Buying And Engagement Ring
What is the most important engagement ring buying tip? Know what you want to spend. The engagement ring buying process presents a dizzying array of choices. Have a price range in mind. Going in with fairly specific parameters will help your jeweler find the right engagement ring to fit your budget.
buying and engagement ring
I have been dating my girlfriend for almost two years now and I have known that she was the one from the beginning. I think that we are at a stage in our relationship where it needs to progress and the next steps are engagement and marriage. I agree that one, having a budget is essential and two, looking at her Pinterest is a great idea because I am sure she has thought about the engagement before also. I will be sure to check her social media and once I have a plan I am going to ask her best friends if my ideas are good ones or not.
Thanks for the great tips for buying the perfect engagement ring. I want my future-wife to love her ring forever, so this is important. I will definitely start asking her friends for her style preferences.
Thank you for talking about the importance of finding out what size ring you need to buy before you actually do it. It makes sense that remembering this can help you make sure your engagement is great and avoid awkward moments. I would want to make sure I find a company I trust so I can get a design and the quality that I want.
Buying the right ring is a challenge that I worry about. I have never bought diamonds or gold before, and I want it to be perfect! I can definitely see why figuring out my budget is a good first step. I will have to study my savings to see how much I can afford.
The industry makes massive profits by selling to uninformed guys who walk through the door and want to buy the biggest ring they can afford (or stretch to afford). Jewelers do everything they can to make buying an engagement ring an emotional decision. And when you make an emotional buying decision, you spend too much.
Being a naive (at, at the time, financially irresponsible) 21-year old, I decided I would just buy a nice but modest ring and pay for it over time with a credit card. There were no shortage of jewelry stores in manhattan, so I shopped around at all the well-known jewelers like Zales, Kay, Tiffany & Co. I was smart enough, on my budget, to steer clear of Cartier, LOL.
I was turned off by the rather aggressive salespeople at Zales and ultimately ended up begin drawn to the brand mystique of Tiffany & Co. I put down $2,800 for a small half-carat round solitaire engagement ring in platinum.
The worst part? I ended up selling that Tiffany ring to a jeweler for a measly $750. You can never recoup the retail price of a diamond ring. But you get totally hosed when you pay such a premium for a brand.
If you want a highly-customized ring (beyond what you can design on these online sites), find a local independent jeweler to design the ring for you. And even in this case, you may want to buy a loose diamond online to use in the setting the jeweler designs.
If you want to buy an engagement ring your fiancée will love at the lowest price possible, first figure out: 1) What kind of rings she likes, 2) Her ring size, 3) Your budget and 4) how to compare diamonds using the four Cs. Then, visit top online jewelers to build her ring at a price you can feel good about.
With an independent jeweler, you may have more unique choices in styles and settings, as well as the ability to customize the setting if your jeweler does bespoke rings. Your local jeweler can, for example, reset a diamond you buy elsewhere or have in the family. It also feels good to support a local business.
Sites like James Allen, Brilliant Earth and Brilliant Earth and Blue Nile feature a wide variety of diamond engagement rings and the ability to build a custom ring by matching a loose diamond and setting. Like national chain jewelers, these sites have a spotless reputation so you can have 100% confidence in your transaction (no questions asked return policy, insured shipping, etc.)
James Allen is the most competitive diamond vendor with more than 150,000 loose diamonds in inventory. They have been a leader in selling diamonds online and pioneered 3D imaging so you can see the exact diamond you're buying in exquisite detail. You'll find it hard to beat James Allen in terms of price or selection. Read our James Allen review.
People commonly mistake warranties for jewelry insurance, when these things are quite different. Generally, warranties like our Peace of Mind extended maintenance plan, protect you from manufacturing defects and everyday wear and tear on your ring to make sure your jewelry always looks showcase new, while jewelry insurance can protect you from things like accidental theft, or loss.
The Knot also reports that nearly three in four grooms stated they encountered difficulties during their ring-purchasing journey, with over a third saying their main issue was not being confident they got a good deal.
