[quote]Yo Momma wrote:
I don’t wear rings. Neither does Yo Daddy. They bother my hands when I lift or play my bass. I never understood that tradition, anyway. So we got some tattoos, instead.
Twenty five years later, I still wear my heart on my sleeve.[/quote]
Coolest post ever.
JF,
I think I spent either $800 or $1,400 on She Say’s ring 15 years ago. This was about a week or a month’s salary at the time. We looked at 5 or 6 different rings ranging from maybe $600 - $5,000. She decided she liked the one she got the most and that’s what we got.
I make more now, but if I had to do it all over again, I don’t think I’d want to spend more than 2 grand on a ring. Not bashing anyone that’s spent more.
Check out IGorman in DC. They’re family owned and operated and have some really cool stuff. They’re really helpful and if you go on Saturday they have free champagne.
PM me if you want more info on the store.
And fellahs, unless you’re a tattoed, deadlifting, rock star…wear your damn wedding band.
Hello, I am Bin-der Don-dat
Retail is for suckers, don’t be one.
Buy on line, Bluenile is good, Mondera is better.
A tip for my fellow Canadians on import duty (10%):
Unset diamonds are duty free, so buy the rock on line, than have it set in Canada.
Don’t go into debt to buy her a ring, be smart and save for it.
My buddy got his girl’s engagement ring by looking in the newspaper. Supposedly got like a 10K ring for 2 grand. His girl didn’t have a problem with it…yours might…probably best to check with her before you buy some divorced broad’s ring for her…
[quote]AlteredState wrote:
I guess I do look down a little on people who allow themselves to be pressured into spending a fortune that they cannot afford on something they don’t need.
I suppose actually that I feel sorry for them more than ‘look down’ on them.[/quote]
Whole lotta assumin’ goin’ on there, padna
Engagement is a ways off for me but my gf just wants a well cut Emerald on a white gold band and a retirement account or house =p
[quote]Yo Momma wrote:
ND your avatar cracks me up.
And I didn’t know you could smell attitude.
Listen, OP, just spend what you can afford right now. Simple. There is no magic number when it comes to love.
[/quote]
Like the proverbial fart in a car, attitude can be quite pungent.
You’d think a t-cell alpha member would be all too familiar - oh snap! (isn’t that what the kids say?)
Who the hell decided a man had to give a woman something so ridiculous and expensive when he asked her to marry him? The jewelry companies did back in the 40’s. Before that there was no such thing, and the “standard” goes up every year.
If she really regards you as an equal shouldn’t she buy you something just as extravagant and personal?
Hmmm, maybe she should by you a boat or jet ski. What would you like that would cost her two months salary?
I told my fiancee a year ago that I would NEVER buy an engagement ring. If she wants to marry me it should be about marrying me, not some trinket she gets to show off to her friends and takes half the down payment on our house. This announcement really rocked her world, but after a week she came to me and agreed with me. She realized it was ridiculous and was a bit like extortion or prostitution really.
Engagement rings are one of the reasons why 99% of American women are completely unworthy of marriage or any sane mans time or effort. It’s just another example of the entitlement “worship me!” mentality they exhibit. Spend some time in South America or Asia and you’ll be stunned at the difference in the women and how they treat men.
If it’s the sex - for two months salary you can buy a LOT of great sex with gorgeous women who leave afterward and don’t take half your shit when they do. I read an article once where a guy showed how you could get laid more regularly and better with call girls and in the long run it was a lot cheaper than marriage and divorce.
If you have any balls at all tell her no engagement ring - ever (unless she buys you a boat and jet ski and gets down on her knee and asks you too). If she still wants to marry you then she’s worth keeping around.
I have an acquaintance who will “acquire” anything you want for just 20% of it’s retail value. 
MightyMaus, you are my new hero. Not that I will ever use that advice, as no one in their right mind would marry me anyway.
[quote]Renton wrote:
I have an acquaintance who will “acquire” anything you want for just 20% of it’s retail value. :P[/quote]
I’ll keep that in mind.
