Men are spending way less on engagement rings

Your right crystal the cost doesnt matter is how much you man loves you and that what I tell many women now days when they tell me they reather have and 10k ring . In my eyes money does not buy happiness at all.All the matters is the thought and your mans love.When my man asked me to marry him he didnt have a ring and I told it I dont care, that the ring doesnt matter its his love. When he bought the ring I went for the cheapest ring there was. I see no use in buying a ring that cost more than rent for an house. Besides that he asked me if I'm sureI want this one, I told him yes I want that one and he said okay. I told him when me and him started dating that I dont care about money, Money just causes problems in many relationship. That I love him for him not his money.

Keep in mind that a wedding ring is something you wear every day, hopefully for the rest of your life. She should love it, no matter what it costs! Why wouldn't a man want his fiance to give feedback about choices or pick it out together? ** Most importantly, it should be within a reasonable budget that you discuss ahead of time. If you can't discuss & agree on that, your relationship is in trouble even before the marriage starts. My fiance & I recently picked out rings together. I wanted to be shown only rings that were within OUR budget, but didn't want to know the exact prices from the start. I picked out a beautiful ring within our budget, so we're both happy!

I find the notion of spending ridiculous amounts of money on a ring just a way for someone to show off an object instead of a mate. I told my then boyfriend that the only ring I wanted was a keyring that was attached to the keys of our new home. While we aren't reach at all we are certainly no where near poor. I don't like a lot of jewelry so I'd only wear the ring for a short time. I asked for and got instead a beautiful platinum and diamond band w/Sapphires (my birthstone). The ring was beautiful and I wear it every day. The money that would have been spent on a crazy piece of jewelry was put towards our home which we got 2 years sooner than planned. Now 10 years later we are still happy and moving to a bigger home in the Spring. I'd rather have a happy and stable relationship with my husband than a ring. Too many women(and men) focus on the engagement and wedding instead of the marriage.

I was engaged at 20 he bought me a 3/4 carat solitare. I was thrilled. At that time it was probably 6 mth salary. I got it reset for my 15th anniversary. Last year was my 25th. I always wanted a BIG diamond. He told me I could spend $9000.00. Our house is paid for. Our oldest child was in his third year of college and we were paying his whole tuiton out of pocket. The $9000.00 was there no problem. When I looked and looked I finally settled on a $2500.00 diamond band. Its what I wanted in the end. Just do what makes you happy and is within your means. A year later I have no regrets of my decision. Some days I wear my orginal in gold and my silver days I wear my diamond band.

Maybe they are more concerned with owning it, not getting a ring on borrowed money. Or maybe they are more concerned with keeping a roof over their heads.

My grandparents were married for more than 60 years (up til my grandfather died) and my granny has never had anything more than a plain gold band which she still wears 8 years after her husband died. If that is good enough for her, then whatever my guy can comfortably afford is good enough for me

Good! Hopefully many men will wise up & eliminate the down payment on love altogether. Why should he have to pay for something that you only want so you can show off to others how much you're loved & desired? The words--yes I'll marry you---should suffice. It did for me. Change the mentality surrounding it. Buy each other a wedding ring to socially symbolize the marriage. But a ring that says I'm taken, before you've said any vows? What's the point.

An engagement is nothing more than an intention that doesn't deserve expensive jewelry. But so many men feel pressure to come through or else, and it's sad. It says nothing of how much a man loves you.

My ring was only $250.00 and I love it just as much now as I did then. My wedding cost less than $500. We only had my parents, his mom, and my son at our wedding. I didn't want it to be a big deal. The big deal is the marriage, not the wedding. November will mark our 7th anniversary.

I know what my fiance spent on mine b/c he gave me the ring's GSI diamond report card, the proof of purchase/reciept, the insurance card, and the store care card, which provides inspections and cleanings so its no secret. So not only do I know what he spent, I also know that it is a real diamond, I know how many carats it is, and I know the quality and grading. He spent what I thought was a fair amount and he bought it on sale.. and you know what...More power to him for saving money! The ring is a nice size, and apparently damn near flawless. I'm quick to clip coupons so I cant blame him for catching a sale and I think he did a GREAT job picking the ring! What he offered and let me know about my ring.. at least where he bought it, is that I can upgrade it whenever I want (we probably will right before the wedding). So whats the point of buying a 4000, 8000, 12000 dollar ring at the outset, when 1) she might leave ya ass or ya'll might break up especially if she has bratty/gold digger tendencies and 2) you can always upgrade it with the cost of the original ring subtracted from the new setting. Men please... save your money, if she's sticking around, she can just upgrade it to as big as she wants it to be whenever she wants, OR every anniversary she can "earn" a bigger fatter clearer sparklier (yea.. I know its not a word) ring. How about that!

