engagement rings - just a question

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
I just got engaged two weeks ago. Here's the ring I bought:

1.5ct
H color
VS2 clarity
Very good cut
GIA certified with GIA lab certificate
Platinum solitaire band

I paid $7800 for the ring. I also got it independently appraised for insurance purposes. It was appraised for $14,500.

damn fool, Big4 is being good to you!

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: binister
If you can afford it why not?

Everything in life is relative.

Don't go broke trying to impress your gf or her friends but if you can afford it I don't see any reason why you shouldn't get as big of a ring as you can afford.

Same thing with houses, cars, TVs, computers, restaurants...

Exactly.

 

[SSSnail]

Originally posted by: mooglemania85

Originally posted by: LolaWiz
OP, it is YOUR money. Do what you want with it. Any time you post a thread like this you have people telling you what not to do with your money. They talk like it is a sin to want to buy your gf a nice ring... for one reason or the other... the diamond trade is bad, debeers is horrible, etc etc etc... Most of the folks that b!tch are single and care more about a modded computer than any thought of a girl.

Do what you want with your cash. The only thing i can tell you is actually go to a jewerly store (preferably not a huge chain) and look at the cuts/color/clarity of different diamonds and the sizes as well. see for yourself what a better cut will look like compared to a bigger rock with a mediocre cut and clarity, etc. Then research research research. Don't go by what others spent on a diamond. Who cares... it is what you can afford, what you like and what she will like, because in the end, it will be on her hand, no one elses.

Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez
i never said i was buying anything

i was just looking it up

I wish there was a smiley smacking another smiley who didn't read the whole thread.

You mean like this? Or this? Or this? :Q

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Ns1

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
I just got engaged two weeks ago. Here's the ring I bought:

1.5ct
H color
VS2 clarity
Very good cut
GIA certified with GIA lab certificate
Platinum solitaire band

I paid $7800 for the ring. I also got it independently appraised for insurance purposes. It was appraised for $14,500.

damn fool, Big4 is being good to you!

she loves the ring, so I'm happy

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: child of wonder
$15,000?? $8,000????

Complete waste of money. I find it so odd how someone can walk around with a rock worth enough money to feed starving kids, put a worthy student through college, help a family in need because of unforeseen medical expenses, or give presents to needy kids for Xmas yet they keep the stone only for show and so they can think of themselves as better than other people.

We're all the same in the end: worm poop.

This is coming from someone who has a 8800GT with a 47" Westinghouse LCD and 4GB of ram. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. You had to spend at least several thousand dollars on the LCD with the computer. The fact is that computer will depreciate to basically nothing over the next several years. Do you know how much an $8,000 diamond will lose? Essentially nothing. It will hold its value for the life of a person or several generations (actually increasing in value in proportion to inflation).

So which is the best investment in the long term?

I find it odd that someone NEEDS an 47? LCD TV. Why don?t you invest that money and put it towards your retirement? Maybe there are some starving children in Africa that could use that money to feed themselves for several years.

Oh wait?you?re a hypocrite.

Note that ATOT is mostly full of young people. They all bitch about the cost of a ring and other things of that nature. Most of them are the same people who would purchase an outrageous sports car or other toys if they were rich. What they don?t understand is that a lot of times the cost of a ring is proportion to the size of your income. My wife has a custom made platinum and diamond ring that is in excess of what the OP is talking about. But guess what? Paying for it didn?t affect my retirement and our lifestyle. It has not affected the children we subsequently had after the fact either.

The great thing? The ring has appraised (for insurance) for more than what I originally paid for it over 10 years ago. How about your computer in 10 years? My wife loves what I gave her..and that's more important than the cost of it. I had something designed and made custom for her. She'll always remember it.

 

[Al Neri]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: child of wonder
$15,000?? $8,000????

Complete waste of money. I find it so odd how someone can walk around with a rock worth enough money to feed starving kids, put a worthy student through college, help a family in need because of unforeseen medical expenses, or give presents to needy kids for Xmas yet they keep the stone only for show and so they can think of themselves as better than other people.

We're all the same in the end: worm poop.

