Engagement Ring

[tccoastguard]

My girlfriend and I have quickly moved from severe financed consumerism to a mild form of mustachianism over the last six months. Throughout this period, we've eliminated satellite, lost the expensive cell phones, budgeted for everything and started paying off big chunks of debt. Through all this, I decided that I wanted to marry her.

A year ago, I would have walked into the jewelry store expecting to finance a big rock for the next five years or so. Instead, I started saving for a ring a few months ago and today I bought a nice solitaire engagement ring with a 0.36 carat diamond (great quality, researched, certified stone) in cash.  $1200.  No financing. No payments.

I know this is small potatoes for most of you seasoned mustachians but for me, this is a big moment. I'm going to propose (after I get her parent's permission) and it's the first big purchase I haven't financed at punishing interest rates. I go back to pick it up next week with a proposal to follow in a month or two. Super excited!

[Amy]

Congratulations! I love this kind of story.
Let us know if she says yes!

[lizzzi]

Yes, be sure to let us know what happens. It is not small potatoes, by the way.  :D

[socaso]

Good for you! Now you just have to figure out a slam-bang but still thrifty proposal. She'll appreciate that.

[mxt0133]

Congratulations!  Learning and growing together is a great way to start your lives together.  Unfortunately my wife and I did the opposite and did much of that after marriage, it definitely put a lot of strain on marriage in the beginning.

[ender]

Congrats!

Hopefully you read this thread - http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/buying-an-engagement-ring/msg348009/#msg348009

[RichLife]

That's great. I also think should you ever tell the story that there is great value in the fact you saved up and got it instead of doing financing which seems somehow less dedicated to me. Good luck to you both, hope you get the permission and that she says yes.

[trailrated]

Give us an update when you pop the question! That is awesome

[tccoastguard]

I did not read that thread!  I can get a better deal at Blue Nile... I think I'm going to utilize that sixty day return window and do better. Thanks!

I'm not sure how I'm going to ask but I will do it the mustachian way. ;-) 

Just need to come up with an original idea...

[lifejoy]

Good luck, and congrats!! Keep us posted :)

[tccoastguard]

I called the place I bought the ring from and told them I'd like to cancel the order (they're putting it together now).  They offered to refund me $155 off the price of the stone to keep my business. That brings it within a comparable range as Blue Nile plus they gave me free insurance for it. Not bad. Thanks enderland for the nudge!

[ender]

I called the place I bought the ring from and told them I'd like to cancel the order (they're putting it together now).  They offered to refund me $155 off the price of the stone to keep my business. That brings it within a comparable range as Blue Nile plus they gave me free insurance for it. Not bad. Thanks enderland for the nudge!

Nice!  That's awesome :)

[lifejoy]

I called the place I bought the ring from and told them I'd like to cancel the order (they're putting it together now).  They offered to refund me $155 off the price of the stone to keep my business. That brings it within a comparable range as Blue Nile plus they gave me free insurance for it. Not bad. Thanks enderland for the nudge!

Way to go!

[yandz]

My ring came from AntiqueJewelryMall.com

I was super nervous what it might look like (the website "brand" and "feeling" made me nervous, but also am not that snobby about diamonds and the price was right so we went for it! I was floored by the quality, to be honest. My diamond is awesome - white and fire-y. My frugal brother, who put LOADS of time, effort, research, and deal searching into his (now) wife's quality but priced right diamond was also amazed by it. He was all, "man I wasted a lot of time." I have gotten such lovely comments from everyone. Just an option for your search!

ETA: none of the rings are actually antique - which can be pro or con depending on your GF.

[Dicey]

Don't forget about Costco! Always check there, too. They don't size rings though, so that cost and effort has to be factored in. Congratulations!

[Holyoak]

My dad made jewelry; really made it in as cutting and polishing the stones, making wax casts for the setting/band, melting gold, using a centrifugal caster to finish the job, and buffing wheels to polish it out.  He passed away before I was engaged, but taught me enough to know what to look for.  Guess where the engagement ring, and darn near every other piece of jewelry my now ex-wife got from me came from...  Pawn shops.

Yep, and when I was in the army, the pickins were REAL good around post, where there were TONS of competing shops, and TONS of jewelry to go over to find a beauty.  Sure, some folks might sneer at a "used" diamond/pawnshop stigma; fine, let em pay the xxx% markup, and many times settle for a crappy stone.  People would ask me to help them find a stone with some sort of complicated "4C's" spreadsheet, and various "certificates" that vary, making a clear valuation difficult...  Forget it.  I would tell them a diamond to worn as jewelry has but one purpose; to be beautiful.  No women I ever met would rather have a large, dull, brown, included stone, with a piss poor cut.  And please, no "Kentucky clusters" either.  So much better to buy "used", and get a stone that has great fire, clarity, and properly cut facets.

