How Much to Spend on an Engagement Ring in 2024 [with Average Cost]

1) Know your Gal

By now, the person who is purchasing an engagement ring should know his partner fairly well and should be able to answer the following questions with ease:

• What is her sense of style?
• Is she a tom boy or girly girl?
• Does she work with her hands a lot and will she need a durable ring?
• Is she flashy and prefers to be frosted in jewels?
• Alternatively, is she demure and practical with jewelry prices?
• Does she own a jewelry box that is used to collect dust?
• Is she a name brand queen or a bargain basement hunter?
• Does she like classic and traditional or does she like modern, unique and one-of-a-kind?

The answer to these questions will give you a better idea on what kind of ring you want to buy. If your gal is very practical and thrifty, does not wear any jewelry and works with her hands a lot, you will probably want something simple and sturdy (this page with unique raw diamond rings has a few simple elegant inexpensive options). You may don’t want any diamonds at all! Alternative silicone engagement ring, anyone?

If she is the type whose language of love is words of affirmation, a bargain basement hunter, likes the odd name brand, takes pride in her appearance, modest, can appreciate the finer things in life she would likely embrace a larger diamond with open arms and would be overjoyed to receive compliments on her ring.

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Do your homework and figure her out. Talk to her and get a gist of what styles of rings she likes. If you can’t ask her yourself for fear you will spoil the surprise, then ask a family member or friend who should be able to give you a better idea of what she wants.

2) Minimum and Maximum Ring Budget

I recently read a good article that kicks the “3 months salary” rule to the curb. The author considers a minimum budget for a good quality ring to be $550 regardless of your salary. The author’s maximum budget band is based on the logic of how much you could cope with your everyday budget if you lost your really expensive diamond ring. Imagine you purchased a $5,000 diamond ring and then lost it. Would you have to change your regular spending habits? If the answer is yes then $5,000 is too much to spend on a ring for you.

You certainly don’t want to appear cheap, but also shouldn’t start your married life together with a pile of debt. It is important to look at your individual situation and ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the total earning potential as a couple?
• Do you have the money in the bank or will you have to finance your purchase?
• If financing is the only option, what credit is available, and at what interest rate?
• How fast are you able to pay down your debt?
• After popping the question, what other expenses will arise shortly thereafter? (wedding,  honeymoon, house, baby)
• How will the purchase of an engagement ring affect your existing financial commitments?
• Could the big ring purchase wait until you have saved more?

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Spending money on an engagement ring is a monumental time in your life, and likely one of the bigger luxury purchases you will make. It is overwhelming and you can easily get caught up in the emotion of it all.

Make sure you do your homework and answer the above questions before you go shopping for a ring.  Trust me, you will come into contact with the schmoozing diamond salesman who only wants to sell you a bigger diamond.

3) Diamond Quality

Once you have narrowed down what kind of ring your girlfriend wants, you can play around with price levels and diamond sizes. Be warned that the bigger, shinier, brilliant diamonds come with a heftier price tag.

The price of a diamond increases drastically depending on the 4 C’s (Color, Cut, Clarity, and Carat).

If you do not know just how much difference in price these 4 C’s can make, consider the following examples:

• 1 Carat Diamond with Poor Quality: Round 1.00 carat diamond with a good cut,  J color, and clarity of S12 will cost you about $3000
• 1 Carat Diamond with the Best Quality: Round 1.02 carat diamond with a signature ideal cut, D color, and internally flawless clarity will cost you about $12,294

The same size of a diamond (1 carat) has a whopping $9294 price difference due to the cut, color, and clarity of the diamond!

Knowing the 4 C’s enables you to comparison shop with confidence. The two price examples above indicate that you can buy your girlfriend the big 1 carat rock. In reality, if she just wants the big rock for the sake of saying she has a big ring then go for it. You would be spending three grand, but you are not paying for quality.

Take another example ring – a round 0.76 carat diamond from Blue Nile with a very good cut, H color, and clarity of VS2. It will cost you about $2483 (accurate as of August 2022).  With its very good cut, clarity and color this ring will be brilliant and shine like a diamond should! Ultimately, you should aim to pay for top notch quality no matter the size of the diamond.

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Perhaps you don’t have the budget for a $12,000 1 carat ideal diamond ring; someone has to pay for the wedding, after all. Choose a lesser size diamond with better cut, so that it will give off just as much punch as a bigger diamond.

4) Get More Bang for Your Buck

My husband and I bought my ring from a family run jewelry shop that has been in business for 30 years. Both the daughter and mother are CGA approved gemologists. My own mom and dad have been going to this particular jeweler for years.

Buying my ring at a family run jeweler meant the jeweler was able to offer us a ring without a big retailer markup. We cut out the middle man and my ring was appraised at double the value my husband actually bought it for.

Tip: Add a halo to a diamond solitaire to add weight to the ring. It also makes the ring appear larger