Married/Engaged NTers, how much did you spend on an engagement ring?

I spent 8000 for the engagement ring. My sister tried to get me to do the standard 10% but I went below that bc we married when my wife had massive student loans and neither of us owned a home at the time. IMO 8000 was probably more than i could afford but I really wanted it for her. OP don’t get fixated on a price…buy what you can afford. Also, if you do research you can get a nice ring for a good price. A friend of mine bought a ring for 100 bucks and they been married for almost 10 years. CONGRATULATIONS!
 
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jmeisreal said:
Heard there’s like a guideline of a certain % of your salary, or x amount of months of salary

fortunately my girl doesn’t care much about that kind of stuff. For those of y’all in the 5-7k range how satisfied are y’all with what ya got? I feel like that’s a solid number
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I had never heard of this until this year and I’ve been married for four years. I think that’s bs. And hopefully no girl really expects that. Especially if you’re paying for a wedding also. That’s the real money pit lol.
 
jmeisreal said:
Heard there’s like a guideline of a certain % of your salary, or x amount of months of salary

fortunately my girl doesn’t care much about that kind of stuff. For those of y’all in the 5-7k range how satisfied are y’all with what ya got? I feel like that’s a solid number
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This "guideline" was arbitrarily created by DeBeers for a marketing campaign in order to get dudes to spend more money than they initially planned and to plant the seeds of "if he really loves you, he'll do this for you" into women's heads.

Whole wedding industry is a racket, honestly. I already told my girlfriend the most I'm willing to spend on a wedding is $5K. Luckily she's on the same page.
 
Too much ... 10k total, original price was 12k. Got 20% off for Mother’s Day sale. Was able to get 0% financing for 18 months.

Please learn about the 4 Cs and shop around. I could have saved 2k based on what I got. At the end of the day she loves her ring and gets complimented all the time. 1.5 ct is a nice sized rock without being gaudy.
 
freshpairs said:
Is there truth to that one should not go lower/minimum is H color and vs2 clarity?
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It honestly depends on the setting when it comes to color. You could drop a j diamonds in a gold setting and it could be unnoticeable…in a platinum setting you need something with a good color grade tho. Diamond table, width, and depth matter a lot bc if the diamond shines and brings in a ton of light people are not gonna notice flaws. Gotta do your research so you don’t get screwed over.
 
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mr z said:
It honestly depends on the setting when it comes to color. You could drop a j diamonds in a gold setting and it could look like a g…in a platinum setting you will need something with a good color grade tho. Diamond table, width, and depth matter a lot bc if the diamond shines and brings in a ton of light people are not gonna notice flaws. Gotta do your research so you don’t screwed over.
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Yeah I read g-h you can’t see the slight yellow unless compared side by side to a d. And once you go vvs2 or higher you can’t tell by the naked eye with inclusions. So you save there by putting toward the carat size. Of course the cut is the most important one and want to aim for the top since that gives it shine. This all from what I’ve been researching.
 
I strongly strongly suggest SI1 - VS1, G-H color lab diamonds. 50-70% off & Nobody will ever know. They look exactly the same.
 
the natural mystic said:
Her ring and my band were about $3k. I was broke as hell.

I wouldn't marry a woman that tells me how much to spend on her ring tho.
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I was essentially broke as well when I proposed. Spent what I could afford on the ring and my wife was ecstatic just to be finally getting married. I hate when people go on about wedding ring cost, it is such a racket. :lol:

6 years later we were in a much better place financially so I got her a very nice every day band for Christmas.
 
Do the research, no blood diamonds, diamonds from india are of good value, and make sure that you are supplied with a GIA certificate. The first diamond I bought my wife cost 5000 twenty years ago. The second I bought doubled in price due to the size and cut.
 
we took a whole week trip to alaska to see the northern lights and i proposed with a kohls $20 fake gold wedding band coz i knew she's very very specific with the style and quality she want on a ring and i didn't want to disappoint her with something she's not going to like... A week later when we got back home from our vacation i spent 8-9k on a 1.2 carat with GIA certificate - if i recall VS2 / H but i have to double check.

Its more than i want to spend on a ring but fortunately we bought a house together a year before we got engaged and i didn't have to prioritize buying a house after.
 
shogun said:
I'll def be looking into the lab grown diamonds.
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I’ve noticed that there’s still a stigma attached to lab diamonds. Some people don’t care, some do. Seems like a solid alternative if you don’t view diamonds as an investment (don’t know why anyone would)
 
usabasketball08 said:
I’ve noticed that there’s still a stigma attached to lab diamonds. Some people don’t care, some do. Seems like a solid alternative if you don’t view diamonds as an investment (don’t know why anyone would)
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People are traditional and also consider lab grown diamonds "fake". They're basically the exact same things except people didn't have to dig for them in a mine and you don't have to pay ridiculous prices for them.
 
jmeisreal said:
Heard there’s like a guideline of a certain % of your salary, or x amount of months of salary
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Comparison Ford said:
This "guideline" was arbitrarily created by DeBeers for a marketing campaign in order to get dudes to spend more money than they initially planned and to plant the seeds of "if he really loves you, he'll do this for you" into women's heads.
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In my last relationship we were at the stage of advanced discussions regarding engagement. She was engaged in her prior relationship but when they broke it off, she (got to?) keep the ring. I can’t remember if it was paid for it or what she sold it for but it was $8K so that was my absolute baseline. I did a lot of research trying to figure out how much I should spend :lol:

What I remember is that most vividly the arbitrarily invented salary guideline which is usually 2 months salary created by De Beers, as Comparison Ford Comparison Ford mentioned, in the 80s (see OG as below). However in my research, I found various places quoting 1-3 months in a variety of net/gross income scenarios ie (1 month gross, 2 net, etc).
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A brazy one I came across was that your ring should cost as much as the price you paid for your whip :wow: (sorry to all the M3 drivers on NT).

In general my thought process is that you’re going to have to wear this for the rest of your life and sure it can be upgraded but I’m not dropping trying to drop racks on something you don’t like.

What I’m curious about fellas is did you budget/save for the ring like you would any other singular? Or did you do a forward-looking financial assessment that considered all of OTHER the potential upfront marriage costs such as the wedding and honeymoon?

That’s not even taking to account debt, potentially buying a house, kids, etc.
 
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