How much to spend on an engagement ring?
Q.How much to spend on an engagement ring?
A.I asked my fiance to marry me last November by asking her, if after the Holiday hustle and bustle, she would care to go shopping with me. With a quizzical look on her face she asked me, basically ,"Shopping for what?" I replied by telling her that it would be for a diamond ring for her. Not to get into a proposal discussion, my point is that I wanted her to pick out something that she would be happy with. Price was a big concern for me as I only have a modest income; but I was willing to spend as much as $4000 for this ring. We went to a local place that is actually a kind of co-op of about 50 jewelers sharing one big space. It's called The Jewelry Exchange and is located here in Central NJ. Anyway, we went the day after Christmas to go look for a ring. The first one she spotted went for about $4500. With a poker face, I took a very deep (and very silent) gulp and was about to fork over my credit card; but she started wandering over to other showcases, stating that she wasn't really crazy about that ring. About a half-hour later she found a ring that immediately hit her eye and she fell in love with! It was a pear cut at about .87 carat with two round side stones on each side in a channel cut. The total stone weight is a bit over 1.25 carat. I was amazed at the price as it was well under what I had planned to spend. I asked her if she wanted to have them set the ring with a bigger stone as I could well afford it; but she EMPHATICALLY said "no", she was enthralled with the ring as it was. My point is that whether the ring turns out to be more (within reason) or less than what you planned to spend is not so important. And by all means, don't worry what people other than your fiance think of the ring. Just make sure your fiance is happy with the final choice. It is a symbol of your love that will last a lifetime.
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