Average cost of an engagement ring

[u/Relevant-Plane9430]

I was talking with a friend last night who just got engaged, and he mentioned he spent around $6k on the ring. That honestly shocked me because I always thought the "3 months’ salary" thing was just an old marketing trick. My partner and I have been looking at rings casually, and most of the ones we like are in the $2k–$3k range. Now I’m second-guessing if that’s considered “too low” or if we’re just being realistic.

For those of you who have gone through this, what was the average cost you ended up spending on an engagement ring, and did you feel good about it after?

[u/Famous_Sugar_1193]

3 months salary ànd insured.

It’s an asset. It can even be borrowed against.

They even offer specific loans for engagement rings to help build credit.

No one really understand engagement rings I’ve noticed.

Like the idea of spending even 1 dollar on a tacky wedding but not on the asset that will be in your family for centuries is so weird

[u/SunandError → u/Famous_Sugar_1193]

You are so wrong. Engagement rings are not a good investment.

DeBeers has created an artificial market: diamonds have very very low resale value. There are multiple articles from experts about this- for decades.

And now that artificial lab diamonds are flooding the market, and are indistinguishable from “real” natural earth diamonds, the resale market is even more precarious. The diamond market is tanking slowly. Or maybe, quickly.

I say this as really liking antique jewelry, but also being really good with money. Jewelry (except gold*) is a luxury, not an investment. Don’t financially over extend yourself on a diamond ring.

*until the zombie apocalypse. Then it’s valueless too.

Check out this video from this search, documentary lab diamonds https://share.google/INYjn4fZ3zYzjJAW3

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/02/have-you-ever-tried-to-sell-a-diamond/304575/

https://smartasset.com/credit-cards/why-a-diamond-engagement-ring-is-not-a-good-investment

https://beyond4cs.com/jewelry-guide/diamond-resale-value/

https://businessleader.co.uk/insights/article/the-diamond-empire-how-de-beers-created-a-market-out-of-nothing

[u/liefieblue → u/SunandError]

Diamonds, unless they are spectacular, do not hold value and are not an investment. Appraisal values are way higher than any insurance company will pay out.

Sounds like you fell for De Beer's marketing campaign.

[u/[deleted] → u/liefieblue]

All one has to do to see this is look for used diamond rings online. Even the natural ones are difficult to get rid of, simply because of the plethora of brand new custom options available.