# Engagement ring



## lostandfound2012 (Apr 23, 2012)

Hi all. 

so its complicated but putting all that aside, I am planning to engage my girlfriend. she lives in the US. 

now im not a rich man. and im very scared at the same time. But I am not sure what kind of ring I should get for her. 

we are both open about engagement and marriage. Both of which I dont have much money for since I always think about the future and I will be migrating, hopefully, to the US which will cost a fortune.

So, I am curious - how much should I spend. I dont want to spend more than $2000 max. that for me already gives me shivers. 

what does she like? well, she likes barbie stuff - pink! 

not sure where to go from here. so any advice is much appreciated!


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## Kathrynthegreat (Apr 23, 2012)

You should be able to get a nice diamond solitaire for less than $2000. There is absolutely NO correlation between the cost of the ring and the success of the marriage. Stay out of the diamond stores at malls. Markup on those things is nearly 100%.


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## survivorwife (May 15, 2012)

Buy her a nice (cheaper) ring as a pre-engagement ring until you finally are together in the US and ready to settle down. THEN buy her a nice engagement ring.


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## lostandfound2012 (Apr 23, 2012)

great advice from both. thank you.

what I dont want is that if I buy her a cheaper "pre-arrangement" ring, that she would be disappointed you know?

are there any links to sites which has such rings as the ones suggested?


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## survivorwife (May 15, 2012)

lostandfound2012 said:


> great advice from both. thank you.
> 
> what I dont want is that if I buy her a cheaper "pre-arrangement" ring, that she would be disappointed you know?
> 
> are there any links to sites which has such rings as the ones suggested?


I was thinking about a 14K birthstone ring, depending on what month she was born. Those are "less expensive" than a diamond engagement ring and are certainly in good taste as well as personal to her.

In the alternative, you can browse jewelers by putting the type of ring you are looking for, or the store that has a reputation of selling good quality rings.


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## lostandfound2012 (Apr 23, 2012)

she was born on Jan 1st would you believe  

store that has a reputation? hmm. wish me luck on that since I dont know any especially in the USA....


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## ShawnD (Apr 2, 2012)

survivorwife said:


> I was thinking about a 14K birthstone ring, depending on what month she was born. Those are "less expensive" than a diamond engagement ring and are certainly in good taste as well as personal to her.


Birth stone rings are tacky and stupid because it's extremely vague what defines a birth stone.



> Modern lists of birthstones have little to do with either [Aaron's breastplate] or the Foundation Stones of Christianity. Tastes, customs and confusing translations have distanced them from their historical origins,[8] with one author calling the 1912 Kansas list "nothing but a piece of unfounded salesmanship."[9]
> 
> In 1912, in an effort to standardize birthstones, the (American) National Association of Jewelers met in Kansas and officially adopted a list.[12] The Jewelry Industry Council of America updated the list in 1952[13] by adding alexandrite to June and citrine to November; specifying pink tourmaline for October; replacing December's lapis with zircon; and switching the primary/alternate gems in March. The most recent change occurred in October of 2002, with the addition of tanzanite as a December birthstone.[14][15] Britain's National Association of Goldsmiths created their own standardized list of birthstones in 1937.[16]
> 
> ...


You can pick any random stone and find at least one list stating that it's a person's birth stone. I once tried to figure out what my own birth stone was and I found dozens of websites all stating different things. It's diamond! No it's emerald! No it's sapphire! Maybe it's onyx. It could also be ruby! Better play it safe and buy all of them. What a blatant scam.


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## lostandfound2012 (Apr 23, 2012)

ok dokie.... other suggestions?


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## ShawnD (Apr 2, 2012)

The best thing you can do is just take her ring shopping. Because you are not her, you have exactly 0% chance of buying the right ring.

Think of it like if someone bought a car for you. Not just any car, but a very expensive car with lots of features. What is the probability of it being exactly what you want? The color, the size, type of vehicle, size of engine, type of transmission, etc? You might pick some gaudy ring that is embarrassing to wear when what she really wanted was a ring with a low profile that doesn't rip her clothes every time she moves her hand the wrong way.


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## lostandfound2012 (Apr 23, 2012)

true, many thanks. like i said the budget i have is $2000 and that is stretching it.....


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## Totally Lost (Mar 26, 2012)

Take her out and just casually start looking. Just say "hey, let's just go look" as you walk by the store in the mall so you can get an idea what she likes and doesn't like.

When you are ready to buy, check the big department stores that have jewelry such as JC Penney's and others. Even Sam's Club and Wal-Mart have certified diamond jewelry. Don't be ashamed to look and even buy in these places because the mark ups in the Mall jewelery stores is indeed ridiculous.

Often the big Department stores will have sales and many times clearance rings that they are trying to move to make room for new inventory. This is particularly true after the holidays. 

I actually found a $3600 for $1100 this way and she LOVES it.


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## lostandfound2012 (Apr 23, 2012)

thanks.
well we spoke about it last night. she said there is no harm in looking when we meet next month.


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