Purchasing an Engagement Ring
- Thread starter Cyinthenorth
- Start date
Go to a local jewler...Platinum/Gold whatever is priced on current market value...but local owner will take care of u if there is every a problem..They will also give u fair market value if u need to sell it back.
I like Iowa Diamond for the sheer volume of choices available, but I didn't really dig their prices when I went there.
I had a friend recommend a jeweler at Josephs, I met him and he helped me find something that worked for me rather than what was the highest price. He even searched through a few locations for the right diamond for me.
Unfortunately he retired, but fortunately I don't think I'll be getting married again. This one's a keeper (ring and wife).
If it's a good ring, it's a good ring. No matter where it comes from.
I didn't explore online at all for rings due to the lack of ability to see it first, but if you find something you like there, it might not be a bad idea either.
They do have a lot of expensive stuff.
I should have included this but my post was getting to TL;DR status.
We (the wife) found a ring she really liked. It was from some famous designer and had won some big award. Way out of the price range.
IA Diamond had some guy that could make custom rings. This guy made an almost exact replica for a fraction of the cost, that was within our budget.
Don't know if we just got lucky there but that worked well for us.
That probably was lucky that the custom was so good.
I went to Iowa Diamond for my first engagement ring, and I really liked it, but the marriage didn't last so that didn't help.
I went back for the second ring for my new wife and I just wasn't feeling the quality for the price range at the time. I could have probably dug deeper but I decided to look elsewhere.
I ended up with exactly what I wanted.
Side note: I had the opportunity to take the first wedding ring back from the ex-wife. She probably wouldn't have noticed until much later and may or may not have figured out it was me. I didn't though. Wouldn't have been worth that much resold anyways. Diamonds are only REALLY worth something when you first buy them.
I had a good experience at Joseph's too. I believe their policy is that you can trade in the diamond for the paid amount if you're looking up upgrade down the road. I asked if there were some discounts available, named my employer and got 25% off the diamond. Also offered no interest payment plan, so I took advantage of that. Insured the ring through Jeweler's Mutual, and their premium was something simple like 1/100 of the value.
https://www.mjewelry.com/
This is where I bought mine. You can pick a diamond (size/cut/clarity) of you choice and then they will create everything the way you want them. By far the cheapest and best option I found in this area.
Buy what you can afford. Don't finance insanity amount. It's going to be her debt once you two are married. I am sure she doesn't want insanity ring debt.
This is where I bought mine. You can pick a diamond (size/cut/clarity) of you choice and then they will create everything the way you want them. By far the cheapest and best option I found in this area.
Buy what you can afford. Don't finance insanity amount. It's going to be her debt once you two are married. I am sure she doesn't want insanity ring debt.
I had a girl at work tell me that some people will propose using a fake ring, and then go together to buy an engagement ring. That way she can buy something that she would like.
I told this to my girlfriends best friend and she said it was a really good idea and she liked it. I may go that route.
I told this to my girlfriends best friend and she said it was a really good idea and she liked it. I may go that route.
I think clarity/cut is the biggest difference. Friend of mine just bought one and it beams in any amount of light. If you compromise rock size for clarity a thin band can make it look way bigger, especially if she has small hands.
This isn't the helpful advice you want to hear, and maybe you've probably thought about this already. But if you haven't, at least consider not buying one at all. Or buying something very modest.
I'm definitely not telling you how you should live your life, but plenty of research has shown that people are happier with experiences than things. So why not use that money on a great wedding, or honeymoon, or some other major obligation?
Full disclosure: I bought the standard ring years ago. I don't know that I'd do it again. And while I haven't discussed that hypothetical with my wife, I'm guessing she'd be okay with that. To this day it's the only major piece of jewelry I've bought for her, and we mostly roll our eyes at jewelry commercials. But that's not everyone, obviously.
Homeowners or renters insurance should be able to add a rider to cover the ring for ~$50/year. Give Costco a look. I didn't buy there myself but I've heard decent things.
(Funny story: I took a buddy's noticeably-pregnant sister along when I went ring shopping for help from the lady's perspective. I got lots of hilarious looks from the ring salesman.)
I'm definitely not telling you how you should live your life, but plenty of research has shown that people are happier with experiences than things. So why not use that money on a great wedding, or honeymoon, or some other major obligation?
