Engagement rings for dummies

Fiyatoe · 18-08-2022 5:03pm #1

Hi all,

I am heading abroad next month with my girlfriend when we’ll be 4 years together.

I went into our local jeweller today and they were very helpful.

I had a picture of 2 rings she tried on at Xmas in a jewellers abroad, we went in messing around but she genuinely liked the style of those two.

the jeweller matched something similar - I have a picture of 6 rings in the shop now.

they range in price from £1500 sterling to £5K sterling.

lads / ladies - honestly what do people generally spend? Neither of us are 30 yet, but we have our own home. So I can’t afford the ring in the £3,000+ range.

im a bit lost - I need to find out her ring size, whether she definitely wants gold banding or silver / platinum.

do people generally buy it outright or on credit?

I’ve also heard of people bringing “dress rings” or placeholder rings when the proposal is abroad.

im not sure what to do. I suppose the real question I’m most concerned about is what’s the general budget? I don’t want to spend too little but also not too much, after all I’ll expect she’ll be sending her friends and family pictures of it when we’re abroad, as I’m doing it at the start of the holiday!

I have no idea about the whole carat thing, the jeweller explained some of it to me and the gradings etc. they were Hatton garden rings from London.

thank you in advance, all help appreciated!

GLaDOS · 18-08-2022 5:22pm

I went with a placeholder ring,and I'm glad I did cause I got her ring size badly, badly, wrong! But I knew she would be happy to pick out her own ring. Maybe you could get one whereever you're going on holiday? Make it part of the experience? Depends on the location I imagine.

In terms of budget/credit only you can answer those questions, but you can get fantastic rings for less than £3000 no problem.

Good luck!