or mother in laws That's why we're eloping. We're not stupid enough to spend thousands of dollars on one day and it's a celebration of our love, not the whole family's.

Money isn't an issue, i have all the money i need. As for the wedding, my girlfriend is from Mauritius, and i am from Scotland, so neither of us live in our own country so any wedding will be a small affair anyway.


I was just looking for a ballpark figure, not a second mortgage

Nobunaga wrote:... Diamonds....

.... slavery.... Africa.... warlords... death ....

... Get her a stuffed animal.

... (just kiddin')

...

Someone's been watching the movie "Blood Diamond" Not all diamonds that come out of Africa are conflict diamonds. And not all diamonds in the world come from Africa

debra79 wrote:

Nobunaga wrote:... Diamonds....

.... slavery.... Africa.... warlords... death ....

... Get her a stuffed animal.

... (just kiddin')

...

Someone's been watching the movie "Blood Diamond" Not all diamonds that come out of Africa are conflict diamonds. And not all diamonds in the world come from Africa

.... Yeah, I know. I added the smiley there avoid being taken too seriously. Haha!

... Stuffed animals, though.... hmmm... China.... child labor and slavery... official corruption.... outsourcing US jobs.....

....

I've never understood some girls' fascination with collecting stuffed animals :S They just collect dust and don't serve any purpose whatsoever...

Gilligan wrote:Get a ring she would like, and make it a day she will remember.

And absolutely make it a day to remember. Getting her a ring you know she'll love is important, as she's hopefully going to wear it for the rest of her life, but it's way more important to make the event incredibly special. Don't do something that's outrageous and out of your comfort zone completely, though, or you won't be able to pull it off.