Ouch. You are supposed to seal the deal before you start buying pins, Jk. My advice. Go big! Behind every great collection is an awesome and incredibly patient wife imo.

I'm voting two premiums. I've been out of the ring market for a while now but 16k seems like it should get her something nice.

When I bought my wife a ring I was broke as fuck. Put it on a 18 month no-interest credit card and took a while to pay it off. You can get a nice ring for around a stern premium. Can always spend a lot more too. I would suggest looking at diamonds and see which one feels / looks right. May help to know what cut she likes, you can always change the band later.

I'd discuss it with her. In this day and age, she might want something simple to wear. So she doesn't attract crime.

LTG : )

I let my wife pick hers out. We were together a long time and told her I will never buy jewelry. Every once in a while she will bust my balls about not doing the down on a knee BS, but every time she gets complimented on her ring that makes up for it.

Buy Lab Grown today. A fine quality Lab Diamond retails for $800-$1000 for a 1 carat stone.

Peek around here:

https://www.overnightmountings.com/engagement-rings.html

Nice ring, 14K, around $2K, with lots of room.

I know a few folks who decided to forgo diamonds and instead go with other (less expensive) stones as an alternative. A birth stone might be an option. Or a stone in a favorite color. Also, I know someone who went with a small pearl.

I just celebrated my 15th wedding anniversary. Speaking from experience...ask her. She may not want an expensive ring. She may want a sapphire. She may want an antique. She may want a 3kt Tiffany. Ask her. Then get her whatever SHE wants.

Happy wife, happy life.

I might be able to save you a lot of time and headache. If you have a Littman Jewelers in your area I would definitely check them out. They sell a bridal diamond ring collection called Say I Do. Also, Littman Jewelers offers a lifetime warranty on the diamonds for around $200.00. If anything happens to the diamonds (lost or damaged) it’s covered. The warranty alone is a huge selling point. The only thing you need to do is have it cleaned (which is free) and inspected every 6 months in order to keep the warranty valid. This diamond ring collection will not break your bank. You can get something really nice for her that’s less than a new Stern Pro. They usually have special financing for 6 months or 1 year at 0% interest. Also, again if anything happens to the diamonds your covered under warranty and not stuck having to shell out another couple thousand for a replacement. She gets the ring she always wanted. You keep your pins and have more money for additional pins. A win win situation.

I agree. Married 35 years. First ring was $800 with an itty bitty diamond that had a very visible inclusion. It was all a 19 year old Specialist in the Army could afford. Years later, I talked her into a slightly bigger diamond with a much better grade, but she insisted on using the same mount and putting the old diamond in a pennant. Since then, I have offered on multiple times to get a bigger/better ring, she won't do it.

Doubt you can get away with an $800 ring today , but ask her what she wants and shop together. You will probably end up with a reasonable priced ring that she will cherish. If she insists on the 2 NIB Stern LE option, that is a good indicator your pinball buying days are over

If the girl is more concerned about the size of the ring then she is with spending her time with you, then she’s the wrong girl.

My wife wanted a smaller ring for several reasons, I spent less then $2k almost 15 years ago. We both had custom wedding rings made and hers was less then mine. Since then I’ve bought her nice earrings and a necklace but she only wears them on rare occasions when we go out.

Edit. Both of our wedding rings and her engagement ring combined were less then a new stern

My wife makes five times as much as I do, we recently replaced her wedding ring since she had lost it again. All she wanted was a plain white gold band and couldn't be convinced otherwise. I think it was around 200 bucks. My gold wedding band cost probably 50 bucks more than hers.
Her enagement ring we inherited for free, but even then she wasn't wanting something really fancy.
I would also agree that asking her for an idea of what she wants is a good idea. Even go shopping with her for it.

You’re not supposed to get married!

Forget how many NIBs it costs, buy HER the NIB machine and if she accepts, it’s proof she’s the one!

Guessing your still not married?

If you want the inside and out on the industry, diamonds, color, etc, feel free to drop me a note.
Im retired now, but 4th generation, and 40 years of global manufacturing and distribution in this field.
(over 50 years sorting diamonds)

My wife only bought me one ring and put it on my ring finger on my right hand when she proposed. She put it on my left when we got married. She has spent a lot more on pinballs than my engagement/wedding ring. Just a simple white gold ring. She has her priorities straight. She also spent more in hiring an artist for the mural in our pinball room.

I mean it’s all opinions of people who don’t know you and your fiancé, but get some things she’d like in a ring, like the stone shape, material of ring and maybe a design cue. Then what I did is spoke to some friends on where they had liked to buy jewelry from locally and found a family owned custom jewelry shop. I found a few things I liked, took her and she picked out things and the shop helped me compare and create the two things into a ring I thought she’d like.