Full disclosure: I bought the standard ring years ago. I don't know that I'd do it again. And while I haven't discussed that hypothetical with my wife, I'm guessing she'd be okay with that. To this day it's the only major piece of jewelry I've bought for her, and we mostly roll our eyes at jewelry commercials. But that's not everyone, obviously.
Homeowners or renters insurance should be able to add a rider to cover the ring for ~$50/year. Give Costco a look. I didn't buy there myself but I've heard decent things.
(Funny story: I took a buddy's noticeably-pregnant sister along when I went ring shopping for help from the lady's perspective. I got lots of hilarious looks from the ring salesman.)
I could give the same advice. Once the password goes on the phone, look out.
I had some ideas of what my girlfriend (now wife) liked, and I found a really unique designer ring that I knew was just her style. When I found out it cost about 2.5 times what I wanted to spend, I went to a local jeweler to create a custom ring.
The ring I designed was inspired by the designer ring, but I incorporated my own ideas into it, based upon what I knew her tastes were. In the end, she got a ring that was designed by me, that NOBODY else would ever have. She loved the effort it took me to come up with it and truly loves how unique and beautiful it is.
The ring I designed was inspired by the designer ring, but I incorporated my own ideas into it, based upon what I knew her tastes were. In the end, she got a ring that was designed by me, that NOBODY else would ever have. She loved the effort it took me to come up with it and truly loves how unique and beautiful it is.
Maybe if you would have picked your kids up on time you wouldn't have had to worry about that
Go with your gut. You can spend what you feel comfortable and put some thought into it you'll be fine. If she's truly the one she won't be a gold digger, she'll appreciate the ring. Just put some effort into the proposal.
I had a pretty good experience with mine. I went to Gilger in Ames after gathering info online. Spotted 1 of his designs and I think I went with a diamond between a .8 - .9 carat. Placed a couple of each of her birth stones on the insets. Paid for about half with cash and "financed" with him. He didn't charge me any interest and I had it paid off in 5 months.
Surprised my then gf with the proposal on a mountain top and she loved the ring, was very caught off guard. All her friends predicted a proposal on the trip, but she didn't believe them.
I had a pretty good experience with mine. I went to Gilger in Ames after gathering info online. Spotted 1 of his designs and I think I went with a diamond between a .8 - .9 carat. Placed a couple of each of her birth stones on the insets. Paid for about half with cash and "financed" with him. He didn't charge me any interest and I had it paid off in 5 months.
Surprised my then gf with the proposal on a mountain top and she loved the ring, was very caught off guard. All her friends predicted a proposal on the trip, but she didn't believe them.
Buy what you can afford and feel comfortable with. You can always upgrade it in the future. Do NOT buy into this whole you have to spend "X" on a wedding ring, its BS. If you're getting married, you both should be similar with each-others finances already.
Go to a place that stays WITHIN your budget. A lot of places will try to push you to a higher priced ring, give you some discount, throw a bunch of numbers at you and try to sell you something outside of your budget. If they won't offer you rings in your budget, that's a sign to walk.
I went to a few places, ended up at Iowa Diamond, was seriously the only place that was willing to stay within my budget and provided options. It was cool that I got to pick out the diamond.
As others mentioned, go for for quality and clarity, not size. (Unless you need to buy the biggest you can to make up for.....)
For insurance, yes get the insurance as you never know how she might lose it. I added on a personal article policy when I was at State Farm. Cost like $30/year. I did not add it to the homeowners insuance because I did not want to have to pay the deductible or make a homeowners claim. There are places you and buy standalone ring insurance. Jewelers Mutual is a Geico company that sells policies online.
Go to a place that stays WITHIN your budget. A lot of places will try to push you to a higher priced ring, give you some discount, throw a bunch of numbers at you and try to sell you something outside of your budget. If they won't offer you rings in your budget, that's a sign to walk.
I went to a few places, ended up at Iowa Diamond, was seriously the only place that was willing to stay within my budget and provided options. It was cool that I got to pick out the diamond.
As others mentioned, go for for quality and clarity, not size. (Unless you need to buy the biggest you can to make up for.....)
For insurance, yes get the insurance as you never know how she might lose it. I added on a personal article policy when I was at State Farm. Cost like $30/year. I did not add it to the homeowners insuance because I did not want to have to pay the deductible or make a homeowners claim. There are places you and buy standalone ring insurance. Jewelers Mutual is a Geico company that sells policies online.
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