This is coming from someone who has a 8800GT with a 47" Westinghouse LCD and 4GB of ram. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. You had to spend at least several thousand dollars on the LCD with the computer. The fact is that computer will depreciate to basically nothing over the next several years. Do you know how much an $8,000 diamond will lose? Essentially nothing. It will hold its value for the life of a person or several generations (actually increasing in value in proportion to inflation).

So which is the best investment in the long term?

I find it odd that someone NEEDS an 47? LCD TV. Why don?t you invest that money and put it towards your retirement? Maybe there are some starving children in Africa that could use that money to feed themselves for several years.

Oh wait?you?re a hypocrite.

Note that ATOT is mostly full of young people. They all bitch about the cost of a ring and other things of that nature. Most of them are the same people who would purchase an outrageous sports car or other toys if they were rich. What they don?t understand is that a lot of times the cost of a ring is proportion to the size of your income. My wife has a custom made platinum and diamond ring that is in excess of what the OP is talking about. But guess what? Paying for it didn?t affect my retirement and our lifestyle. It has not affected the children we subsequently had after the fact either.

The great thing? The ring has appraised (for insurance) for more than what I originally paid for it over 10 years ago. How about your computer in 10 years? My wife loves what I gave her..and that's more important than the cost of it. I had something designed and made custom for her. She'll always remember it.

pwnage of the YEAR!

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: child of wonder
$15,000?? $8,000????

Complete waste of money. I find it so odd how someone can walk around with a rock worth enough money to feed starving kids, put a worthy student through college, help a family in need because of unforeseen medical expenses, or give presents to needy kids for Xmas yet they keep the stone only for show and so they can think of themselves as better than other people.

We're all the same in the end: worm poop.

This is coming from someone who has a 8800GT with a 47" Westinghouse LCD and 4GB of ram. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. You had to spend at least several thousand dollars on the LCD with the computer. The fact is that computer will depreciate to basically nothing over the next several years. Do you know how much an $8,000 diamond will lose? Essentially nothing. It will hold its value for the life of a person or several generations (actually increasing in value in proportion to inflation).

So which is the best investment in the long term?

I find it odd that someone NEEDS an 47? LCD TV. Why don?t you invest that money and put it towards your retirement? Maybe there are some starving children in Africa that could use that money to feed themselves for several years.

Oh wait?you?re a hypocrite.

Note that ATOT is mostly full of young people. They all bitch about the cost of a ring and other things of that nature. Most of them are the same people who would purchase an outrageous sports car or other toys if they were rich. What they don?t understand is that a lot of times the cost of a ring is proportion to the size of your income. My wife has a custom made platinum and diamond ring that is in excess of what the OP is talking about. But guess what? Paying for it didn?t affect my retirement and our lifestyle. It has not affected the children we subsequently had after the fact either.

The great thing? The ring has appraised (for insurance) for more than what I originally paid for it over 10 years ago. How about your computer in 10 years? My wife loves what I gave her..and that's more important than the cost of it. I had something designed and made custom for her. She'll always remember it.

pwnage of the YEAR!

he deserved it for making such a stupid comment.

 

[tfinch2]

Your brother and cousin are idiots.

Check out Sam's Club. You can buy a nice ring with a certified diamond for cheap!

 

[Xylitol]

Ugh... if their wives divorce them - there's a 50-50 chance that they'll lose that money since courts
are so "light and fluffy" towards women

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Your brother and cousin are idiots.

Check out Sam's Club. You can buy a nice ring with a certified diamond for cheap!

lol, I can certify my sh!t for you and it won't make it any more valuable or credible.

Now if GIA certifies it, it's actually worth something.

 

[krunchykrome]

here are pics of the ring I got my fiancee

Text
Text

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Your brother and cousin are idiots.

Check out Sam's Club. You can buy a nice ring with a certified diamond for cheap!

lol, I can certify my sh!t for you and it won't make it any more valuable or credible.

Now if GIA certifies it, it's actually worth something.

You specialize in and certify shit? Interesting...

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
here are pics of the ring I got my fiancee

Text
Text

You got taken. That's fake. Cubic.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Naustica

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
here are pics of the ring I got my fiancee

Text
Text

You got taken. That's fake. Cubic.

yea, but she'll never find out :evil:

 

[ed21x]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: child of wonder
$15,000?? $8,000????

