Engagement Rings

[hawing]

There's been no girl born in my 'immediate extended' family since 1898.

 

Wow, Casey, that's quite a stretch.

 

If anyone's thinking "oh good, hawing's posted, now we can get a female perspective"...you may be disappointed. Like pitchleague, I'm not enthusiastic about jewelry, and if the S.O. and I ever tie the knot, a wedding band would be more than enough for me. I'd rather put a four-figure sum toward house projects or the like.

 

But even if I were more into jewelry, I'd want to be in on the selection of something I'm presumably going to be wearing for years. That would be more important to me than the momentary joy of a surprise proposal.

[brewerjamie15]

I dunno dude, but 7-8K is a boat load of beans. That would buy you one -heck- of a rock. Seriously speaking, my wife and I went to Kessler's on the south side of Milwaukee and were very happy. Great service. I'd talk with your girlfriend/fiance about the ring (if she knows the deal) and ask what she thinks. 2-3 grand would buy an awfully nice ring and you'd have a decent car's worth of money left over. You could use the extra money for a wedding, honeymoon, house down payment, vacation, or a nice investment for your retirement together.

My wife was married once before we met and she kept the $3,000 engagement ring (1.03 karat Princess cut) she had from that time. It was appraised at around $5,000 and when she decided she wanted to sell the old ring, it netted her a whopping $1,000. Resale value (not that you'd need to resell it for divorce) is terrible on diamonds if you can find someone to buy it. We researched the snot of of re-sale diamonds and waited 6 months worth of offers from dealers or reps to buy her ring too!

Imagine if you were to invest that money in something you could get your money back out of. If you or her or a child needed some medical care or something and needed to sell the ring, you'd have lost probably at least half of your money you spent on the ring.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade by any means. I'm telling you from real life experience. Maybe it'd be an idea worth exploring to ask her what she thinks. 7-8 grand is a ton of money.

[Brian the Automator]

As much as a big honkin' expensive ring says "I love you", the wife-to-be may be much more happy with something a little more modest, and some extra cash lying around when you first get married to make life not as difficult.

 

I made the mistake of buying Nicole a large diamond (1 karat) ring. It looked great, but it really wasn't that wearable... kept getting caught on stuff and scratching stuff.

 

Now, she wears a simple gold band, and doesn't need to take it off as much....

[Fatter than Joey]

It looked great, but it really wasn't that wearable... kept getting caught on stuff and scratching stuff.

 

Yeah -- especially if you have babies in your future. Generally speaking you don't want to scratch the babies.

 

When you count all the diaper changes, baths, feedings, etc.. and all the times the ring comes off, you are asking for it to get lost. Fortunately my wife never lost hers, but we had some really hairy moments where we thought it was lost.

[brewers4eric]

Resale value of rings is like anything else. They are only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for them.

 

My wife and I looked around at a few chain stores in the Twin Cities but chose to buy from a jeweler in a small town near where I grew up. Their service has been great, my only complaint was when they tried to hook us up with their buddies, the photographer and the invitation printer. They actually gave us a price break on the ring when I wrote up a testimonial for them that appeared in the local papers:

 

"If you grew up in northeast Iowa like I did, you might remember the ad for the local Jewelers that was played along with the previews of upcoming attractions in the theatre. It featured a young man picking out an engagement ring. He was obviously very nervous and was wary of the camera. My friends and I used to make jokes at his expense while we waited for the featuer to start. Fifteen years later, I found myself in the store choosing a ring (and also wondering where the cameras were hidden). We had looked around in the chain stores but there was really no comparison with the vast selection and level of service that we received. There was no reason to be nervous, I just hope I don't show up on a movie preview sometime."

 

My wife picked out three different options and I went in a few days later and picked the engagement ring. If you think this spoils tradition, surprise her with the matching wedding band at a later date.

 

If you want to simplify things and completely destroy tradition, just withdraw the amount of cash that you are willing to spend from your savings account, hand it to your significant other, and drop her off at the jewelrey store.

[RightFieldCoder]

I told my gf to stop being sexist. I'll buy her a 2K ring right after she buys me a 2K gift. She went to school, same as me, and got a biology degree that should provide more money than my education degree. Why do I have to dole out the cash so she can have a wedding?

[EinhornIsFinkle]

You would be insane to spend $7,000 on a ring before you even have a house and if she lets you that is a bad sign.