Eleventy million pounds or it's not twooo wuv 

Do your research and work out what kind of ring you want. Hatton Garden is the equivalent of Oxford street. Overpriced and rammed and mainly for tourists

You ask her what kind of ring she wants.A simple three gold band is fine, then have it custom made. Practical.

If she wants diamonds and bling, don't marry her.

Fifty times your annual salary and the promised soul of your firstborn child.

You can't risk making your beloved think you don't love her do you?

Don't marry any woman who would like an engagement ring with a stone? WTAF ?

are you Amish or something?

LOL I was just thinking maybe chambo got mixed up there and thought it was about wedding ring...?  Pretty much every engagement ring i've bought or seen has had to have a stone in it, she's gotta have something to show off to the rest of the typing pool m7.

Heh no, my wife has such an engagement ring as I described up there, which she wears together with the wedding one. Something with a big diamond wouldn't last too long the way she tears around the place.

But the point was, she didn't want anything bling.

Buy an LGD. De Beers don't sell them in a ring for obvious reason. But an independent jeweller will make one for you.

Only go to HG if you want to be ripped off by a former estate agent / used car salesman.

Second hand rings are best, particularly from divorced or dead people 

 If she insists on new because second hand are 'unlucky/ cursed, '

Primark is selling a Meghan Markle engagement ring replica for a

cool £2 

I must say it’s good to see the quality of advice from RoF on this perennially tricky issue has not wavered over the years. 

What everyone apart from Chambo said obvs.

This is also usually the point at which you regret mentioning to your prospective fiancé what a high-flying hotshot lawyer you are.

I suspect she will be assuming a budget of 1 month’s gross, and may well currently be putting in the hard yards on the alan and orla front to make sure you’re of a similar view, 

thank you all.  and heh at kaulbach...

If you don't make it yourself you're clearly not a true romantic so you have to make something cheesy then buy her a decent ring later.

Yes that should go down well

Are you married?

so glad we got engaged before days of rof!!

we got engaged in brazil and bought ring buenos aires, thank god. Arrived home with fait accompli.

i have always thought, all engagement rings lovely regardless of provenance. But accept hard with this modern obsession with value. 

Tbh I've never asked anywhere where their engagement ring came from. Is that a thing people even do? I'm sure it isn't. 

Only people with no decorum.

Bernstein are you aware of a concept called taking the piss?

*opens veins*

Best value bling evah.  You buy it once and it’s there and looking good for sixty years.  Annual upkeep is a few hundred on the insurance and the odd £60 having it cleaned. Compared to a sports car it’s a bargain.  

OTOH why waste the money on something totally pointless that will only get stolen / lost / eaten by the dog / sold by rabid divorcing harridan whom you now totally hate to fund the deposit on her new flat.  

Buy two rings that look identical, one diamond, the other zirconia. Show her the lovely diamond certificate then switcharoo the rings, take the good one back, tears in your eyes and get your money back.  

She will never know so long as you look after the insurance for the 5-7 years (my record is 10 but I haven’t seen her in 5 so not sure it counts) before she leaves you.

This plan is totally watertight, and nothing could possibly go wrong. 

And my axe!

I've had mine for 29 years and I still love it. Bought it in Hatton Garden and got a good deal because there was a recession at the time. The diamond fell out a couple of years ago and was replaced by our insurers with one that was slightly bigger. Rather chuffed by that.

You chaps are cynical meanies ...

I’m sure al of my ex wives love their expensive engagement and wedding rings too Gwen.  Shame none of them had the good grace to return them when they broke their promises.

I love this one

https://www.berganza.com/Edwardian-five-stone-diamond-ring-English-circa-1910-.html?page_num=0&page_size=72

I was jesting Tecco m7. I can understand where you are coming from.

Roffers are so so weird 

Mine was very similar to that phoebe. 

If you are not worried about the box/brand then go to Cool Diamonds (no shop as such, they are basically online but you can visit them in their Hatton Garden offices if you want to).  They get a lot more volume than most places and their margins are thinner as a result.

If you want a fancy box/nice 'buying experience' then if she has a particular brand in mind just go there and cough up (although check in advance that your budget will actually get you something before you take her!).  If there isn't a particular brand she likes but you still want the fancy shop experience then Garrards will rip you off less than Cartier or Graff etc.

If you are planning on dropping a sum well into five figures then consider a trip to Dubai as it will probably be worth it although with the pound so weak the difference isn't as big as it once was tbh.

If you have time, check out the auctions as you can get much better value than retail but you need time to research and then get reset (or propose with the stone and choose the setting afterwards- that part isn’t going to break the bank)

ffs

what the poor bloke wants is some numbers

I think you can probably get a decent diamond ring for about £5k upwards, though the Edwardian one Phoebe found is v nice and much less 

(incidentally, Berganza is a lovely shop: that's where we got my wife's. No hard sell, friendly, good after service)

you will find bling bazzas/partners spending up to £50-75,000 on engagement rings (especially for second younger wives), but very large diamonds are a bit outre

I spent about £15k which seemed like a reasonable compromise

It's the ultimate how long is a piece of string question tho 

He's obviously not the sort of organised chap who set up a separate ring fenced ring buying savings account when he started work.

what linda said

the answer is 'what you can afford/want to spend'

you don't need the ring to propose, you can then discuss/choose it together

Find yourself a lady who will want to marry you without the need to bribe her with an artificially expensive arrangement of carbon. 

On a less snarky but still no more helpful note, I have no idea, sorry. 

Start by saying you are concerned that buying one big stone may put her in danger of street crime and would she be happy with a more discreet, elegant (imply up market) ring.  Then go with Phoebe's suggestion.

Alternatively, have you considered whether or not Phoebe would be interested.

One of the myriad of things that make me a catch is that I come with my own engagement ring that was my Nan’s and I inherited when she died

It’s nice to splash out on a girl though

*narrows eyes at puerile giggling from the back of the class*

Viperess doesn’t like jewellery. She’s a keeper ???

My mate just admitted he spent £1200 on an engagement ring. £1200! I would be embarrassed. 

He makes about £5k a month net btw - oh and his accommodation is covered by his employer. 

Does his fiancé like it? 

Does his fiancé like it? 

I didn’t wear an engagement ring but I think you should buy something she likes. Trite but true. Berganza has beautiful stuff and is very fun going in there and trying things on 

Teclis - he hasn't popped the question yet. He's spending more on the proposal than the ring though.

Big mistake. HUGE.

How do you spend lots of money on a proposal?

surely you just get down on one knee?

Perhaps the father-in-law requires a backhander for his consent. 

Maybe he’s dying her out to that theme park and will propose when jaws comes out of the ocean.

(This is a good test to see who else likes Kevin Smith films).

Argh flying her out.  No necrophilia here.

Haven't read this thread but from experience, save yourself the bother and get fake diamonds. They look great and you'll be less upset if/when she takes it off forever.