Engagement rings, where best to get one?

Cyrus

After 8 years of bliss it will soon be time to formalise things and im starting to look into engagement rings etc.

Anyway ideally i would like to surprise my better half with a short trip away and get the ring there, so i am wondering where is the best country to buy a diamond ring? without putting a figure on it i am willing to spend a decent amount, however value for money is very important, id much rather spend 10k on a ring that was worth 10k than 5k on one that was worth 3k.

initially i am thinking somewhere like dubai, altho if currency rates stay as they are the states have to be worth consideration aswell?

anyone any better ideas

Dave H

Amsterdam is the place to go. I think the diamonds are tax free, but even if not they're a damn site cheaper than here. My wife (yeah,did the deed in the meantime) brought the ring to get cleaned and valued in Dublin and it was valued at a few grand more than I paid for it. Plus, they'll make the ring to your spec aswell.Well, the diamond will stay the same but they sort you out with the ring itself, what way it fits in,all that. I got her to pick her ring (haha,childish I know:D:p),and the guy in the shop told us to come back in 2 days when he had it made up.Easy as that. All he said was for her to wear it back as if she had it going over, sometimes people get stung for tax on the way back but if she was to pull the "Are you calling me a liar" card, she'll be fine.
If you've any questions pm me, I think my missus still has a cards from a heap of really good diamond shops.

willowthewisp

Tiffanys New York.
Brought the Mrs there and picked out her own.

Its a fairytale for any woman. Proposed in the Limo on the way and then just arrived outside the shop. You cab make an appointment with a specialist and with the low value of the dollar you will do well.

Cyrus

tiffanys have nice rings all right, so nice that i reckon we have a fair idea of the type of ring she would like



am i better trying to get something like this made or just trying to buy it in tiffanys (not sure if thats a runners, prices start at $15k, and thats prob with a small stone?)

by the way, one on the right is the tiffany original, one on the left is a very nice replica a person had made in the states

Thats a winner!
I think it is far more sensible to get one made in that style, than pay the tiffany markup.

Chinafoot

Can I just ask, has she given you an indication that that is the the type of style she'd like? Or are you picking this yourself?

Jules

Expense doesn't matter... in my opinion the only girls who worry about the price of the ring are the ones who would be thinking about selling it on later!

Just got my engagement ring didn't spend a fortune and its beautiful. And tbh you don't have to put a price on how much you love her.

Cyrus

Chinafoot wrote: »

Can I just ask, has she given you an indication that that is the the type of style she'd like? Or are you picking this yourself?

this is the type she would like

Jules

First of all congrats Jules!

I completely agree with your sentiment when you say that you don't have to spend big, to love big.

but....

Jules wrote: »

Expense doesn't matter... in my opinion the only girls who worry about the price of the ring are the ones who would be thinking about selling it on later!

Thats an unfair assumption though, and completely untrue. You'll never get half the price you paid for a used engagement ring.

Anti

Cyrus wrote: »

this is the type she would like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyneMDq0938

Cyrus

Anti wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyneMDq0938

maybe i have come to the wrong place for advice, but this is not the type of reaction i appreciate, we have been together since we were in college, we now both have good jobs and i am happy to spend whatever it takes within reason to get her the type of ring she would like.

Anti that assumption only speaks for what kind of person you are. An ignorant one.

Jules

Cyrus, i got great advice on here about engagement rings and if that is the type of one she would like and you can afford to spend that much, fair play.

Different people have different tastes and different opinions on people who would want their partner to spend a lot of money on a ring. And posting on a public forum you are gonna get all types of oopinions.

Personally i think it is far too much money to spend when you have to look at the cost of housing and basic living in Ireland these days.

And as i said before you don't need to spend a lot of money to show that you love her, the fact that you want to spend the rest of your life with her, personally is enough.

But like i said if you have that much money to spend on a ring fair play. Just make sure the diamonds come from the right place, i.e not conflict diamonds.