You women should be happy with any ring that you get. It was only a few decades ago that the bride got a thimble for an engagement gift. I'm not joking, it's true. Funny thing is, nowadays, most of you women don't even know what a thimble is!

Women are increasingly more successful these days. They should buy men a diamond engagement ring.

A more disturbing trend in engagement rings is boycotting African diamonds. Nothing enslaves and oppresses Africans more than assuming that all diamonds from the African continent are blood diamonds. Africa is a gem and mineral rich land full of people who want and need international trade. Look for fair trade diamonds from African nations and you'll actually be helping to end the tyranny of the blood diamond trade.

My hubby and I found a Canadian diamond online, one karat in white gold for around $600. It was on one of the eco-friendly diamond lists, and he wanted me to have a diamond engagement ring for some reason, so he bought it.
It's beautiful and I know about what he paid for it, but here's the irony: More often than not I forget to put the dang thing on in the morning (it's too big for me to sleep in) and just wear the important (wedding) band that has some teeny-tiny little diamond chips in it that we found, on sale, for less than $100...

For my wedding band, I got a small diamond band. Someone previously purchased it and returned it to the jewelry store, so they had to sell it as clearance. It was $1,000, but we lucked out and got it for $250. I didn't want something too big that would overshadow my engagement ring and I also didn't want to spend a lot since my husband spent so much on my engagement ring. Definitely look out for deals like that!

And Jennifer, the opal ring in honor of your mother made me tear up! Amazingly sweet!!!

My husband paid $5,000. We didn't really have a price range. He knew I'd always liked simple solitaires, so he bought me a nice 1 ct. princess cut engagement ring. I wouldn't have cared if he paid $1 or $10,000. I'm just happy he bought me a ring that reflects my personality. It showed that he knew me well enough to pick out something that was totally "me." :)

Hey Mike, I feel for you. The same situation happened with me. If a woman (or man) demands anything like that, or makes threats if they don't get exactly what they want, leave her. I sacrificed and bought the exact ring, and we didn't even get to the marriage stage; I also lost a lot on the downpayment of the reception and the flower/photo packages; both non-refundable. What I did get was wisdom to pass along to others, and the opportunity to marry a sweet, appreciative woman and not a selfish princess daddy's little girl.

I spent $10k on a ring for an unworthy, materialistic little princess fiance that broke off the engagement; I received $3,500.00 for it at a jeweler. I gave my current wife a $500.00 ring, and she loves it; honestly, it looks the same as the $10k ring, except the stone is Moisanite and not Diamond. People are waking up to the DeBeers scam- keeping diamonds off the market to inflate the price. Diamonds aren't that rare, and aren't even pretty IMO.

I may be one of the few odd females out there, but I agree with Sam and Mike. The diamond industry makes a big deal on how much the gentleman should spend on a diamond and many of we ladies have expectations beyond the man’s budgetary limits. In actuality, I believe no man should spend more than $3500-$4000 on an engagement ring. Sure every woman is worth it and deserves the most prettiest and most elaborate almost flawless diamond possible; though we ladies need to remember that this engagement ring is a very special ‘gift’ of love and the presentation of such gift (or token as some would call it) is supposed to be a surprise - for it took great planning (and a considerable amount of courage) for him to get it and “pop the question”. The one requirement I would recommend to all gents thinking about purchasing that diamond is to research the personality definitions associated with the shapes of the diamond. For that cut should reflect your wife-to-be’s overall character – the wrong cut (other than the traditional round) may send the wrong message. In all, ladies, the engagement ring should be deemed a cherished heirloom no matter the size or the cost; and Gents, you need to do what YOU feel is best for you and her without going beyond your capabilities – for both are deemed a ‘love investment’ which will grow over time and not for just the moment.

Sam is absolutely right...Diamonds are intrinsically worthless...Because of that fact and the fact that thousands of people are killed or maimed in diamond mines (or slave camps, same difference) I chose a custom ring with my birthstone (aquamarine) which is more rare than a diamond but given less monetary value...