Engagement ring

Ihatecuddles · 04-01-2014 2:56am

When we announced our engagement, his friend asked how did he know my ring size if he surprised me....his other friend shouts' he got the jeweller to measure his hole'

Off topic but I found it very funny

EuropeanSon · 04-01-2014 3:13am

No way would I spend anything like three months of my salary on a ring. Or one month for that matter. I don't think it makes sense to spend as much or more on the ring as I'd (we'd, hopefully) spend on the honeymoon.

Ladies... Does a 10k ring generally really look that much nicer than a 1k ring?

And no diamonds. Boring, unimaginative stones IMO, covered in undeterminable amounts of blood and marketing bull****.

DB83 · 04-01-2014 3:20am

Daqster wrote: »

Half your monthly net pay minus whatever your average spend is on hookers.

If the latter is more than the former, don't get married.

Haaaaaaaaa! That's a life lesson right there!

Wellyd · 04-01-2014 3:31am

mauzo! wrote: »

I find that really really sad

I had no say in my ring, which is exactly what I wanted. I wanted him to pick it and if he spent €50 on it I would have been delighted. I wanted it because he wanted to give it to me, and he obviously loved it and that's why he bought it. He spent a lot of money on it, a lot more than I expected him to, and that surprised me. He did it because he saw the ring and loved it, and that's the one he wanted me to wear.

His housemate said she'd never accept a ring that cost less than 5k, I just felt sick.

Which part in particular? The money part? As I mentioned I'm a shallow person. I know my OH and I know he'd spend way more but to me that's about a reasonable amount to spend. Regarding telling him what type of rings I like, that's mainly for him to have an idea. There's no point in spending money on something that I would have to wear that I didn't like. I've always told him that I would love for him to pick the ring himself as I'm fairly indecisive and if I had the choice I'd always question myself.

I never quite noticed I had so many personality flaws until this thread!

whatdoicare · 04-01-2014 3:37am

I know a lot of ladies are happy with no ring and the 50 euro ring etc etc it just reminded me of my sister in law.

She often made those statements and her fiancee gave her a ring which obviously cost very little. Now I know you can get a beautiful ring for very little if you go for silver and zircona (i bought a lovely set myself off ebay when pregnancy swelled up my fingers) or if you just look hard enough and I kinda wish he went that route.

Wherever he got this ring it was just awful looking. The band was like a string of wire and the diamond was teeny.

Now, she claimed she was Happy with the ring but was always very reluctant to show it and would hide it with costume jewellery.

When she got married she got a large wedding ring encrusted with little diamonds and weve never seen the engagement ring again.

So, be careful what you wish for if its not 100% what you have in mind. You might be unpleasantly surprised.

jigglypuffstuff · 04-01-2014 3:45am

Simply put never buy a ring in Ireland

Turkey, Middle East or USA is where you will get value for your money

here the cost of diamonds in jewellers is insane

anyone whos silly enough to spend money on diamonds here must have money to burn, because 9/10 it will be a ****ty stone worth 30% of what you pay if even that

Frigga_92 · 06-01-2014 2:25pm

Not sure what the average spend is so can only contribute my own personal experience.

My engagement ring and our wedding bands were handcrafted by a close friend at a cost of €7,000, without the discount they would've been around €10,000 altogether.

Shenshen · 06-01-2014 2:31pm

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

I'd have no interest in an engagement ring, or even a wedding ring for that matter. I hate wearing rings, I just fidget with them a lot and then lose them. Crazy expensive too for what they are. Myself and the OH don't really have much interest in marriage but I have himself warned anyway that if he does ever get any crazy notions that I'll actually kill him if he buys are ring.

I'd much rather spend the money on a nice holiday or something else awesome. Much better than a boring piece of stone that's gonna get lost because I'm really clumsy anyway.

No offence meant towards people who are into that type of thing, just not my cup of tea.

Same here, neither of us likes wearing rings.
He sometimes complains jokingly that I never bought him one, since I was the one who proposed to him at the time.

We got necklaces instead, with silver yin and yang shaped pendants that fit together.

magicmushroom · 06-01-2014 2:35pm

Not sure what the going rate is - I just chose the one I liked and luckily for him it was under 1k

so he was delighted.

I don't think the rings are important though, If I were to go back in time I would probably not bother with an engagement ring at all, and use the money towards something more important.