Best of luck to you both.

willowthewisp

Dont worry spend as much as you/she wants as long as you can afford it.
the jealous people will always make snidey remarks and say price doesnt count, well if price doesnt matter then why are they so snidey when people spend a lot. I spent a substantial enough amount on my fiancees ring and the only people who will ever know that are her and me.

Dont mind the begrudgers

Chinafoot

I don't think anyone is begrudging here. I think some of us perhaps think that the ring is a little, eh, blingtastic. Personally I think it's hideous and an enormous waste of money but if thats the style his girlfriend wants and if he can afford it he should go for it. Everyone is different.

If anything I think Jules's first post was an attempt to allay any fears the OP may have regarding cost, rather than an insult to the OP or his girlfriend.


Best of luck with it OP.

sillysocks

I'd highly recommend Dubai - we got my ring there last summer and its was brilliant value - not to mention a great holiday. We bought from a shop called Cara in the Gold & Diamond park (which is basically a shopping centre with only jewellers shops!). It had been recommended to us by a few Irish that lived in Dubai, and we weren't disappointed! When I got home the ring was valued for insurance at 4 times what we paid for it. They made up exactly what I wanted within a few hours.

And the other good news is that the dirham (local currency there) is linked to the Dollar so its great value at the mo - the better the dollar gets the better the dirham does as well.

We were so impressed we're going back this summer for the wedding rings!
If you want any more info just PM me.

Cyrus

Chinafoot wrote: »

I don't think anyone is begrudging here. I think some of us perhaps think that the ring is a little, eh, blingtastic. Personally I think it's hideous and an enormous waste of money but if thats the style his girlfriend wants and if he can afford it he should go for it. Everyone is different.

If anything I think Jules's first post was an attempt to allay any fears the OP may have regarding cost, rather than an insult to the OP or his girlfriend.


Best of luck with it OP.

i suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder, personally i like it, more importantly she loves it

Cyrus

sillysocks wrote: »

I'd highly recommend Dubai - we got my ring there last summer and its was brilliant value - not to mention a great holiday. We bought from a shop called Cara in the Gold & Diamond park (which is basically a shopping centre with only jewellers shops!). It had been recommended to us by a few Irish that lived in Dubai, and we weren't disappointed! When I got home the ring was valued for insurance at 4 times what we paid for it. They made up exactly what I wanted within a few hours.

And the other good news is that the dirham (local currency there) is linked to the Dollar so its great value at the mo - the better the dollar gets the better the dirham does as well.

We were so impressed we're going back this summer for the wedding rings!
If you want any more info just PM me.

was in dubai on hols 18 mths ago, loved it, only bit that disappointed us was looking at jewellery, i will pm you later, thanks a million

rediguana

We're going to Antwerp next month. The organising machine that is my fiancee decided that that's the best place, so it must be okay.

While Anti's video was hardly in the spirit of things, it's a great song / video!

Given that a wedding costs (maybe) E30K anyway, and everything disappears after the day, spending a mere E10K on something that'll hold its value and last forever doesn't seem so bad.

ChocolateOrange

I have to agree with sillysocks about cara in the gold and diamond park in dubai. This is the really the only place you should buy jewellery there. We had a great holiday and got a fab ring all for less than the price of the ring when it was valued back home. Well worth the trip!

Cyrus

did you guys have to haggle with them? ive seen stories on other sites of people praising them but saying they haggled 50% off the original asking price??

ChocolateOrange

My fiancee had done some research about diamonds before we went out. Once the guy in the shop realised that we knew what we were talking about he gave us a very competitive price without haggling. I was warned that we'd have to be prepared to walk away but thankfully it didn't come to that. All in all it was a very enjoyable experience and we didn't feel pressurised by the staff in the shop at all. If you want to you can pm me for more details.

golfpaul

I can't recommend Antwerp enough (It is the diamond capital of the world). Easy to get to and a nice place to spend a fews days. There is a thread on askaboutmoney.com about it, well worth a read.
Linky
PM me if you have questions and good luck with it!:)