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Engagement rings

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Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,678 ✭✭✭lawlolawl


    I find jewelry in general to be a bit mystifying so expensive engagement rings are an absurdity to me.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,475 ✭✭✭Elliott S


    Man007 wrote: »
    But if it's within someone's budget your argument is out the window. People on here are complaining it's crass because it's a lot of money which is not for them to decide and my gut feeling is the reason for objection is more rooted in jealousy than anything else.

    Reducing people's musings on engagements rings to mere jealousy is extremely childish. Suggesting that people only object because they can't afford an expensive ring themselves is extremely childish. Seriously, schoolyard stuff.


  • Registered Users Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    I'd rather put ten grand towards a gaf, mad stuff!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,221 ✭✭✭A_Sober_Paddy


    smash wrote: »
    Diamonds are the biggest scam on the planet.

    Totally agree, my partner has been told from day one no diamonds


  • Registered Users Posts: 524 ✭✭✭snor


    Off topic. It my engagement ring cost just over €4K 10 years ago. Divorced now. wonder would I get much for it if I sold it?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    snor wrote: »
    Off topic. It my engagement ring cost just over €4K 10 years ago. Divorced now. wonder would I get much for it if I sold it?
    2k at best


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,313 ✭✭✭✭Sam Kade


    I know a couple that got engaged in the late 90's she demanded an engagement ring worth no less than 5k pounds back then and got it. I predicted the marriage wouldn't last 2 years, 2 months short of 2 years and it was over. My prediction wasn't based solely on the ring.


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,300 ✭✭✭✭razorblunt


    I spent about a month and half wages on my wife's one.
    I knew what she wanted, shopped around until I found exactly what I was looking.

    Probably the best money I ever spent, she didn't have any input so it made it all the more special (obviously I triple checked I could bring it back).

    Pay what you can afford and be done with it, willy waving gets you nowhere.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,313 ✭✭✭✭Sam Kade


    Totally agree, my partner has been told from day one no diamonds

    Is that a good or a bad move? He could take it literally and never give you anything ever, think about it girl ��


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,193 ✭✭✭Smondie


    Elliott S wrote: »
    I'm female and engaged. I don't have an engagement ring because I don't care about jewellery. I never realised until getting engaged the societal pressure there is on women to have one! :mad: Every women grabs my left hand when I say I'm engaged. In fairness, some probably just do that because they feel they have to. I hate the very idea of people secretly thinking my fiancé is either cheap or broke just because I didn't want a ring.

    Wait until you get married. My wife doesn't always wear her rings and there does be questions about are we splitting up, going through a bad patch accompanied by sad concerned face :)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,572 ✭✭✭Colser


    Sam Kade wrote:
    I know a couple that got engaged in the late 90's she demanded an engagement ring worth no less than 5k pounds back then and got it. I predicted the marriage wouldn't last 2 years, 2 months short of 2 years and it was over. My prediction wasn't based solely on the ring.


    "She demanded".....why didn't your friend refuse?
    A woman can't make a man buy something ..was it at gunpoint or what?
    It's a cop out blaming the women in these scenarios imo.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,574 ✭✭✭✭josip


    lawlolawl wrote: »
    I find jewelry in general to be a bit mystifying so expensive engagement rings are an absurdity to me.

    Jewelry can have many purposes, some of which are not very practical and are simply a demonstration of wealth/power/status.
    One practical use for (usually gold) jewelry is as a store of wealth in a very portable form.
    This makes it useful in times of war for example, when you have to flee and cannot carry much, or if your government destroys your currency by hyperinflation.
    Gold has a much longer history than diamonds as a store of wealth and is thus more reliable and popular during economic crises.

    20121114_diamonds1.png

    Another practical use of engagement/wedding rings on women/men is it gives a discrete signal to potential suitors not to annoy/bother.