I could say that about a lot of the money we spent on the wedding though, was all great at the time but when I look back now a lot of it was spent on silly things that didn't make much different.

My sister is getting married in 2015 and my advice to her has been to spend money on the food, the venue and the band, the rest (ie chaircovers) will be forgotton very quickly

Musefan · 06-01-2014 2:41pm

Family member just got one at the cost of 3600.

All I could think of was the holiday I could have for that!

Tiddlypeeps · 06-01-2014 2:49pm

For anyone that does think engagement rings should be expensive, do you want that much spent on you just as a gesture of how much your OH thinks your worth or is it that you believe the more expensive a ring the better it looks?

I have no idea if the latter is true or not. I can imagine diminishing returns would set in pretty quickly but I have never looked into it so have no idea. Just curious if this is the bigger sticking point or if it's the gesture of an elaborate gift that's important.

I Heart Internet · 06-01-2014 2:53pm

I would have paid about 2 months wages at the time - fair bit of cash.

My advice - talk to your beloved about this - what does she think about it? Will a simple €50 thing do for now, etc.

If she's very demanding, then that may be a bad sign (in my eyes).

I Heart Internet · 06-01-2014 3:20pm

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

It's much cheaper getting them abroad
http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/159987

And remember legally it's a down payment on the bride so if the wedding is called off the man gets to keep it.

I've heard quite a few stories of people getting rings abroad and they being dissapointed/ripped-off. If you're not very careful and knowledgeable there's very little come-back.

There a good few independent jewellery makers around Ireland who can make unique stuff to your specs with a personal touch. That's the way me and the OH went - and we certainly weren't looking to break the bank.

Lia_lia · 12-01-2014 4:45pm

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

I'd have no interest in an engagement ring, or even a wedding ring for that matter. I hate wearing rings, I just fidget with them a lot and then lose them. Crazy expensive too for what they are. Myself and the OH don't really have much interest in marriage but I have himself warned anyway that if he does ever get any crazy notions that I'll actually kill him if he buys are ring.

I'd much rather spend the money on a nice holiday or something else awesome. Much better than a boring piece of stone that's gonna get lost because I'm really clumsy anyway.

No offence meant towards people who are into that type of thing, just not my cup of tea.

My exact view!

Treloh · 23-10-2014 12:45am

blade1 wrote: »

Ok I'll say it,
About 3 fiddy.

You mean 3 DOLLA fiddy??

Witchie · 23-10-2014 3:33am

Last month I was on a girly weekend in New York with a friend from Florida and her 17 year old daughter. We went to Tiffanys and Harry Winston to look at jewellery and decided we would all try on our dream rings. Mine was in Harry Winstons and cost 56k, my friend Kim's was in Tiffanys and was 64k.

Her daughter Kawena, after much searching found one and asked could she try it on. "Certainly mam, but you will have to come with us to a private room" was the reply. We marched into a little booth at the back of the shop with 2 shop assistants and a security guard. One assistant asked us would we like a drink and despite me desperately sending them psychic messages to order champagne they asked for water so I followed suit. Anyway she puts the ring on and it was stunning. We asked the price.........$169k.

I nearly choked on my water.

Kawena is kinda dating an Ice Hockey player who is on the junior team now and her mum said that it would cost Alex 2 years wages to buy that now but it would be no problem when he makes the senior team. How the other half live eh?

My own engagement ring I found in an antique shop in Dublin, it was sapphires and diamond ring from 1916 (kinda funny coz we got engaged at Easter) and cost me (yes I paid for it myself!) £300 back in 1994. I still love it even though I no longer love the man I married.

Sir Gallagher · 23-10-2014 4:32am

Witchie wrote: »

Last month I was on a girly weekend in New York with a friend from Florida and her 17 year old daughter. We went to Tiffanys and Harry Winston to look at jewellery and decided we would all try on our dream rings. Mine was in Harry Winstons and cost 56k, my friend Kim's was in Tiffanys and was 64k.

Her daughter Kawena, after much searching found one and asked could she try it on. "Certainly mam, but you will have to come with us to a private room" was the reply. We marched into a little booth at the back of the shop with 2 shop assistants and a security guard. One assistant asked us would we like a drink and despite me desperately sending them psychic messages to order champagne they asked for water so I followed suit. Anyway she puts the ring on and it was stunning. We asked the price.........$169k.