Complete waste of money. I find it so odd how someone can walk around with a rock worth enough money to feed starving kids, put a worthy student through college, help a family in need because of unforeseen medical expenses, or give presents to needy kids for Xmas yet they keep the stone only for show and so they can think of themselves as better than other people.

We're all the same in the end: worm poop.

This is coming from someone who has a 8800GT with a 47" Westinghouse LCD and 4GB of ram. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. You had to spend at least several thousand dollars on the LCD with the computer. The fact is that computer will depreciate to basically nothing over the next several years. Do you know how much an $8,000 diamond will lose? Essentially nothing. It will hold its value for the life of a person or several generations (actually increasing in value in proportion to inflation).

So which is the best investment in the long term?

I find it odd that someone NEEDS an 47? LCD TV. Why don?t you invest that money and put it towards your retirement? Maybe there are some starving children in Africa that could use that money to feed themselves for several years.

Oh wait?you?re a hypocrite.

Note that ATOT is mostly full of young people. They all bitch about the cost of a ring and other things of that nature. Most of them are the same people who would purchase an outrageous sports car or other toys if they were rich. What they don?t understand is that a lot of times the cost of a ring is proportion to the size of your income. My wife has a custom made platinum and diamond ring that is in excess of what the OP is talking about. But guess what? Paying for it didn?t affect my retirement and our lifestyle. It has not affected the children we subsequently had after the fact either.

The great thing? The ring has appraised (for insurance) for more than what I originally paid for it over 10 years ago. How about your computer in 10 years? My wife loves what I gave her..and that's more important than the cost of it. I had something designed and made custom for her. She'll always remember it.

pwnage of the YEAR!

he deserved it for making such a stupid comment.

There is a practical purpose to having a nice TV, car, or computer- they are actually useful, and can potentially serve some greater purpose. A diamond ring, however, is strictly vanity. Dare I say one has a much more noble purpose than the other?

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: ed21x

Originally posted by: krunchykrome

Originally posted by: Don Rodriguez

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: child of wonder
$15,000?? $8,000????

Complete waste of money. I find it so odd how someone can walk around with a rock worth enough money to feed starving kids, put a worthy student through college, help a family in need because of unforeseen medical expenses, or give presents to needy kids for Xmas yet they keep the stone only for show and so they can think of themselves as better than other people.

We're all the same in the end: worm poop.

This is coming from someone who has a 8800GT with a 47" Westinghouse LCD and 4GB of ram. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. You had to spend at least several thousand dollars on the LCD with the computer. The fact is that computer will depreciate to basically nothing over the next several years. Do you know how much an $8,000 diamond will lose? Essentially nothing. It will hold its value for the life of a person or several generations (actually increasing in value in proportion to inflation).

So which is the best investment in the long term?

I find it odd that someone NEEDS an 47? LCD TV. Why don?t you invest that money and put it towards your retirement? Maybe there are some starving children in Africa that could use that money to feed themselves for several years.

Oh wait?you?re a hypocrite.

Note that ATOT is mostly full of young people. They all bitch about the cost of a ring and other things of that nature. Most of them are the same people who would purchase an outrageous sports car or other toys if they were rich. What they don?t understand is that a lot of times the cost of a ring is proportion to the size of your income. My wife has a custom made platinum and diamond ring that is in excess of what the OP is talking about. But guess what? Paying for it didn?t affect my retirement and our lifestyle. It has not affected the children we subsequently had after the fact either.

The great thing? The ring has appraised (for insurance) for more than what I originally paid for it over 10 years ago. How about your computer in 10 years? My wife loves what I gave her..and that's more important than the cost of it. I had something designed and made custom for her. She'll always remember it.

pwnage of the YEAR!

he deserved it for making such a stupid comment.

There is a practical purpose to having a nice TV, car, or computer- they are actually useful, and can potentially serve some greater purpose. A diamond ring, however, is strictly vanity. Dare I say one has a much more noble purpose than the other?

It's practical to own a 47" LCD TV? Lord only knows how people got by before there were LCD and Plasma screens. God forbid.

Right..... These are called luxuries. Nothing more.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: altonb1
I think it depends on:

a) size of diamond
b) clarity of the stone
etc.

