How Much Should You Spend on an Engagement Ring?

30 minutes ago

2 min read

Short answer: spend what you can pay for without borrowing. With lab grown diamonds and moissanite, a ring that looks like the one in your head costs between $1,000 and $3,000, not two months of your salary.

Where the two-months rule came from

It came from a De Beers advertising campaign. It was one month's salary in the 1930s, raised to two in the 1980s, and three in some markets. It is a marketing invention with no basis in tradition, etiquette or economics, and the company that invented it sold diamonds.

What each budget actually buys

These are complete rings in solid gold from our catalog, not stone-only prices:

Under $1,000 — a 1 carat lab grown diamond or moissanite solitaire, or a smaller diamond in a more detailed setting
$1,000 to $2,000 — a 2 carat moissanite or a 1 to 1.5 carat lab grown diamond, often with a halo or hidden halo
$2,000 to $3,000 — a 2 to 3 carat lab grown diamond in a substantial setting
$3,000 to $5,000 — 3 to 4 carats lab grown, or a large fancy shape with pavé detail
Above $5,000 — 4 carats and up, or a natural diamond

The single biggest lever is the stone type. The second is karat: the same ring in 10K costs about 22% less than 18K.

What to spend it on, in priority order

1. The setting quality. Prongs wear, shanks bend, plated metal flakes. A stone in a solid gold setting is wearable in thirty years; the same stone in plated metal is not.

2. Cut. A well-cut smaller stone outperforms a poorly cut larger one, visibly. This is where compromise hurts most.

3. Carat. Size is what people notice first, and elongated shapes give more of it per dollar.

4. Clarity and colour. Above VS2 and G, you are paying for grades nobody sees without a loupe.

What not to do

Don't finance it at a high interest rate. Starting a marriage with expensive debt for a symbol is a poor trade.
Don't buy plated to get a bigger look. It fails within two years and cannot be repaired.
Don't guess her taste to save a conversation. Most couples now choose together, and rings chosen alone get reset more often than anyone admits.

Frequently asked questions

Is the three months salary rule real?

No. It is an advertising slogan from the diamond industry, not a tradition.

What is the average spend on an engagement ring?

Reported averages vary widely by source and country, and they are skewed upward by a small number of very expensive purchases. The median is considerably lower than the average.