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I know... it's about what the individual's budget and all, and it's hard to judge for everyone, but I'm just looking for a general feel. I often hear people say, 'it was an expensive ring!'--and I have to wonder, what is an expensive ring? so bees, what's your opinion?
It was all expensive to us. We just went with the most manageable. Poor FI, when the saleswoman added up the price and turned the calculator around. He has no poker face at all.
When I think expensive I think big almost perfect 2 or 3 or more carrot center stone. 10k or more.
@luvmyDwight: lol, 10k doesnt even get a perfect 1.5 ct stone! 2ct perfect is at least 20k.
Umm that is SUCH a loaded question.
While I am sure my E-ring would be considered very expensive to some and inexpensive to others it was well within our budget (2+ carat center, 3.5 carat total).
Based on the cost of my E-ring I voted $25K as it was more than what my E-ring cost. :P
It's all relative up to a point, but I think I'd probably classify a ring as "expensive" if you have to save up for it for more than a few months. $10k and over I'd term "ridiculously expensive", and once you get past $100k my head starts swimming and I see images of Scrooge McDuck diving around in his money bin.
When I think expensive I think over 15k.
DH had some coworkers that told him that they bought their wives very expensive rings, but they were .5ct. I think expensive is relative to the person.
@pinkshoes: True that!
I asked Birks when upgrade time came how much would I need to spend for a 1Ct VVS1 G colour diamond she said 10-12K (diamond only, no ring)
@linguo42:$10k and over I'd term "ridiculously expensive",
LOL Really? Uh-oh!
Totally depends where you're from I more than anything, I think. I said anything over 15-25K is relatively "expensive". I think I read somewhere that the average diamond engagement ring in the US costs around $3,000.
Agree with PP.s its all relative. If you make 40K a year or 250K a year, your opinion will change a lot!!!
I think it depends on the budget.. like there is a rule that a ring must be worth about 3 months salary - but that could mean anything from minimum wage, to superstar money.
I personally think something over $2000 is expensive, simple because it would take me about a years worth of saving monies myself to afford it.
@Treejewel19: I'm not a diamond person, so I could just never in a million years envision wearing something on my finger that cost that much.
@linguo42: Honestly you can spend that much on another gem, it doesn't have to be a diamond so the actual gem is irrelevant. Thankfully my FI and I are diamond people and could spend that much so it all worked out.
@Treejewel19: I dont think this post is for us girl :-p
OP- I think 25K is expensive.. but not over the top.. when I think over the top.. i think 100,000's
@MrsNeutrino: LOL yes ma'am I was thinking the same thing. *Abandon Ship!*
@pinkshoes: not true. My center stone is over 2cts and pretty damn near perfect and it was not $10K. You just have to do your research, stay away from brand name stores and negotiate.
I said over 2,000, then I read the replies and realized how clueless I am about diamond prices -_-
Too expensive for me is over 500 haha, the ring I want is 180
@Meowkers: I was referring to average prices on reputable sites like blue nile/james allen/gog/etc which is definitely less than name brands and mall stores. My pricing was based on round stones... I know other stones do cost less for higher carats, should have clarified that.
I think over $10k is kind of spendy, but would vote $25k+ for 'expensive'
Totally relative though.
I think it depends on where you live and what your salary is.
I'm also not basing my idea of expensive on what my ring cost. I can have my (pretty darn expensive) ring and still realize that $10k is a lot of money for a ring.
Holy Stinkin crap. A $25K ring?!?!? And you feel okay wearing it around on your finger?? I would be so afraid of losing it I would never wear it anywhere. My ring is worth about $5,000 and I am so concious of making sure it is always there. You all must be much less clumsy and prone to losing things than I am. Of course I come from a family of women with small rings, that was never something they were into so I don't have any notion of what a 2 or 3 carat ring costs since the biggest ring anyone I know has is 1 carat.
Anyway, back to the question. I think over $10K is expensive. That is a small car on your finger, of course I do think it totally depends on your finances. A $10,000 ring is almost our years salary because we are broke college kids. If you make $100K or $200K a year it is much less percentage wise.
