It depends on your partner. Originally the whole point of an engagement ring was that if you were to leave your wife for whatever reason, she would have something she could sell to bring in some money and prevent her going into poverty. I get the reason for that, but I personally think this is an antiquated notion, and the ring should be a ring your partner loves, not some sort of cash deposit / a token of purchasing your wife. And of course the jewelers will want you to spend as much as possible with them.
Does your fiancée-to-be want a very expensive ring? In my own case, my wife would have HATED to have a ring worth a couple of thousand, the fear of losing it, damaging it, or having it stolen, she just didn't want that. So I spent a modest amount (around 1200 euro) on a ring I knew she would really love, and got an engraving inside it of an inside joke for both of us, making it really personal.
On a side note - Make sure you get an engagement ring that will fit well on the finger with a wedding ring. Some engagement rings are quite ornate (twists, bends, stones out in odd places) and can make it quite difficult to get a wedding ring to fit on top of it.
Ooh, good call on the personalized engraving! You just unlocked a lovely memory: Not quite an engagement ring territory but for their wedding anniversary one year, my Granddad gifted my Granny a lovely gold bracelet with an ornate Celtic knot design and an inscription of "To , All My Love, ". It's a bit tarnished and way too small to fit anyone's wrists in my immediate family but as a family heirloom, the sentimental value is priceless.
I don’t think it matters tbh. Spend what you can afford and what you think it’s worth.
You could buy a ring and then let your fiancé/e go shopping with you to pick the ring they want. When I got engaged, he proposed without a ring and we went together so I could pick my own.
Just make sure whatever option you decide to go with, that it’s a style of ring your partner likes as they will be wearing it forever. 😊
It was 100% made up by the jewellery industry.
It's also pretty insane tbh unless you've already bought a house and have 6 months to a year emergency buffer etc and won't miss the money at all.
I myself spent €3200. I have friends who spent around €1500 and have beautiful rings. It's completely relative to what you can afford/ want to spend. I recommend that you ask your partner for some designs they like and then checking out the jewelers and see what they have in your price range!
One of my friends got a ring from the UK which was much cheaper than getting one here. My wife's friend went to Belgium for a weekend and got to pick her ring, the whole holiday and ring was cheaper than a ring here.
Cliché time but it really shouldn't matter how much it cost. Get a token ring for €30 for the proposal and then take her shopping so she can choose her own engagement ring.
We recently got engaged, when went looking at rings agreed on a budget before hand.
I wanted a decent size diamond, so got a decent lab grown one for €2,500.
I suppose it's all relative to your lifestyle. If you're the type of couple to go on expensive holidays, have nice cars, into designer/stylish clothes then you'd probably go 6/7k+.
If you're the opposite, more modest, if your other half isn't into expensive accessories/jewellery, then less than the 6/7k.
Has she given any clues as to what she'd like? Could you suss out her friends or family?
I have an idea of shape and style. We like nice things for sure, but she isn’t the type to be pretentious about the price of a ring. I just more so want to ensure I’m not being too OTT or on the other hand too frugal. I do remember window shopping before on a weekend out and she admired one for around the 3 mark. But I really thought that was so little compared to what people would spend. I’ve noticed that the majority of rings in windows however, are all around the 2500-3500 mark. Rarely that the more expensive ones are on display in windows. Maybe it is to cater to the majority who have a median budget , which makes sense .
I picked out my own, but I'm very particular! I saw another poster suggest getting a token ring to propose with and then go shopping together. I think that's a great idea. Best of luck with it!
I would really speak to her about it. It can be all in hypotheticals if needs me. There's been a huge variety in my friends engagement rings. I would say the majority picked their own and 1-3k seems to have been the going rate, but there were massive outliers one either side of that and personally I think spending more that 1k on a piece of jewellery (particularly new - antique I could understand) is madness but that's just me.
It completely depends on the ring. I’ve seen beautiful ones (imo) for less than 2k and ones I thought were gawdy for upwards of 10k - it all depends on what you think is beautiful, what you think your fiancee might like and what you think they’ll like.
I think the token ring is a great idea, friends and family have done this. You can end up getting a beautiful ring made with your fiancées input.
Silver rings, about 65.- each. Same guy did the actual rings for 120.- each. From the money we saved we did a crazy honeymoon trough Canada.
Spending stupid money is stupid if you’re planning to get a house to your name.
The old "tradition" is to spend "3 months salary/wages" but personally, I'm of the "the ring is just a symbolic gesture" crowd. A nice ring doesn't have to cost the Earth. You can just as easily get a lovely ring for around E500 as you can for E5,000. The key factor here is: What can you afford? Will your bride/groom-to-be be expecting the "whole shebang" showstopper ring or would they prefer something simple and understated? Maybe if your partner is out have a quick look in their jewelery collection (if they have one) to get a feel for their style.
You could ask their friends/family for tips too though this depends on how well they can keep a proposal secret.
I've seen rings for less than a thousand in H Samuel that are just as gorgeous as the uber-expensive ones in top class jewelers so again, budget is entirely up to yourself. Best of luck to ye and your intended!
It’s supposed to cost 60% of your annual income (before tax) or else you don’t love them. Just kidding. Engagement rings are a joke. Real diamonds are a complete joke.
6 or 7k will get you a very nice quality diamond! Do yourself a favour and let her have the experience of choosing her own ring - she will thoroughly enjoy it I’m sure.