My wife didn't want anything very large, so she has a 1/3 carat Trilliam diamond that cost me about $1200 on sale. I think it was appraised for about $1800 or so. At the time, though, I was only making about $9/hr so it was all good.

$15k for a ring? With today's divorce rates? I'd use that towards a car instead.

A ring appraisal is not usually an indicator of it's real value. Look in any jewelry store and you will find almost all rings appraise much more then they are being sold for.

That seems high for 1/3 carat though.

 

[Quasmo]

http://www.IdoNowIDont.com

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: KB
Any women who would wear a 15000 dollar ring is asking for trouble. Can you imagine losing 15000 in cash? Wearing such an expensive thing would make her a target for robbery. Hope its insured!

Did your cousin get a custom made ring? That greatly ups the price.

Don't come to Palm Beach.

$15k is nothing to many people.

 

[sourceninja]

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: sourceninja
My wife's wedding ring was 500 bucks with diamond. I took her to the store to pick it out. I didn't tell her what I had planned. If she picked one too expensive, I was not going to marry her. She picked wisely.

That strikes me as equally superficial and ridiculous to those that suggest a woman's love is somehow proportional to the size of the diamond.

Actually, strictly a business decision. If she was the kinda girl who picked out a ring she knew was out of my means, then I know she would always be doing that when we were married. And we would run up a lot of credit and live paycheck to paycheck, eventually she would divorce me, take everything and leave me in the gutter bankrupt. Kinda like what happened to my parents growing up.

 

[child of wonder]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus
This is coming from someone who has a 8800GT with a 47" Westinghouse LCD and 4GB of ram. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. You had to spend at least several thousand dollars on the LCD with the computer. The fact is that computer will depreciate to basically nothing over the next several years. Do you know how much an $8,000 diamond will lose? Essentially nothing. It will hold its value for the life of a person or several generations (actually increasing in value in proportion to inflation).

So which is the best investment in the long term?

I find it odd that someone NEEDS an 47? LCD TV. Why don?t you invest that money and put it towards your retirement? Maybe there are some starving children in Africa that could use that money to feed themselves for several years.

Oh wait?you?re a hypocrite.

Note that ATOT is mostly full of young people. They all bitch about the cost of a ring and other things of that nature. Most of them are the same people who would purchase an outrageous sports car or other toys if they were rich. What they don?t understand is that a lot of times the cost of a ring is proportion to the size of your income. My wife has a custom made platinum and diamond ring that is in excess of what the OP is talking about. But guess what? Paying for it didn?t affect my retirement and our lifestyle. It has not affected the children we subsequently had after the fact either.

The great thing? The ring has appraised (for insurance) for more than what I originally paid for it over 10 years ago. How about your computer in 10 years? My wife loves what I gave her..and that's more important than the cost of it. I had something designed and made custom for her. She'll always remember it.

My electronics don't affect my retirement savings at all. At our current pace, my wife and I are on course to retire at age 59.5 on interest alone.

We give to charity and also work hard to instill those same values in our kids. For instance, before our kids (5 and 3) are allowed to open a single Xmas gift, they must first go through all their toys and pick out at least one toy per present they will receive to donate to the local Goodwill or homeless shelter. This Xmas we're also sponsoring a needy family that can't afford Xmas gifts for their family. When our kids are a little older we're going to volunteer at the local food pantry so they can see just how lucky they are.

I'd say our $1,600 TV and $1,000 computer are the largest of our "toys." We drive a 2000 and 1997 Taurus. We can afford newer cars but it's not worth the initial cost and depreciation while our current cars run fine.

The computer isn't that bad of an expense because as new parts come out, I sell the current ones and upgrade. For instance, my 8800GT cost $260 and I sold my old GPU, a X1900XT, for $150. I also sold some other computer parts I had laying around to offset the cost. I typically upgrade once a year for around $200-$300 net.

Sure, there is more we could do to help out in the community. But wearing something as gaudy as a $15k ring is deplorable when so many people out there are in desperate need. Would it hurt someone to wear a $2k ring and use the remaining $13k to put a smart kid through school? What about providing food for a few hungry families? Paying the heating bills for some senior citizens?