@Treejewel19: oh no, I don't care if it's diamond or not! I'm not specifically asking for any stone. just, how much is 'a lot' for an engagement ring.
and it definitely does not matter, and I definitely do not believe e-ring price has any correlation with the quality of a couple's relationship, so I'm not trying to start anything! honestly, just curious on what people consider expensive for an e-ring. see posts like LMD84's, makes me wonder what is "expensive"!! but yes of course, it's all personal... though the voting and comments are really helping! thanks for your opinions gals.
This IS a loaded question! At least the survey stays anonymous ;)
There's a huge culture gap between the UK and parts of the USA on this. Maybe 5% of people of my generation will have a 1ct+ diamond ring in this country. The average is between a quarter to a half of a carat.
To me, an expensive ring is anything over £1k (about $1600), really expensive is £5k+ and really, really scarily expensive is £10k+. I'm not saying I wouldn't absolutely love a 2ct D/IF emerald cut diamond set in platinum but I would feel uncomfortable wearing anything bigger than 2ct because even my 1.25ct ring looks unusually large in comparison to most of my peers.
That isn't to say that I don't love huge rings, but I honestly don't know how you guys afford them!
Honestly, I think it's all damn expensive for a fricken rock! But... I voted over 5000 because to me thats around where people will probably have to sacrifice size/color or clarity to fit into their budget.
@PinkMagnolia: Agreed completely. Like I said my E-ring was well within our budget so to me it isn't too expensive, however as other PP have stated it wouldn't be ideal for them.
Honestly, I think expensive is whatever dollar figure that pushes you to the brink of not being able to afford it or not being comfortable trying to afford it, cash or financed. For some it's $400. For others it might be $40K. For instance, I picked $5K. Because that's the max number I feel we could still comfortably afford but anything more would be pushing us further and further out of our comfort zone. Ironically, our stone alone was 5K so my partner's "expensive" interpretation is obviously higher than mine. This is probably due to the fact that he has more liquid funds than I do. :)
To me it's all expensive! My ring was $3000 and that's 3 beach vacations or 2 really awesome vacations! That's the most money my FI had ever spent on anything besides his car. He said he spent $400 on his ex wifes whole set. We got approved for $5000 credit at the jewelers but I'd just be scared it would get lost or damaged 24/7 I paid $5000 for my car lol.
@Treejewel19: To each his own. I didn't mind paying the big bucks for platinum, because I wanted an elaborate setting. On the other hand, my gems, while unusual for an engagement ring, are not terribly rare and were dirt cheap. But I know plenty of people here would sooner go for a more expensive stone and a less expensive metal and plainer setting. Everyone has their priorities and ideas of what's extravagant and what's reasonable for each aspect of their ring.
I live in New Zealand and based on the prices in jewellery stores over here, I voted for anything over $5,000.
Most of the engagement rings that were available when DH and I were buying were diamond, with stones between 0.25-0.75 carats and priced between $1,000 and $5,000.
Expensive doesn't necessarily have to be a negative thing.
Expensive can be lovely.
I said over 25k since mine was around 14k. He could afford it, and he wanted to get a certain size and quality. Its all relative. When we were both still students we would have felt like over 5k was expensive but your idea of expensive changes as your income increases.
I agree that it's all relative depending on your geographic area, average age of marriage and income, etc.
In the midwest here, where a lot of folks get engaged after high school/college, and generally don't have a solid/established income, I voted 2K was expensive. I had no idea how much rings cost when we were in that period of our relationship, and thankfully we received a family ring (which I would totally consider expensive for around my area).
It's so variable, and I don't think this post is a bad post or loaded post, it's fun to compare what people think of when they think of 'normal.' I would probably sit at home and stare all day at my ring if it was $10K+, and be super afraid to wear it! LOL. I think it's great that we all have such a variety - each ring can find someone who loves it :-) Hehe.
I voted anything over 10k. I can see that had we wanted to get a little crazy, we could have easily spent over 5k (but didn't) but I couldn't imagine spending over 10!
FI paid a little over $4k for my *almost* 1 carat solitaire e-ring. I cared more about the quality of the diamond that the size, so we paid a bit more to have a smaller diamond with higher quality.
Our entire wedding budget is not $25k so I can't imagine wearing a ring that costs that much. I just keeping thinking, "wow, that's like a downpayment on a house." I guess if you're able to afford a ring that expensive you probably don't really care about such everyday things.
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