You could try emailing my ex fiancee. She's got an 18 carat white gold engagement ring. 1 carat diamond solitaire in the middle, half a carat marquise cut diamond on each side. I doubt she has much use for it these days now she's married to someone else. The bitch.

:)

That one month's salary thing is such boll0cks! Do the best you can, buy her something nice ... and if she's the sort of girl that gets hung up on what things cost: ditch her now!

camden-lock market

She isn't hung up on the money, all she wants is something different from the run of the mill solitaire, although she doesn't know I'm looking to buy a ring! ;)

Jeremy Hoye have two rings that I think fit the bill, the cheaper of the two is more of an eternity ring, the more expensive (and more than a months salary) is perfect!

I best get saving then!! :o

Thanks again for all of the advice!

Two really good things about Jeremy Hoye is that they will make the ring to fit the finger instead of doing what most other jewellers do and stretch the metal thinner on a ring nearest the size that they have already and if you have the brushed matt rings that we have, they will re-matt them when they eventually get shiny and won't charge.
For the amount of metal and size of diamond, my ring would have cost a LOT more if it was bought pre-made.

Difficult question!! Do I ask with the ring I have in mind (and fear that she may not like it or might be the wrong size) or do I play it safe, ask and choose a ring later?

Hatten Garden has plenty of fine jewellers

Rich knew what sort of thing I liked anyway but he asked first and then took me to JH in Brighton to choose it as we also wanted wedding rings that would go with it later on.

Badger stuffer and myself spent half my ring money on going to New York,and if you go to the diamond district you can spend the rest on a gorgeous ring.
Had a fantastic holiday and I still came back with a gorgeous ring. (i hasten to add i did pick it myself).
Although we did do it all back to front, as we got married first, then had the honeymoon and then bought the engagement ring!!!

Got to be Tiffany's.... Just for the Audrey Hepburn link if nothing else!

Mak.

Stealth had the ring made for me in Canada and then had it shipped over. i had no idea what it was like until the day he proposed.

If you know your woman and her tastes...surprise her with the ring. its very romantic.

Thanks for all the advise people! :D :D

I proposed today and she said yes!! :D

Thanks
Andy aka DooBeeDooBeeDoo ;)

Andy.
Two things...
1) I took my mrs over to India for a holiday and while we were there I drew a ring for the jewelsmith (?) to make, we picked out diamonds and a sapphire (her birth stone) and the whole bill including the holiday had change from 1.5k.
brought the ring home and had the diamonds checked, all 100% (phew) and the ring was valued at serios dollars.
2) dooboodooboodoo, is that fromErykah Badu`s album Baduism, the song bein apple tree??
striking lyric from a serious album, once heard never forgotten.

congratulations my good man BTW, we engaged on a beach at midnight 1999 in India and wed on 21st June 2003 (just gone).
Who says romance is dead? :)

Peanuts.
ps due to the effort you took to get the ring it is obvious she is special to you so hang on to her and in good time make her your wife. You sound like you were made for each other :)

Peanuts,

Thanks for you kind words! :)

I was actually humming "Strangers in the Night" when coming up with that username!!! :o Obviously I needed a new username and 'slightly' modified details, as Caroline reads Scoobynet as well!!! :o

Andy,
get hold of an album by Erykah Badu, Baduism
if you dont love it Ill give you the money back myself
Andy...

My wedding is comingh up in a few weeks, however didn't have to buy an engagement ring as my Gran gave me ones years ago to give to the intended whenever she turned up.

So my fiancee now has a lovely sapphire ringed by 7 or 8 diamonds. Which incidentially was bespoke made by a jeweller in Esher. I would get some ideas of what you want, and then go to independents jewellers to see what they will charge for making it. Nothing like comparing prices. Theres no point just paying for the name that made it! Especially if the name means that it costs £500 or more than it would otherwise! Be better to spend the money on a better ring!

The other thing to remember is that if you have a big cluster your fiancees wedding ring will have to be specially designed to go round it! That will add to the cost in the future! So you could get an idea for a design from a "name" jeweller, get it made elsewhere saving £500 which can then be used to offset the additional cost of the wedding ring!

Andy, congratulations!

I can now add that I got a platinum ring made to my own design (gave them a gold one to copy) which was very tricky - if someone points me to a working Uploader then I'll try to post a picture. No stones, just the metal. It was to be our wedding ring. Central London jewellers were asking a thousand pounds to make it. In Portugal, one jeweller asked 800 euros (about 500 pounds), and we got it made, but weren't happy with the quality - then I lost it on honeymoon (!). Finally, my sister in law lives in Rome, and found a good jeweller there, who made another good copy, in 91% platinum, for 450 euros (300 quid). I think Italy does most of the platinum work, it's certainly cheaper over there.

When you consider we wanted two to the same design, you'll understand how much money we saved!!

pity Ratners are out of business now..... u could have got a fine diamond from them ;)
But on more serious note when buying diamonds try and go for quality since it will hold there value better - High quality diamons are not cheap ie vvs1 1 caret flawless diamond is gonna cost in excess 3k set in white gold.
VV2 and lower grades will be cheaper but not worth buying IMHO.
If your gonna buy a diamond make sure its top quality.
If you want a bargain I hear going to Belgium/USA a good place to buy... I hope you have deep pockets :D

I guess it shouldn't be about the cost, as it's a symbol of your bond together!

At the end of the day, if you want to spend the rest of your lives together and she likes the ring, that sounds like half the battle! ;)

Nice one Andy and Caroline
I'm sure she'll be certified to the nearest asylum soon :D:D

Andy - my cousin works in Hatton Garden and can source diamonds and design rings to your own specification.

Email me if you would like his contact details.

We're planning on opening shop soon - I think I'll advertise on Scoobynet when I do.....:D

Cheers

Marc

Obviously the engagement ring is bought and fine! :)

Please email their details as we will need two bands soon! :)

I got mine made by a jewelers we selected the stone we wanted based on quality size and price, my wife then picked a 1920s tifany "style" ring, a small simple gold band with a white gold mount. We where suprised to find out that the insurnance value was twice what we had paid for it (got the stone wholesale) and about 1/3 of the cost of a lower qaulity ring from tiffanys.

Do lots of research it can save you a fortune and gets you a better ring.

Congratulations matey