What is the average amount spent on an engagement ring?

Question

Now obviously this will differ with size, clarity, etc. I'm just asking in general. What I have in mind is a carat center stone with some baguettes on the side (no idea what size for those) in platinum (or white gold).

What's yours like and how much did he (or you) spend on it?

We really have no idea here, but please, don't give me the two months salary rule.

The reason I'm not asking for the salary "rule" is because I've already heard it and don't know it to be the rule. I don't want him to break the bank, so obviously it has to do a little with salary, but I want to know what has been done.

I suppose maybe my question should have been "how much did you spend on your engagement ring and what was it like?"

I'm just looking for ideas and prices

Answer 1

My husband paid $3000 for my engagement ring and wedding band ,it came into a bridal set .I don't know the xact clarity and all that other stuff but its princess cut , white gold , 1/2 ct diamond ring with 6 small diamonds on each side. and the wedding band has 13 diamonds in it . Its very nice. What I wanted was a smaller ring and it was from walmart , the engagement ring was $178 and a set I saw was $1700 real diamonds and it was white gold.

Or do this , go ring looking with him and show him the styles you want and let him choose later on . My husband surprised me with my ring I never went looking or shopping with him and the ring he gave me was so much better than the ring I wanted . So let him do this on his own and if he has good taste you'll love the outcome. Congrats and good luck.

Answer 2

I don't think the average amount matters. I think it all depends on what the man can afford and what is reasonable. Mine was $6400 for just the engagement ring, the band is $1500 which will make it a total of $7900. Mine is almost a full carat and is almost a perfect diamond. It sits on a band with actual diamonds (not baguettes) The wedding band is the exact same as the engagement ring. I think the average people spend is between 2000- 4000. But most people buy an actual engagement ring that comes with a band.

Answer 3

My ring is a 1 carat center round diamond with 4 smaller channel set diamonds on either side totalling about .25 carats. The center stone is in a rose setting, and the metal is 14 karat yeallow gold. The ring was about $7500. I forget what the color/clarity numbers were...it was appraised for insurance at $8300.

Answer 4

My ring is a lil over 1 ct round/brilliant cutcenter stone (i think its 1.2) with smaller, more like diamond chips on the side. 3 on each side.

It was custom made with yellow gold band and platinum mounting. We designed it from 5 or 6 other rings I'd seen. The stone is about perfect though--D, VS1, the 3 inclusions aren't visible with the eye and are on the bottom side under the mountings. It was about $9,000-10,000 which was a little more than I thought we would spend but is less than than 2 months salary for him which was what he had planned.

There was a guy right beside us in the jewelry store who wanted over 2 ct and wanted to spend less than we were spending--I think in the neighborhood of 4-5,000 and kept asking the jewelry over and over if it could be bigger if he got more yellow.

Women are so different with what matters--size or quality. And really I agree that it would be dumb to spend 10,000 on a ring when you only earn 30,000 a year. I've seen individual settings range up to 10,000, such as the one a friend of mine picked out (don't worry--they can afford it). But I've seen women married to doctors who have such a small ring, everyone naturally asks "Isn't your husband a surgeon?" I have a small hand so I didn't want anything much more than a carat. However I also know many women who hate their ring b/c they were so focused on price they didn't get the ring they wanted. Which in that case, a diamond paperweight that you never wear is more of a waste of money than spending an extra 1,000 to get what you really wanted.

As much as people bash the costs of rings on here, and brag about getting a $400 ring-- it really is what matters to you. What ring do you like and how important are the specs to you? My husband loves picking out jewelry and was really into reading the GIA reports on the stones. I love wearing jewelry. So if you are going to wear it every day, I feel you should get the ring you really like as long as its reasonable for the two of you. After all, you are wearing it daily.

From what I've noticed when house looking, I keep hearing that the medium household income is around 60-70,000. If that is true, then I'd say $10,000 is probably the average spent on rings.

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

I heard average is close to $3000 in the US.

I spent more than the average, I spent $15,000 but now the ring I bought would be about $25,000 from the same place. It would be considered gaudy by many people here.

A good quality 1 carat stone will cost more than $3000. Princess cut is less expensive than round brilliant. I am guessing the ring you want may cost about $5000 - $6000 at an online store. Look for color, clarity, and cut also. For less than 1 carat you can get away with H color, else try G color or better.

Check out bluenile.com.

http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?__fun_frm=i&track=btntext_select&elem=img&pid=LD01133222&filter_id=0

http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?__fun_frm=i&track=btntext_select&elem=img&pid=LD00958744&filter_id=0

I bought online at uniondiamonds.com, had it set at a local jeweler. I wired the money directly from my savings at the time.

Answer 6

The traditional answer is 1 monthly wage packet. If you want to keep it traditional - that's how much you should be looking to spend. In this day and age with all the fancy rings and gems out there - and with the wages being so varied, some people like to spend even more. A family member of mine is on a wage of around £40k a year and spent over 3k on his fiance! For both kinds of prices you can get beautiful rings - I've seen 1 carat diamond and platinum rings for only £800.

Answer 7

It all depends on the culture. Some cultures dont even have this engagement ring tradition and just decide to get married just like that. Really, don't get offended if you are getting married to a european guy and he comes up with a very small ring, just a symbolic ring becuase he knew you are into wearing an engagement ring. It can be even more romantic than getting the huge ring if the guy really thinks about it and makes it special. Don't get carried away by this materialistic society we are living in!

Answer 8

Whatever you want to spend. If my fiance had spent 3 months' salary I would have choked him. That is a ridiculous amount of money. He spent about 1 week's pay ($700) and I love it. It is exactly what I wanted, and symbolizes our everlasting love and the lifelong commitment we will be making to each other in two months. There's more to our life together and upcoming marriage than the size of the rock on my finger. More isn't always better.

Answer 9

But really it is what you can afford at the time. The ring that I have cost $500.00 and I love it. It is not the size or how much it costs, its where it comes from and the person that it comes from. I had the choice of any one I wanted and thats what I picked because I knew the person that was giving it to me, and thats whats counts the most!
My ring came from JC Penneys and is 1/2 carat. And I wear it proudly like it cost a million dollars!!!!!

Answer 10

No matter what the price, make sure it's insured!!!

I was so impressed by my husband who picked out a beautiful 1/2 carat princess cut with unbelieveable quality...I secretly love hearing other girls say they can see a flaw in their diamond. He spend $2,400 and I am in love with it. The thing that impressed me the most was he paid for it in cash. He never went into debt because he had been saving money all his life. A responsible husband means more to me than a huge ring.