Also, you don't have to be an expert; just get yourself a quality 10x or greater loupe, and look at the stones in differing light to see how it looks.  Also, I love pawnshops because you are fully expected to haggle/dicker, and even have some fun with it.  Can even have them just sell you the stone, and bargain how much they will knock off with them keeping the precious metal setting/band.  Have fun, take your time, and keep your options open.  Good luck!

[Mrs. Frugalwoods]

That's awesome! Way to start your future together on sound financial footing! Let us know how the proposal goes!!

[iris lily]

My dad made jewelry; really made it in as cutting and polishing the stones, making wax casts for the setting/band, melting gold, using a centrifugal caster to finish the job, and buffing wheels to polish it out.  He passed away before I was engaged, but taught me enough to know what to look for.  Guess where the engagement ring, and darn near every other piece of jewelry my now ex-wife got from me came from...  Pawn shops.

Yep, and when I was in the army, the pickins were REAL good around post, where there were TONS of competing shops, and TONS of jewelry to go over to find a beauty.  Sure, some folks might sneer at a "used" diamond/pawnshop stigma; fine, let em pay the xxx% markup, and many times settle for a crappy stone.  People would ask me to help them find a stone with some sort of complicated "4C's" spreadsheet, and various "certificates" that vary, making a clear valuation difficult...  Forget it.  I would tell them a diamond to worn as jewelry has but one purpose; to be beautiful.  No women I ever met would rather have a large, dull, brown, included stone, with a piss poor cut.  And please, no "Kentucky clusters" either.  So much better to buy "used", and get a stone that has great fire, clarity, and properly cut facets.

Also, you don't have to be an expert; just get yourself a quality 10x or greater loupe, and look at the stones in differing light to see how it looks.  Also, I love pawnshops because you are fully expected to haggle/dicker, and even have some fun with it.  Can even have them just sell you the stone, and bargain how much they will knock off with them keeping the precious metal setting/band.  Have fun, take your time, and keep your options open.  Good luck!

Great post! You are right, you don't have to become an expert to recognize nice stones. But it's easier if they are loose stones and you can't do that in a shop that already has them set. But that said, I like used rings, they don't even have to be "vintage" for me to like them.

I recently stopped into a pawn shop in my urban core, and those rings were almost universally yellow gold with center stones .25 to .60 in size. None of them were big. Only a few had contemporary settings. I think they were sweet rings for, for instance, college kids who must have a diamond, but this particular stock didn't yield much of interest.



 

[TeresaB]

I know OP has his ring, but don't discredit smaller stones just because you can afford a bigger one! If the lady has tiny fingers, a smaller stone can look just as good. My engagement ring is only 1/5 of a carat and it's perfectly proportional on my hand. My then-boyfriend would have bought a bigger one but when we tried them all on, the smallest one actually looked best. (And I don't have insanely small hands--it's a size 5, which is small but not unusually so.)

[TheGadfly]

I bought a custom made 1.39ct sapphire-center and diamond-halo ring from Debebians.com a couple years ago and I have no regrets.  It's a beautiful and unique engagement ring made of palladium (just as good as platinum but cheaper).  There are very few jewelers who are willing to make a custom engagement ring out of palladium due to the relatively low value and physical properties of the metal.  I paid exactly $2000; although, looking back, I could have saved a few hundred dollars by purchasing a synthetic sapphire (at the time, I couldn't find one that had the right size and color).
 
I think $1200 is an excellent price for a diamond ring. Congrats!

[iris lily]

I bought a custom made 1.39ct sapphire-center and diamond-halo ring from Debebians.com a couple years ago and I have no regrets.  It's a beautiful and unique engagement ring made of palladium (just as good as platinum but cheaper).  There are very few jewelers who are willing to make a custom engagement ring out of palladium due to the relatively low value and physical properties of the metal.  I paid exactly $2000; although, looking back, I could have saved a few hundred dollars by purchasing a synthetic sapphire (at the time, I couldn't find one that had the right size and color).
 
I think $1200 is an excellent price for a diamond ring. Congrats!

I find palladium intriguing, just wish there was more of it around so I could touch it and feel it. The mall stores don't have it, of course.