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Q: Average Price of Engagement Rings ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Average Price of Engagement Rings
Category: Relationships and Society > Romance
Asked by: cribcage-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 06 Dec 2003 21:42 PST
Expires: 05 Jan 2004 21:42 PST
Question ID: 284322
I would like to see specific statistics on how much the average
American spends on an engagement ring. I'm not interested in
generalizations ("two months' salary"); I want numbers. An example of
what I'm looking for might be, "According to Acme Research, in 1999
the average engagement ring sold for between $3,000 and $4,000."
Breakdowns by age, income or region are welcome. I'd like to see at
least two different sources, and I'm willing to tip well if you can
find more. Please request clarification if necessary. Thank you.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Average Price of Engagement Rings
Answered By: juggler-ga on 07 Dec 2003 00:10 PST
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Hello.

I've located six statistics on the average amount Americans spend on
engagement rings:

$3,044 (Bride's Millenium Report)
$2,982 (Bride's Magazine)
$2,909 (Modern Bride, as cited in Weddings for Dummies)
$3,576 (Conde Nast Bridal Group)
$3,165 (Modern Bride Magazine)
$2,807 (National Bride Service)




Sources:

"$3,044 is the average engagement ring cost. (Bride's Millennium
Report: Wedding Love & Money)."
From Wedding 2002: Trends and Trivia:
http://www.shopcherrycreek.com/infodesk/media/417.html

"Average wedding costs from Bride's Magazine...
Engagement ring    $ 2,982 "
From Moneycentral:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/collegeandfamily/loveandmoney/p37097.asp


"...according to Modern Bride magazine, couples spend $2,909 on
average for an engagement ring,"
source: Weddings for Dummies, read using Amazon.com's search inside:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764550551/


"The average wedding costs $22,360, according to a study by the Conde
Nast Bridal Group, publisher of Bride's and Modern Bride. The most
expensive items are the reception, at an average cost of $7,630, the
engagement ring at $3,576...  Reuters, June 1, 2002"
From: Lighten Up Online: "How much for a wedding?" 
http://www.lightenup-online.com/lu/print64.html


I was able to locate an article from a trade publication, Jewelers
Circular Keystone, using a database available through my local public
library.

"The Diamond Marketing Group found that engagement ring prices
increased 13.2% and sales rose 12.1% in 1999 over the 1998 figure. The
group no longer releases its findings on engagement ring cost, but
other organizations have investigated spending in this area. Modern
Bride, Bride's, and NBS, for example, found the average
engagement-ring cost to be $3,165, $2,982, and $2,807, respectively."
source:
Jewelers Circular Keystone
"Are You Getting Your Fair Share of the Bridal Market?"
April 2001, pB2 

The article also has some statistics from the Diamond Information
Center that you might find interesting. In 1999, 74% of brides-to-be
acquired a new diamond engagement ring. That includes 77% of
first-time brides and 67% of repeat brides.

-----

There's also pretty interesting paper, "Engagement Rings as Signals,"
available from some researchers at Rutgers.  The research is based on
a survey conducted in Franklin County, Ohio, so it doesn't involve
national data, but you might find some of the statistics and
discussion to be interesting.
See: "Engagement Rings as Signals," by Lee Cronk and Bria Dunham
http://anthro.rutgers.edu/faculty/cronkdunham.pdf

(The document is in PDF format, so the Adobe Acrobat Reader is
required. If you don't have that, visit:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html )

------

search strategy:
"average engagement ring", cost
"average cost", "engagement ring"
"on average", "engagement ring"

-------

I hope this helps.
cribcage-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars and gave an additional tip of: $10.00
Thanks for a great answer!!

Comments  
Subject: Re: Average Price of Engagement Rings
From: juggler-ga on 07 Dec 2003 09:15 PST
 
Thank you for the tip.
-juggler

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