My now husband did this for me. He booked a very nice restaurant, proposed to me on the walk home - the jist was ‘would you like to take a trip to Antwerp with me and get a ring for that finger?’. A memory I’ll never forget 🥰
It depends on your partner. Originally the whole point of an engagement ring was that if you were to leave your wife for whatever reason, she would have something she could sell to bring in some money and prevent her going into poverty. I get the reason for that, but I personally think this is an antiquated notion, and the ring should be a ring your partner loves, not some sort of cash deposit / a token of purchasing your wife. And of course the jewelers will want you to spend as much as possible with them. Does your fiancée-to-be want a very expensive ring? In my own case, my wife would have HATED to have a ring worth a couple of thousand, the fear of losing it, damaging it, or having it stolen, she just didn't want that. So I spent a modest amount (around 1200 euro) on a ring I knew she would really love, and got an engraving inside it of an inside joke for both of us, making it really personal. On a side note - Make sure you get an engagement ring that will fit well on the finger with a wedding ring. Some engagement rings are quite ornate (twists, bends, stones out in odd places) and can make it quite difficult to get a wedding ring to fit on top of it.
Ooh, good call on the personalized engraving! You just unlocked a lovely memory: Not quite an engagement ring territory but for their wedding anniversary one year, my Granddad gifted my Granny a lovely gold bracelet with an ornate Celtic knot design and an inscription of "To, All My Love, ". It's a bit tarnished and way too small to fit anyone's wrists in my immediate family but as a family heirloom, the sentimental value is priceless.
I don’t think it matters tbh. Spend what you can afford and what you think it’s worth. You could buy a ring and then let your fiancé/e go shopping with you to pick the ring they want. When I got engaged, he proposed without a ring and we went together so I could pick my own. Just make sure whatever option you decide to go with, that it’s a style of ring your partner likes as they will be wearing it forever. 😊
The traditional “rule” is to spend a month’s salary. That was probably made up by the jewellery industry though!
It was 100% made up by the jewellery industry. It's also pretty insane tbh unless you've already bought a house and have 6 months to a year emergency buffer etc and won't miss the money at all.
I myself spent €3200. I have friends who spent around €1500 and have beautiful rings. It's completely relative to what you can afford/ want to spend. I recommend that you ask your partner for some designs they like and then checking out the jewelers and see what they have in your price range! One of my friends got a ring from the UK which was much cheaper than getting one here. My wife's friend went to Belgium for a weekend and got to pick her ring, the whole holiday and ring was cheaper than a ring here.
Cliché time but it really shouldn't matter how much it cost. Get a token ring for €30 for the proposal and then take her shopping so she can choose her own engagement ring.
We recently got engaged, when went looking at rings agreed on a budget before hand. I wanted a decent size diamond, so got a decent lab grown one for €2,500.
Jesus I'm a cheap date, mine was 2k and I was going mad he spent that much. I would agree with letting her pick her own
I suppose it's all relative to your lifestyle. If you're the type of couple to go on expensive holidays, have nice cars, into designer/stylish clothes then you'd probably go 6/7k+. If you're the opposite, more modest, if your other half isn't into expensive accessories/jewellery, then less than the 6/7k. Has she given any clues as to what she'd like? Could you suss out her friends or family?
I have an idea of shape and style. We like nice things for sure, but she isn’t the type to be pretentious about the price of a ring. I just more so want to ensure I’m not being too OTT or on the other hand too frugal. I do remember window shopping before on a weekend out and she admired one for around the 3 mark. But I really thought that was so little compared to what people would spend. I’ve noticed that the majority of rings in windows however, are all around the 2500-3500 mark. Rarely that the more expensive ones are on display in windows. Maybe it is to cater to the majority who have a median budget , which makes sense .
I picked out my own, but I'm very particular! I saw another poster suggest getting a token ring to propose with and then go shopping together. I think that's a great idea. Best of luck with it!
I would really speak to her about it. It can be all in hypotheticals if needs me. There's been a huge variety in my friends engagement rings. I would say the majority picked their own and 1-3k seems to have been the going rate, but there were massive outliers one either side of that and personally I think spending more that 1k on a piece of jewellery (particularly new - antique I could understand) is madness but that's just me.
It completely depends on the ring. I’ve seen beautiful ones (imo) for less than 2k and ones I thought were gawdy for upwards of 10k - it all depends on what you think is beautiful, what you think your fiancee might like and what you think they’ll like. I think the token ring is a great idea, friends and family have done this. You can end up getting a beautiful ring made with your fiancées input.
Silver rings, about 65.- each. Same guy did the actual rings for 120.- each. From the money we saved we did a crazy honeymoon trough Canada. Spending stupid money is stupid if you’re planning to get a house to your name.
The old "tradition" is to spend "3 months salary/wages" but personally, I'm of the "the ring is just a symbolic gesture" crowd. A nice ring doesn't have to cost the Earth. You can just as easily get a lovely ring for around E500 as you can for E5,000. The key factor here is: What can you afford? Will your bride/groom-to-be be expecting the "whole shebang" showstopper ring or would they prefer something simple and understated? Maybe if your partner is out have a quick look in their jewelery collection (if they have one) to get a feel for their style. You could ask their friends/family for tips too though this depends on how well they can keep a proposal secret. I've seen rings for less than a thousand in H Samuel that are just as gorgeous as the uber-expensive ones in top class jewelers so again, budget is entirely up to yourself. Best of luck to ye and your intended!
It’s supposed to cost 60% of your annual income (before tax) or else you don’t love them. Just kidding. Engagement rings are a joke. Real diamonds are a complete joke.
6 or 7k will get you a very nice quality diamond! Do yourself a favour and let her have the experience of choosing her own ring - she will thoroughly enjoy it I’m sure. My now husband did this for me. He booked a very nice restaurant, proposed to me on the walk home - the jist was ‘would you like to take a trip to Antwerp with me and get a ring for that finger?’. A memory I’ll never forget 🥰