Affordable engagement rings?

TJason05

New Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2021
Messages
19
Location
Wisconsin
I know the markup on diamonds and jewelry is quite extreme in terms of profit margins. For instance, you could pay $3000 for a diamond ring and only gave the actual value of it be $800 or so.

I am planning to ask my girlfriend of 12 years to marry me and I would like to get her a nice ring without totally being taken to the cleaners to line someone else’s pocket. Any idea or suggestions on where I can get a good diamond ring without paying such huge markup’s?

I should mention that I am fine with a lab grown diamond as well.
 
Heck ya man. get something sub 1000 the ring dont mean a damn thing. Only cucks will say it does. If she is a size queen with rings then maybe its not gonna work out. Id rather spend 2k on a trip outside the country vs a silly ass ring she could loose in the shitter.
 
I know the markup on diamonds and jewelry is quite extreme in terms of profit margins. For instance, you could pay $3000 for a diamond ring and only gave the actual value of it be $800 or so.

I am planning to ask my girlfriend of 12 years to marry me and I would like to get her a nice ring without totally being taken to the cleaners to line someone else’s pocket. Any idea or suggestions on where I can get a good diamond ring without paying such huge markup’s?

I should mention that I am fine with a lab grown diamond as well.
If you can find someone willing to "work outside the Lines" you can get a pretty good deal on a loose diamond and have it set. I did that a bunch of years ago when I asked my wife to marry me. Used to be you could buy diamonds online too. As long as they are registered with the GIA and traceable, you should be getting a "real" diamond. You can avoid a lot of the mark-ups that way then you just pick your setting at the jewelry store, and have them set YOUR diamond.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chris
I know the markup on diamonds and jewelry is quite extreme in terms of profit margins. . . .

I am planning to ask my girlfriend of 12 years to marry me and I would like to get her a nice ring without totally being taken to the cleaners. . . .

I should mention that I am fine with a lab grown diamond as well.


There are diamond/jewelry wholesale districts in every major city. You can often get good deals at a jewelry mart if you know what you are looking for. Take someone with you who knows diamonds and the current market if you don't have that knowledge yourself. You can usually pick a stone and have it set into the ring of your choice rather than be limited to pre-made rings.

You may be fine with a lab grown diamond, but get a natural diamond if at all possible. Your intended may not rush down to the jeweler to have her engagement diamond appraised for insurance, but sooner or later that is going to happen and that's when the issues usually arise. Don't believe her when she says a grown diamond or cubic zirconium is just fine. Those are well intended words, but women really do care although sometimes that caring doesn't manifest for many years. [And don't misrepresent to her what the stone actually is if you do decide on a man made or farmed diamond. That would be a seriously bad move.]

Don't settle for lesser grades, but you don't need the highest grade either.

Don't buy a ring or loose stone at the mall. You will pay top price.

Pawn shops are a source for diamonds, but I wouldn't try to use a setting from the pawn shop. No bride wants a used ring unless it is actually a family heirloom or the pawned ring can be traced to royalty or someone famous. I would have a stone acquired at a pawn shop put in a new or custom setting. As with the jewelry mart, you need to know what you are buying without placing your trust in the sales person. Take someone with you who knows what they are doing if you don't have that knowledge.

If you have to stick to a tight and firm budget, put your money into the stone and get a simple solitaire setting. You can have good stone set in a spectacular setting for a special anniversary during your years together, but a cheap stone will always be a cheap stone.


FYI - It has been a general rule of thumb in the U.S. for many generations that a prospective groom should spend approximately two months gross salary for an engagement ring. If you make the U.S. median wage of $62K, that's about $10,000 for the ring, not $800-$3000. Even at the U.S. poverty line of $12,880/year for a single person 2x monthly earnings would be $2,200. [Please don't shoot the messenger.]
 
