Engagement rings: average carat size

safari14

Hi all,

I noticed a thread on weddingsonline a couple of years ago that looked at the average carat size of engagement rings in Ireland, and wanted to see if trends had changed given the recession etc.

I'm aware that carat size is only one of the 4 C's of choosing an engagement ring, but it is probably the measurement most people use when comparing engagement rings.

lazygal

I never looked at carat size and haven't a clue what mine is. I don't have a diamond engagement ring though, I went for sapphires.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

You do realise that diamonds are essentially worthless?

xzanti

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

You do realise that diamonds are essentially worthless?

No, that's carrots you're thinking of..

Andiewoo

xzanti wrote: »

No, that's carrots you're thinking of..

Hahaha

kkcatlou

Like lazygal I never asked once we popped the question, and to be honest nobody has ever asked me or tried to "compare" their engagement ring with mine. Is that a thing? Or do you mean comparing when buying? Mine is also a mix of diamonds and sapphires, but the whole 4 Cs thing scares the bejaysus out of me, so glad I didn't have to get involved in it all and he did the hard work!

bee06

kkcatlou wrote: »

Like lazygal I never asked once we popped the question, and to be honest nobody has ever asked me or tried to "compare" their engagement ring with mine. Is that a thing? Or do you mean comparing when buying? Mine is also a mix of diamonds and sapphires, but the whole 4 Cs thing scares the bejaysus out of me, so glad I didn't have to get involved in it all and he did the hard work!

Exact same as this, he did the work and I don't even know what it cost never mind how many carats it is. I don't "compare" engagement rings either. They are sentimental items to me and I'd prefer to hear the story of the proposal than how many carats it has.

Gatica

you have 1 post on boards, and you're already asking personal questions... What is the reason for this thread exactly?

Toots

The only reason I know how many carats mine has is because I had to get a valuation cert to add it to my house insurance. I didn't bother with any of the '4 Cs' when we bought my ring, I went for the one that I liked the best.

Neyite

How many carats are in your ring, OP?

safari14

Neyite wrote: »

How many carats are in your ring, OP?

No ring just yet, we are looking at the moment. Would love a 0.5 - 0.6 carat ring, something simple and not flashy.

Neyite

safari14 wrote: »

No ring just yet, we are looking at the moment. Would love a 0.5 - 0.6 carat ring, something simple and not flashy.

I think thats the size I have, but I picked it because I loved it, and if it happened be CZ I'd have still picked it because of the style. In fact, I WAS planning to get a CZ ring, as I didnt really want something expensive, but like I say, it was one I spotted, and when I tried it, knew it was the one for me.

The style I always thought I'd like turned out to not really look nice on my hand, so it does benefit you to try on a few different ones to see what suits.

No idea what is in the ring I bought for my now wife, we liked it so it did us!

ABajaninCork

Don't know, don't care. It's a nice sparkly thing, and not your usual solitaire. My husband picked it, I liked it, he paid!!

emzolita

I have no idea what mine is either. I love the ring, never even thought of asking.

amdublin

How long is a piece of string?

Kevin the Kid

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

You do realise that diamonds are essentially worthless?

Happy wife = happy life

surely that cant be worthless?

seamus

Depends on what you want tbh. Plenty of women don't want a solitaire or even large rocks on their ring, and prefer something simpler.

If you're talking about a solitaire I think most people would say that anything over 1 carat is bordering on gaudy and tasteless (not to mention expensive for a decent diamond); the kind of thing Katie Price would have. 0.75 to 1 carat would be considered large, 0.25 to 0.5 carat probably around the typical size most people go for.

blindside88

My wife's is just under 1.2 carats. I picked it before proposing but I knew the style she liked. I don't think the style would have suited anything much smaller but I know she wouldn't have picked as expensive a ring if she was there

fits

seamus wrote: »

Depends on what you want tbh. Plenty of women don't want a solitaire or even large rocks on their ring, and prefer something simpler.

If you're talking about a solitaire I think most people would say that anything over 1 carat is bordering on gaudy and tasteless (not to mention expensive for a decent diamond); the kind of thing Katie Price would have. 0.75 to 1 carat would be considered large, 0.25 to 0.5 carat probably around the typical size most people go for.

I stumbled on an American wedding forum recently ( a whole world of crazy, very entertaining) and the standard on there seems to be 1-2 carat.

I think in ireland its about 0.5. When I am in Finland I feel like my ring is massively over indulgent. They spend much less there I think. 0.5 would definitely be the higher end of the scale. we bought for the overall design and style. Carat size wasn't a consideration at all.

Gatica

Mine's over 1ct. It certainly had nothing to do with picking that ring, as on average the rings we looked at were usually .6ct and anything bigger looked huge. However, the Edwardian style really suited me, even with the bigger diamond, however its size of the diamond wasn't a factor.
I think design has a lot to do with how a ring will look.

Theboinkmaster

I'd be more interested in the cut rating.

No point having a 2carat piece of sh!t on your hand that doesn't sparkle.