Getting engaged in a year or so and the issue of engagement rings came
up?  Expensive time of my life!!  I want to buy a nice ring but as
always there are places in the world that have cheaper and better
rings than others.  I am not trying to save money, but rather get a
special ring for my original price?

Before purchasing an engagement ring, it makes sense to learn what
your fiancee expects. Not all women want the same thing. And,
surprisingly, not all women are crazy about diamonds. In fact, some
(like me) don't care about fancy jewelry at all. My husband didn't
give me an engagement ring when we decided to get married. He did give
me his lifelong love and devotion, which has lasted 25 years so far,
and I hope to get a few more decades out of the deal.

I suggest that you and your fiancee go "window shopping" so that you
can get an idea of her tastes. The important thing here is not to
spend a certain amount of money, but to get a ring that she really
loves and will cherish.

I completely agree with Pink! I didn't want an expensive engagement
ring, but got a fabulous husband who has made me extremely happy! I am
also one of those women who could care less about diamonds, so an
expensive engagement ring would be wasted on me.  If a woman loves you
for yourself, then the value of the engagement ring is not going to
make a bit of difference. Good luck.

I worry about women, like Pink and Tardis, who seem nice all the way through.

I suspect that they must have a dark side somewhere.

Worried of Hove.

Good point Bryan

It makes me wonder whether lasses who like rocks are bad news.
- I can't think of a decent lass who was interested in them

That window shopping expedition might be rather telling

I bought my wife a diamond separately from a jewler, and purchased the
ring separately, and had them put together by the jewler.

The diamond was only $300 or so over wholesale price.

I got a colorless, small inclusion, 1.03carat Marquis diamond for
around $2500 and I purchased a filagree 8mm wide band, and had it set.
 The diamond had a retail value of around 8K at the time.

Watkins has been in business since the 1930's:

 	 Watkins A W Jeweler
100 South Main Street, Blackstone, VA 23824
(434) 292-3230 
This is in Blackstone VA, united states,

I lived in Baltimore MD when I contacted them over 12 years ago. I
went back last year and bought something else.

In addition to Pink's excellent comment, I would add that you should
not get in over your head with an engagement ring. My husband bought
me a beautiful $150 ring, and I still love it. Better yet, he didn't
have to go into debt for it. Going into debt for a ring is a bad idea,
in my opinion. Actually, I highly recommend getting and staying out of
debt *before* you're married. Debt and money difficulties are hard on
any marriage, let alone a new one.

Kriswrite

.........not to worry Bryan...........

Pink is practicing.......

 Clarification of Answer by  pinkfreud-ga  on 18 Jan 2005 10:19 PST

Randy,

Regarding your remark about my working early in the morning, I think
you may be referring to a comment made by am777-ga (Anne-Marie). She
is not a Google Answers Researcher, so I wouldn't say that she is
"working." Hee hee. And she lives in England, I believe. It's always a
lot later over there. Their clocks apparently run differently from
ours. ;-)

~pinkfreud

Definitely see what sort of thing your fiancee expects.  You don't
have to go shopping together; the ring can be a surprise.  But you
don't want it to be an unpleasant surprise if she has certain
expectations.  So you should at least talk about it.

As pinkfreud says, not everyone wants a diamond.  My husband had a
ring custom-made for me.  It had an emerald in the center with a
little diamond on either side.  Green is my favorite color, so this
was very personalized.  Getting a non-diamond gemstone can be nice
because it's more unique.  Also, I think people are less likely to be
grading it according to size, since people are less familiar with
different sizes and cuts of other stones.

You should consider how the engagement ring will be worn and for how
long.  18K gold is so soft that that my ring got a lot of nicks and
dings during my long engagement.  And the geometry of the ring was not
suitable to wearing it next to a wedding band.  If you want her to
wear it for the rest of her life, pick something durable, and you
might want to get a matching wedding band at the same time.

Very good advice about not going into debt for an engagement ring.
It's a gesture of love, not wealth. There are many beautiful rings
available that don't break the bank. If there is a trick it is to
focus on the diamond. Get a quality diamond and don't worry too much
about the mount. Go for 9 carat gold for example amd put more money
into the rock.

You certainly don't need to break the bank, that's for sure!  There
are alot of nice rings out there for not huge money, and you can save
up and celebrate that far off 10th anniversary with a really big,
expensive ring - once you've become rich & famous lol!

http://estore.websitepros.com/996199/Search.bok?category=Wedding+Band+Rings

http://estore.websitepros.com/996199/Search.bok

Ever thought of shopping online?  I got a great deal for my fiance's
engagement ring online at bigweddingshop.com.  They carry some REALLY
nice rings at discount prices. We ended up picking my wedding band
there too, since we were happy with the engagement ring.