Another possibility is to check with all your female relatives to see if they might have any diamonds laying around. My mother lost one of the earrings my dad gave her 40 years ago, so she’s always had this one oddball earring in her jewelry box ever since. (She made such a scene over losing one that my Dad went an bought her another set.) she gave it to me when I told them I was going to ask my then girlfriend to marry me. It was a 3/4 karat marquee cut. I went and picked out a ring to have it mounted on, and saved a huge chunk of cash. On another note, the ring you give her now is just a starting point, same as your marriage to her. You can always add to it as time goes on, and you should anyway. Recently celebrated 35 years of toleration with mine, and added 35 chips to her ring. She loves it. I think I’ve had it modified like five or six times now over the years.
 
The meaning of the ring is far more important than the value.

Can't help ya with where to get one, but congrats man!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apparition
FYI - It has been a general rule of thumb in the U.S. for many generations that a prospective groom should spend approximately two months gross salary for an engagement ring. If you make the U.S. median wage of $62K, that's about $10,000 for the ring, not $800-$3000. Even at the U.S. poverty line of $12,880/year for a single person 2x monthly earnings would be $2,200. [Please don't shoot the messenger.]
I never knew that. Definitely went above poverty but two months worth and she'd be bitching the ring was too heavy. Plus, I got jeeps to build.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: rasband
this will give you an idea as to my age, but I sold my bass guitar to buy my wife's engagement ring. A whopping $275. That stone is now in a tennis bracelet and 51 years later she is sporting a much larger solitaire. For our 20 anniversary she had my Mom's (she had passed years before that) engagement diamond mounted in a nugget ring for me.
 
That thing about the ring should be worth 2 months salary is BS that DeBeers started 80 years ago. I got my wife a nice ring for $1200 (20 years ago) at Costco. She picked it out, so she can't bitch about it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zorba
And don't buy into the 2 months salary BS that was made up by salesmen.

Are you sure it wasn't made up by fathers of brides-to-be wanting to be sure that prospective son-in-laws have the wherewithal to support a wife? ;)

Here is a quote from an article that claims that salary formula was promoted by DeBeers in a 1940's advertising campaign, and that it was this same advertising campaign that began the tradition of diamond engagement rings.

"In 2019, Americans spent an average of $7,750 on an engagement ring (up from $6,163 in 2017). The average center diamond size for an engagement ring is between 0.8 and 1.2 carats.

"A one-carat diamond engagement ring costs an average of $5,500. 81% of Americans think the engagement ring shouldn't cost over $5,000, but the national average actually spent is over $7,000."

https://www.creditdonkey.com/history-engagement-ring.html
Regardless of who started it or why, the diamond engagement ring is part of American tradition today.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Apparition
I’d say it really comes down to two things.

1 - makes her happy
2 - something you can afford

if you can’t hit both of these I see problems on the horizon.
 
  • Like
Reactions: zebra12 and Chris
Diamond engagement rings didn't become popular until 1947 when De Beers, the British company that mined diamonds in South Africa, launched an advertising campaign. With the help of Hollywood stars and the slogan, "A diamond is forever," diamond engagement rings skyrocketed in popularity. It's Don Draper's fault.
 
  • Like
Reactions: srimes
Diamond engagement rings didn't become popular until 1947 when De Beers, the British company that mined diamonds in South Africa, launched an advertising campaign. With the help of Hollywood stars and the slogan, "A diamond is forever," diamond engagement rings skyrocketed in popularity. It's Don Draper's fault.

Yup. Before that diamonds were considered "old women's jewelry."

"Of course personally, I think it would be tacky to wear diamonds before I’m 40."
 
  • Like
Reactions: randy328
I have a ring that is like a rubber band and costs under 20 bucks..my wifes engagement ring was one one of my grandmother's rings I had redone.
 
Find a woman like my wife!!! When we started talking about getting married, she flat out told me she wanted a band and only a band. She doesn't wear any jewelry, never has. We bought each other bands. Been together 30 years now.