I applaud your success in life in being able to afford such a nice gift for your wife. However, why would she need such an expensive ring to remember anything? Don't you think helping someone would have an even bigger impact?

 

[Boo Boo]

15k? they better had their souls sucked through a straw.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Do whatever you want with your money - it's your money, I don't care how you choose to spend it. I go around to AVSForums and I see dudes with 2-channel audio setups anywhere between $10-$50K :shocked:

But please don't draw a parallel between jewelry and a computer. There are kids out there still rocking Radeon 9600s, playing Counter-Strike 1.6 20 hours a week You just can't beat that price/entertainment ratio!

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: child of wonder

Originally posted by: LikeLinus
This is coming from someone who has a 8800GT with a 47" Westinghouse LCD and 4GB of ram. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. You had to spend at least several thousand dollars on the LCD with the computer. The fact is that computer will depreciate to basically nothing over the next several years. Do you know how much an $8,000 diamond will lose? Essentially nothing. It will hold its value for the life of a person or several generations (actually increasing in value in proportion to inflation).

So which is the best investment in the long term?

I find it odd that someone NEEDS an 47? LCD TV. Why don?t you invest that money and put it towards your retirement? Maybe there are some starving children in Africa that could use that money to feed themselves for several years.

Oh wait?you?re a hypocrite.

Note that ATOT is mostly full of young people. They all bitch about the cost of a ring and other things of that nature. Most of them are the same people who would purchase an outrageous sports car or other toys if they were rich. What they don?t understand is that a lot of times the cost of a ring is proportion to the size of your income. My wife has a custom made platinum and diamond ring that is in excess of what the OP is talking about. But guess what? Paying for it didn?t affect my retirement and our lifestyle. It has not affected the children we subsequently had after the fact either.

The great thing? The ring has appraised (for insurance) for more than what I originally paid for it over 10 years ago. How about your computer in 10 years? My wife loves what I gave her..and that's more important than the cost of it. I had something designed and made custom for her. She'll always remember it.

My electronics don't affect my retirement savings at all. At our current pace, my wife and I are on course to retire at age 59.5 on interest alone.

We give to charity and also work hard to instill those same values in our kids. For instance, before our kids (5 and 3) are allowed to open a single Xmas gift, they must first go through all their toys and pick out at least one toy per present they will receive to donate to the local Goodwill or homeless shelter. This Xmas we're also sponsoring a needy family that can't afford Xmas gifts for their family. When our kids are a little older we're going to volunteer at the local food pantry so they can see just how lucky they are.

I'd say our $1,600 TV and $1,000 computer are the largest of our "toys." We drive a 2000 and 1997 Taurus. We can afford newer cars but it's not worth the initial cost and depreciation while our current cars run fine.

The computer isn't that bad of an expense because as new parts come out, I sell the current ones and upgrade. For instance, my 8800GT cost $260 and I sold my old GPU, a X1900XT, for $150. I also sold some other computer parts I had laying around to offset the cost. I typically upgrade once a year for around $200-$300 net.

Sure, there is more we could do to help out in the community. But wearing something as gaudy as a $15k ring is deplorable when so many people out there are in desperate need. Would it hurt someone to wear a $2k ring and use the remaining $13k to put a smart kid through school? What about providing food for a few hungry families? Paying the heating bills for some senior citizens?

I applaud your success in life in being able to afford such a nice gift for your wife. However, why would she need such an expensive ring to remember anything? Don't you think helping someone would have an even bigger impact?

For some reason you're automatically assuming that someone who buys a 15K ring is unable to do anything else in life but buy the ring. You then also assume that same person is not contributing to society or donating to charity.

You're perpetually spending money year to year to upgrade a computer that is constantly losing value the instant you open or use it. A ring keeps its value over the life of a person and potentially several generations. So you may only spend 2K every few years, but that adds up to the cost of a ring over the course of time.

You're just too hypocritical to understand the concept that people may want to spend money in their own way. Just because they don't choose to spend it like you doesn't mean it's a "waste". You choose to spend your money on junk that you turn around and sell down the road. A ring is a gift that last a lifetime.

There?s nothing that makes how you spend your money any better or worse than how someone else chooses to spend their money.

 

[jpeyton]

Your brother and cousin are certified idiots.

[/thread]