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,495 ✭✭✭✭eviltwin


    Elliott S wrote: »
    I'm female and engaged. I don't have an engagement ring because I don't care about jewellery. I never realised until getting engaged the societal pressure there is on women to have one! :mad: Every women grabs my left hand when I say I'm engaged. In fairness, some probably just do that because they feel they have to. I hate the very idea of people secretly thinking my fiancé is either cheap or broke just because I didn't want a ring.

    I get this too. I have heard everything from my husband doesn't love me, to he's a cheap bastard to its not a real engagement or he's not fully committed. Its a massive deal and its not until you are actually engaged that you realise just how much of a focal point the ring is to the whole thing when it should be a minor part of it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,678 ✭✭✭lawlolawl


    josip wrote: »
    Jewelry can have many purposes, some of which are not very practical and are simply a demonstration of wealth/power/status.
    One practical use for (usually gold) jewelry is as a store of wealth in a very portable form.
    This makes it useful in times of war for example, when you have to flee and cannot carry much, or if your government destroys your currency by hyperinflation.
    Gold has a much longer history than diamonds as a store of wealth and is thus more reliable and popular during economic crises.

    20121114_diamonds1.png

    Another practical use of engagement/wedding rings on women/men is it gives a discrete signal to potential suitors not to annoy/bother.

    But aren't you generally paying well over the odds of what gold is worth if you buy it as jewelry?

    As in, wouldn't it be better to just buy a lump of gold by weight.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,313 ✭✭✭✭Sam Kade


    Colser wrote: »
    "She demanded".....why didn't your friend refuse?
    A woman can't make a man buy something ..was it at gunpoint or what?
    It's a cop out blaming the women in these scenarios imo.

    Yes she demanded, where did I blame the woman? I don't know why he didn't refuse they already had a family started maybe he felt comitted. It was her mother relayed the story.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,574 ✭✭✭✭josip


    lawlolawl wrote: »
    But aren't you generally paying well over the odds of what gold is worth if you buy it as jewelry?

    As in, wouldn't it be better to just buy a lump of gold by weight.

    Yes and yes.
    Kruggerands would be a common way of doing that for the small punter.
    You'll still pay a commission to the trader, but less than what you would for the equivalent weight as jewelry.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,292 ✭✭✭yeahimhere


    I chose a moisenitte stone for myself, looks the part but fraction of the price. Again, I couldn't justify the budget he had given or wouldn't feel comfortable having something expensive on my hand. The balance is going towards our wedding. Its the only piece of jewellery that I wear and really love it now.


  • Registered Users Posts: 16,067 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    josip wrote: »
    Yes and yes.
    Kruggerands would be a common way of doing that for the small punter.
    You'll still pay a commission to the trader, but less than what you would for the equivalent weight as jewelry.

    But it's not as pretty then.

    I think it's silly to spend a lot on jewellery but to be fair, there's probably loads of things that I've spent money on that others would think is stupid. Jewellery at least holds some value unlike cars or electronics (I'm always amazed when I see someone buy a new car that I know will lose half it's value over a few years). It's also an heirloom. I have my grandfathers fob watch. I can't use it because it's a fob watch but it's still cool to have and if I ever have children it'll be passed on.


  • Registered Users Posts: 16,067 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    Shenshen wrote: »
    ^^ This!!!
    I had asked him to marry me at the time, so even if I would wear rings (which I don't) he didn't really get a chance to buy one ;)
    We've got necklaces with pendants instead of wedding rings, too. I liked the idea of matched jewellery, but neither of us would ever wear a ring.

    One handy thing about engagement rings, at least from a single blokes perspective, is that at least I know that she has a boyfriend/fiance. I know at that point that no matter how well I hit it off with her that she's not going to be interested in being anything more than friends.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10,070 ✭✭✭✭ Amayah Black Jellybean


    Grayson wrote: »
    Shenshen wrote: »
    ^^ This!!!
    I had asked him to marry me at the time, so even if I would wear rings (which I don't) he didn't really get a chance to buy one ;)
    We've got necklaces with pendants instead of wedding rings, too. I liked the idea of matched jewellery, but neither of us would ever wear a ring.