The first step to finding the perfect engagement ring is knowing how much you want to spend. Setting a budget might seem obvious, but nearly a third of grooms spend more than they wanted to on a rock, according to The Knot.
Though there's a well-known "guideline" of spending two months salary on an engagement ring, it was actually born from a diamond company's marketing efforts. Your budget should be a personal decision that takes into account outstanding debts, income and financial priorities.
"What they're not saying is [some rating discrepancies are] outside the human vision range. Then the question is why are we measuring the invisible? To raise the price," he says. "It is in reality a ripoff by the industry not by [individual jewelers.]"
Then you can move on to other details: Would she like one stone or several? A bright shiny diamond or a deep blue sapphire? Here are some other ways to get a feel for the perfect engagement ring style:
Ready to get started on a wedding and honeymoon budget? Download the EveryDollar app! It will help you save for big-ticket items, like a wedding venue and catering company, and it will help you and your spouse handle your money together as a married couple. Try EveryDollar for free today.
When there are so many variables contributing to the price of something many people only buy once, it's easy to feel like you could be paying more than you have to. We asked Business Insider employees who have been there to weigh in, and consulted the Quora thread "How do you save money buying an engagement ring?" to find the best tips on how to buy an engagement ring without feeling like you could be getting ripped off.
"I think you're better off buying directly from a wholesaler than going to a name-brand retailer, because you wind up paying a lot more for the name (and no one will ever know what store your ring is from). If you don't have someone who can recommend you to a wholesaler and you have the stomach for it, you can get a much better deal in the stores on 47th street in the Diamond District [in New York City]. Even if you aren't able to negotiate, you'll still get a better price than in a name brand store. Make sure the diamond comes with a GIA certificate (the governing body that grades diamonds)." - Julie, Editor
"Diamonds with slight inclusions can save you thousands, as opposed to buying a flawless diamond. These flaws are almost always invisible to the naked eye, and only visible with magnification." - Mark Bronner
"You want the ring to match her. Do you think she would be really pissed if you spent this much money? Do you think she'd be happy with this ring color or size or whatever? Is she the kind that would care a lot about the authenticity of the ring? Would she need the certificates? Because you can go cheaper if you get some elements that aren't certified. You can go for more unique styles or go for a slightly more expensive diamond, which is what I did." - Dave Smith, Business Insider Deputy Editor
"A good ring costs thousands, so the sales tax will be in the hundreds or thousands. Ask the store if they can ship your ring to an address where you can receive it in the lowest tax jurisdiction possible (i.e. If you live in New York have them FedEx it to a friend in New Jersey where state tax is lower). You can save hundreds this way." - Jim Edwards, Editor-in-Chief, BI UK
"Keep it in the family and use a stone that's been passed down. My husband used a diamond that was in his grandmother's engagement ring. My brother used a diamond that belonged to our great-grandmother when proposing to his wife. This keeps things cheap and I think it's more meaningful to know you are being given a family heirloom." - Emily Cohn, Senior Business Editor
Platinum and 18ct Gold are both easier to re-size. Avoid Palladium which has a tendency to be more brittle, especially in the area where a ring has been re-sized. In addition, Platinum and 18ct Gold are more durable than alternative choices including 9ct Gold. Platinum is always a good choice. Another benefit is the natural whiteness of Platinum which will never tarnish in appearance.
Choose a ring size that is midway between large and small. This will be easier to size larger or smaller if the size is incorrect. We recommend a popular finger size such as UK size L, M or N for this reason. In addition, should you need to return the ring, a jeweller is more likely to be able to re-stock an average or midway finger size.
Proposing can be tricky. Getting the right finger size and style can be extremely difficult. For this reason, proposing a dummy ring makes a lot of sense. The final ring can be chosen together after the finger size is known. Admittedly, some buyers prefer to choose THE ring, but this process does work well for some people.
Chances are, if you are in the market for a diamond engagement ring, you are planning to part with a significant amount of money. According to a recent article in The New York Times, couples spent an average of $4000 on an engagement ring, which totaled a staggering 11 billion dollars on engagement and wedding jewelry in the United States in 2012! 041b061a72