I nearly choked on my water.

Kawena is kinda dating an Ice Hockey player who is on the junior team now and her mum said that it would cost Alex 2 years wages to buy that now but it would be no problem when he makes the senior team. How the other half live eh?

My own engagement ring I found in an antique shop in Dublin, it was sapphires and diamond ring from 1916 (kinda funny coz we got engaged at Easter) and cost me (yes I paid for it myself!) £300 back in 1994. I still love it even though I no longer love the man I married.

Why would you waste peoples time like that?

Paulownia · 23-10-2014 4:35am

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

Why would you waste peoples time like that?

Jewellers are very used to time wasters and offer it up, they are called feelers and touchers in the antique trade

DrGreenthumb · 23-10-2014 6:46am

just got a ring in the barmbrack, some lucky girl will be getting proposed to on halloween night

Paulownia · 23-10-2014 7:16am

Jewellers build everything into their profit margins which are colossal. Anyone who has ever tried to sell jewellery will have discovered this

Shenshen · 23-10-2014 8:20am

I can't speak for average, but we didn't bother with rings.

Neither for our engagement nor for our wedding. We both hate wearing rings.

Paulownia · 23-10-2014 11:48am

Shenshen wrote: »

I can't speak for average, but we didn't bother with rings.

Neither for our engagement nor for our wedding. We both hate wearing rings.

I, as a male, didn't get a wedding ring but my wife has one and over the years I have had some very funny comments from people about being married and not wearing a ring, some people think it is some kind of lack of commitment or a way of not showing that I'm attached.
In fact it is because I was given my grandfathers signet ring as a teenager and discovered I hated wearing a ring. My wife on the other hand has an insatiable appetite for rings, especially ones containing large precious stones:)

Witchie · 23-10-2014 1:14pm

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

Why would you waste peoples time like that?

Actually, my friend Kim's boyfriend is a multimillionaire ex-hockey player and she was saying if he proposes that is the ring she wants so not really wasting their time. Maybe I was but hey, am sure they are used to that.

Shenshen · 23-10-2014 1:17pm

Paulownia wrote: »

I, as a male, didn't get a wedding ring but my wife has one and over the years I have had some very funny comments from people about being married and not wearing a ring, some people think it is some kind of lack of commitment or a way of not showing that I'm attached.
In fact it is because I was given my grandfathers signet ring as a teenager and discovered I hated wearing a ring. My wife on the other hand has an insatiable appetite for rings, especially ones containing large precious stones:)

We went for silver necklaces instead - with a yin and an yang pendant. Tacky, I know...
I always wear mine, but my husband dislikes wearing his as it gets tangled up in his hair.
Either way I don't feel it's that important. It's a nice symbol, nothing else.

Peist2007 · 23-10-2014 1:22pm

So so tacky. Every aspect of it

bnt · 23-10-2014 1:23pm

If you said "n month's salary": congratulations, you have fallen prey to some top quality De Beers propaganda marketing. They basically invented the diamond engagement ring in the 1930s, telling people to spend a month's salary, then by the 1980s they had upped the figure to two months:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUzmUH55iKo

Who posted "three months"? :eek:

Paulownia · 23-10-2014 1:46pm

don't think I'd be going for the necklace either, bit too old for that stuff. I'd look like an aging drug baron!

Barely There · 23-10-2014 2:04pm

Witchie wrote: »

Actually, my friend Kim's boyfriend is a multimillionaire ex-hockey player and she was saying if he proposes that is the ring she wants so not really wasting their time. Maybe I was but hey, am sure they are used to that.

I presume he meant waste people's time posting up a boring anecdote like that.

obriendj · 23-10-2014 2:18pm

bnt wrote: »

If you said "n month's salary": congratulations, you have fallen prey to some top quality De Beers propaganda marketing. They basically invented the diamond engagement ring in the 1930s, telling people to spend a month's salary, then by the 1980s they had upped the figure to two months:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUzmUH55iKo

Who posted "three months"? :eek:

Family Guys version of that ad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c82z_bxy60E

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 23-10-2014 2:24pm

http://tinypic.com/r/bijzfk/8

My ring. Less than a thousand, and the most beautiful ring I've ever seen. It's not all about the dollas

Engagement ring

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