Never know when I might feel like spending 200quid on a ring.
[quote]rsg wrote:
Renton wrote:
I have an acquaintance who will “acquire” anything you want for just 20% of it’s retail value.
I’ll keep that in mind.
Never know when I might feel like spending 200quid on a ring.[/quote]
Screw that ! Renton ask your buddy the retail value of Jamie Easel’s hoo haw and tell him I’ll give 'em 30%!!
[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
The DeBeer’s guideline is two month’s salary, but DeBeers is evil. In my experience, the best rings in my group have come from one independent jeweler, everyone refers their friends to him.
You can get an idea of sizes and prices at www.bluenile.com. Don’t go to a mall store. Get a referral. Don’t be afraid to look at chick’s fingers and ask for referrals.
You also need to take into consideration what she wants. I know when we got engaged, I wanted something nice, but I didn’t want to start my marriage with a boatload of unnecessary debt.
This point of view differed from a friend’s now-wife, who wanted a huge ring and said to the friend, “well, finance it, we can pay for it when we get married, I am sure Daddy will give us a lot of money at the wedding.”
Oh and yeah, don’t get married or even propose until you decide re: kids![/quote]
I agree with finding a private jeweller through references. We paid $1,300 in 1990. (We not he). I didn’t get a diamond though. It is a sapphire. Find out what she likes. I went to a mall jeweller and asked about sapphires and white gold.
He looked at me like I vomited on his shoes. The private jeweller was less expensive and had good ideas tailored to what I was after.
Diamonds used for anything other then industrial cutting bits and high intensity laser focus lenses are a waste.
I spent 4k on a ring 2 years ago, things didn’t go so well with the relationship and we split, she gave back the ring. I sold it and used the money as a down payment on my 07 VW GTI.
I will not be spending anywhere near that kind of money on a ring again.
[quote]sen say wrote:
rsg wrote:
Renton wrote:
I have an acquaintance who will “acquire” anything you want for just 20% of it’s retail value.
I’ll keep that in mind.
Never know when I might feel like spending 200quid on a ring.
Screw that ! Renton ask your buddy the retail value of Jamie Easel’s hoo haw and tell him I’ll give 'em 30%!![/quote]
I did - Retail value was still too high even if I paid just 1%. He said he’d get it anyway but keep it for himself. Git.
[quote]Nanan wrote:
I sold it and used the money as a down payment on my 07 VW GTI.[/quote]
Good call. You got pics? Of the car or the ex? Preferably both.
[quote]Renton wrote:
Nanan wrote:
I sold it and used the money as a down payment on my 07 VW GTI.
Good call. You got pics? Of the car or the ex? Preferably both.[/quote]
The girl? no I deleted them all off of my computer. Car yes.
blast it, what form of code tags does this web forum use?
[quote]Nanan wrote:
Renton wrote:
Nanan wrote:
I sold it and used the money as a down payment on my 07 VW GTI.
Good call. You got pics? Of the car or the ex? Preferably both.
The girl? no I deleted them all off of my computer. Car yes.
blast it, what form of code tags does this web forum use?[/quote]
Nice. The Kwaka yours too?
[quote]MightyMaus wrote:
Engagement rings are one of the reasons why 99% of American women are completely unworthy of marriage or any sane mans time or effort.
It’s just another example of the entitlement “worship me!” mentality they exhibit. Spend some time in South America or Asia and you’ll be stunned at the difference in the women and how they treat men.
If it’s the sex - for two months salary you can buy a LOT of great sex with gorgeous women who leave afterward and don’t take half your shit when they do. I read an article once where a guy showed how you could get laid more regularly and better with call girls and in the long run it was a lot cheaper than marriage and divorce.
[/quote]
Brilliant post MightyMaus.
This is the reason why I’m still not married at the age of 38, although I do have a diamond engagement ring stashed away from 1996.
I was briefly engaged before the “love of my life” decided to high tail it out of Dodge 4 months before our wedding date.
I do have 2 kids though… Not sure how that happened.