[Extremely OT]: Engagement Rings

[Lucius Foxhound]

I agree with everyone ... find out her tastes and don't blow everything you have on it.

Of course, you could just get her this ring. Who could ask for anything more?

Good luck, dude. You're gonna need it.

 

[Claude Raines]

Another thing is, don't go with platinum. It's not as shiny as white gold, tarnishes easily, and costs way more.

I have to disagree with you here. The only reason not to go with platinum is cost. I have a white gold ring and a platinum ring. Both are just as brilliant and shiny, and neither has tarnished one iota.

 

[tabrumj]

I have a few quick pieces of advice on engagement ring purchases.

1. Know the tastes of the woman you are buying the ring for. In my case I lucked out since my now wife dosen't particularly like Diamonds and I bought her an Opal ring for our engagement. I still think it looks better than most of the diamond rings I have seen.

2. Some stores will allow you to just purchase a plain ring and stone and allow you to trade it in at retail value for the ring she wants. This allows you to suprise her and still get exactly the ring she wants.

3. If you are going to try and suprise her do it right. Make sure you hide the reciepts from any payments you make. If she comes across one she will ask about it. Months of preperation and effort can easily be ruined by one $100 resiept that slid under a couch cushion. Trust me on this, I speak with the voice of experience. My wife loves me anyway though.

 

[tabrumj]

I agree with everyone ... find out her tastes and don't blow everything you have on it.

Of course, you could just get her this ring. Who could ask for anything more?

Good luck, dude. You're gonna need it.

Well unless she is really bent on world domination and the subjegation of all the races of men I don't think that this is nessecarilly the right ring.

 

[pogre]

2. Some stores will allow you to just purchase a plain ring and stone and allow you to trade it in at retail value for the ring she wants. This allows you to suprise her and still get exactly the ring she wants.

ABSOLUTELY!
.Surprise her with a ring in your price range from a reputable jeweler who is willing to give you exact trade-in value for the ring. Any jeweler worth his snuff is going to be willing to do this as a service to you.

My wife agrees with surprising her 100%.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

"In the place of the dark lord, you would have a queen, not dark but beautiful and terrible as the midday sun. All shall love her and despair. . ."

On second thought, maybe that's not the right ring

I agree with everyone ... find out her tastes and don't blow everything you have on it.

Of course, you could just get her this ring. Who could ask for anything more?

Good luck, dude. You're gonna need it.

 

[Griswold]

I just got married this past January and we were engaged a year before that. Two things:
Don't spend more than you can really afford. As a poor grad student, I was bummed I could not buy my now-wife something great and huge. But no matter what you get, she'll love it! You can always add to it with more or bigger diamonds later, or drop lots of cash on the anniversary band in a few years.

Second, get her input. While it is true she'll like it no matter what, it is also true most women have thought about the kind of ring they want already -- at least my wife had. So she gave me some ideas about settings, stones, etc before I went a got one.

There is also all the complicated diamond stuff, but there are lots of web sites and books available to help. I picked up The Grooms Survivial Manual before I went ring shopping and it was a big help -- not just for the engagement ring, but for all the stuff that comes after.

I hope this is helpful. Best of luck and congrats!

Yeah I have to agree, My wife knew what she wanted. You can say alot about love and stuff, but i think most women have an expectation of what they want from the whole engagement/wedding thing. My wife knew what she wanted and she is very frugal when it comes to spending money on things like this so if I had spent 2 months salery on a ring she would have killed me. I popped the question with a cherry ring-pop and then we picked the actual ring out together. She got a discount at a mall store for being a mall employee at the time and I had bought an engagement ring off a friend who nolonger needed it for about half price. So we went to the store and picked out a .7K or so ring and talked the salesman down then did the trade and discount. Is the ring perfect? prolly not, but my wife has loved it since day one, it's the ring she had wanted since she was a little girl.

I guess I would worry less about tradition and deBeers marketing and more about what she wants, it's very posable she has been planning her engagement and wedding since she was a little girl.

Well good luck to you!

-G.

 

[Agnostic Paladin]

I think that anyone buying any kind of jewelry really needs to ask themselves if they're looking at diamonds because they like them or because they've become the default stone.

Because they're not rare. DeBeers is the only reason that they're expensive. Rubies and emeralds are much more attractive (imo), and actually are rare. I agree that Canadian diamonds are the way to go if you do decide you want a diamond (most people do), as you know that no one's been murdered or worked to death over them.

 

[Femerus the Gnecro]

I think that anyone buying any kind of jewelry really needs to ask themselves if they're looking at diamonds because they like them or because they've become the default stone.

I have to disagree... in the long run, it's not about your tastes or preferences at all. Buying an engagement ring should, primarily, be about what *she* wants. Thus, if she wants diamonds, get her diamonds.

However, if she specifically says that she doesn't want diamonds, then by all means, save the money and get something prettier. Tanzanite is nice.

-F

 

[BluWolf]

Others have given very good advice here but I will echo the point of quality.

QUALITY, QUALITY, Quality.

My wife's engagment ring is just under a full karat but it is the highest quality diamond I could find/afford.

She is also a very small woman and anything really big would have looked rediculous.