Need advice on a ring...

[Kontiki]

Diamonds are never out of style. Certain cuts or arrangements go in and out of style, but diamonds themselves do not.

[OldWarrior_42]

they also never lose value.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Odin


No wonder you have trouble getting laid.

so you are saying if I give a woman a diamond ring, I'll get laid. Pulease. That will never happen. In any case I was joking.

I don't get laid because I'm ugly. .

edit: I guess I should fix the above, but I'm too lazy. You know what I mean. My intention was that most women are not prostitutes, and would never have sex for something like a ring. I could get some action for a lot less money than a diamond ring.

[Alexander's Horse]

Okay this is simple - do what I did. You take fiance to pick out the ring herself. If she's any good she'll pick something tasteful and not too expensive. If she picks out something expensive, break off the engagement

[Barinthus]

one of those plastic rings from 10 cent machines will suffice if she truly loves you

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by self biased
i spent less than a hundred dollars. on ebay. yeah. i said it. the point being, the diamond isn't just the only thing to the ring. i was able to acquire a vintage piece from the thirties at wholesale prices. best of all my fiancee loved the fact that it was vintage.

Or, that's his story and he's sticking to it

[atomant]

avoid chain stores like the plague. Unless you want the big mac/cheeseburger style ring

[Jon Miller]

avoid ones which are a pure gold band, but then have writings when heated

JM

[rah]

There is a danger bringing her along to choose the rock.
I brought my wife along to a wholesaler to choose the stone and then had a specialist mount it in one of those tandem designed interweaving engagement/wedding combinations.
I told the dealer what price range I was looking in and of course she pushed the limit a bit. She set out a selection to look at and (what a surprise) my wife was able to spot the most expensive one out of the bunch. It was over the range I had specified but once the wife decided it was the one she liked best, what could I do.
I don't regret it now many years later because she's always loved the ring, but I did end up paying more than I had planned. It was a 1 caret high quality stone.

It was however considerably cheaper than if I had gone through a chain. Avoid them like the plague unless you just want a ring cheap with no concern for quality.

[Japher]

I got my ring at a chain, because I didn't care. Finding a reputable jeweler is a necessity, IMO.

[Arrian]

Wholesalers over stores

Just find out what design she wants. Then do the actual shopping yourself.

-Arrian

[Drogue]

Depends on the chain, surely. Tiffany's, Cartier, even De Beers are chains, in that they own many stores, but I wouldn't turn my nose up at the quality of the jewels there.

[Arrian]

What about the price, though? It's the price I'm talking about.

-Arrian

[Japher]

Tiffany's adds 20% just for the box!

[rah]

I'm wasn't referring to quality in it's own right, I was more referring to value.