    One handy thing about engagement rings, at least from a single blokes perspective, is that at least I know that she has a boyfriend/fiance. I know at that point that no matter how well I hit it off with her that she's not going to be interested in being anything more than friends.

    You'd often read as well in travel guides for certain parts of the world that if you're a woman traveling solo a cheap wedding-band like ring will save you a lot of bother. I guess it's a handy tradition. Heh heh, handy


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,221 ✭✭✭A_Sober_Paddy


    Sam Kade wrote: »
    Is that a good or a bad move? He could take it literally and never give you anything ever, think about it girl ��

    I'm the fella ha ha


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 9,453 Mod ✭✭✭✭Shenshen


    Grayson wrote: »
    One handy thing about engagement rings, at least from a single blokes perspective, is that at least I know that she has a boyfriend/fiance. I know at that point that no matter how well I hit it off with her that she's not going to be interested in being anything more than friends.

    I guess being from Germany, I'd still leave you guessing. Wedding rings are worn on the right hand there.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,313 ✭✭✭✭Sam Kade


    I'm the fella ha ha

    So you told her no diamonds, cheapskate :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 289 ✭✭Mac-Chops


    All this talk of it losing its value etc.. If you're buying it with a view to selling it then you might want to think of why you're actually buying it.

    Also, the logic by some that losing something worth 3K is "OK" vs losing something worth 8K "isn't", seems unusual. You (should) insure your new smartphone so I'd hope you'd insure a ring.

    Personally, I picked out a ring in a market while away travelling and now we're home, we've both designed something and getting it made for a budget I'm happy with. As has been said already, 8k to someone can be a relative 1k to others.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,330 ✭✭✭readytosnap


    5000


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,556 ✭✭✭groucho marx


    It's the first step to the merging and protecting of assets. Best insure it whatever the value.


  • Registered Users Posts: 16,067 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    Shenshen wrote: »
    I guess being from Germany, I'd still leave you guessing. Wedding rings are worn on the right hand there.

    Most of europe is like that aren't they?


  • Registered Users Posts: 663 ✭✭✭Karmella


    When I got engaged i really had no idea what kind of ring I wanted - if any. Certainly wouldn't have justified the expense. So I asked my dad if I could have my mother's ring - she never wore it, but I used to see it in her jewellery box and always admired it. He was overjoyed that I wanted it. It was a beautiful vintage setting with 2 stones. I had to get it resized and changed the band from gold to platinum (the setting was platinum anyway).
    Still ended up paying about 750 euro for the new band and work. Got it valued afterwards and they reckoned the stones were worth 4K! No wonder my mum never ever wore it!

    Anyway, fast forward 8 years and we're separated now :( And I miss wearing it to be honest because it was so pretty . Often I think about doing something special with it - try to get it remade as something else or resized again for another finger - I have a platinum wedding band which could be used aswell. I was thinking of maybe diamond earrings but I'd definitely lose one of them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,475 ✭✭✭Elliott S


    Hypocritical post alert! After all my talk, today, my fiancé and I decided that I should get a ring, for a few reasons. And here it is! (cost ~€200)

    https://s9.postimg.org/uxrqcg4en/Chupi_Web_Gold_Ring_Beauty_In_The_Wild_Emerald_Q.jpg


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,060 ✭✭✭Sue Pa Key Pa


    I asked my current wife of 30 years to marry me before I bought a ring. When (surprisingly) she accepted, we went shopping for the ring together. At the jewellers, my fiance zoned in on a tray of rings that were quite special. The salesman, to his eternal credit, said that that none of those rings were quite suitable for Madam's delicate fingers and he directed us to a more affordable selection.

    Now I know some out there will think that he had no right to make a 'Pretty Woman' type comment about what we could afford, but in those days people cared less about what others thought and more about what was the right thing to do. Years later I went back to the same shop and dropped serious wedge on an eternity ring which, to this day, looks beautiful on Madam's delicate finger beside her engagement ring


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