Honestly it won’t matter on cost (unless the person cares) but I did sell a pin to help fun the purchase. I think I spent around 5-8k? For the engagement and wedding band together. And if she wants to change or add a band in the future that’s totally great. But step one to any good relationship is communication, step one to getting a ring is communication :-p

Rings? Multiple Fiancee and Multiple Pins? You whore!

Cant wait for our culture and society to completely dump the concept of wearing a rock on your finger (most likely dug by slave labor) to signify each others love. Absolutely bonkers.

If you really want to show her how much she is worth to you, sell one or two of your pins and buy the engagement ring with the proceeds. Wait, it's not the sacrifice it sounds like, as I'm sure a gentle reminder of such action would go a long way in future years when you want to buy more pins.

Find out exactly what she likes and buy it.
This method always saves me a headache and bullshit.

I got my wife an estate 1920s ring (aka used ring) and saved over 1/2 the cost of similar new ring. She loves the intricate filigree pattern. She now has 3 pins that I can’t sell we have been married for 22 years. Good luck and congratulations!
Al

Go vintage, don't buy blood diamonds, get something cool and unique, you only get married two or three times in a lifetime, don't overthink it.
B

Exactly! Rather than asking what a bunch of guys on a pinball forum think, how bout asking your girlfriend.

This ^

Make sure whoever you buy from shows you the diamond grade, color, etc. Don't be like my buddy who bought a ring at 9k, the engagement ended and it turns out his diamond is shitty so his ring is almost worthless. Diamond is like $1.5k.

Quality, color, where it came from, all that shit matters. Some diamonds have ugly ass voids in them. Once you see them, you can't unsee them.

Thank me later...

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Just get matching rings...

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Maybe a low end system 11 and that's pushing it

I was able to get a big black diamond pretty cheapish. Looks well but I don;t know if they are still down in price.

Just remember you need a gold band from her. Don;t accept any of these worthless ass metals that won't do shit for you if you're stuck in another country and need to flee.

One girlfriend knew exactly what she wanted. Cut setting, etc. When my ex wife and were getting there, i asked her any idea of her preference. She was clueless. Went to a store and started at the "cheaper side" and worked our way up to designer. Landed (unfortunately) on a Tacori with an antique design that just lit her eyes up. She'd have been happy with a custom clone but I got what she wanted.

Same with the rock in the middle of it. "Do you want a preference on quality (clarity, cut, color), or quantity (bigger rock)?" Ultimately wanted a better quality, smaller stone. So much bs with em..take her to a store and window shop. May want a solitare, may want 2 accents, may want a ton of smaller chips. May want oval cut, may want princess cut, - who knows unless you ask. If you're dropping that much coin best to just ask and get it right before one of her friends gets one that she likes better and you get all upsot.

Get a stone with a GIA certification. In my opinion color and clarity outweigh carat weight. I went with a custom Celtic triquetra knot design. Relatively speaking, it did not add too much to the bottom line to go with a custom ring. We did the same with the wedding bands, using the same knot motif. It is very distinctive, and we routinely gets compliments on them.

LOL, married since the dawn of time. Do what Mr. Kelly says.....

I went for a vintage ring. They're far more unique and affordable than something from a store like Jared. Whatever you get be sure to also get insurance on it. It's like $60 a year to insure my wife's ring.

Check out these ellensburg blues.. this is the only place on earth that has this stone. The more purple ones are beautiful. Our little town is famous for its stones and rodeo ,local jewelers here do great job and have best selections, get her something her friends have never seen!

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Could this be the start of a “Vid1900’s Ultimate Guide to Getting an Engagement Ring” thread?

Seriously, is there anything vid1900 isn’t an expert on!?

Thirty-six years ago I borrowed money from my parents to buy a 1/3 carat four-prong solitaire at Service Merchandise so I could pop the question to my girlfriend. I think it was around $400, which was a lot of money for me at the time. We were so much in love then that I could have gotten her just about anything decent and she wouldn’t have been upset. Other than later having the diamond placed in a more secure six-prong solitare ring, she’s worn it ever since, and I would say we’re at least as much in love now. The ring is just a symbol representing something much more important.

Most homeowners policies only cover diamond rings for up to $2,500 with the included coverage.

If your ring is worth more than that, you'll have to pay a premium.

"Honey, you don't want a ring that's worth more than $2,500! The additional premiums will cost us $600 by the time we get divorced..."

This. I told my wife I refuse to buy a diamond ring. Told her the story of how diamond wedding rings are a relatively new thing invented by the debeers company, along with their 2 months salary nonsense. Most rings were pearl. How diamonds are not at all rare, but the supply just held back by debeers and Russia in collusion with each other. We also watched the movie Blood Diamond, which I highly recommend.

She went with a pearl wedding ring from Costco for about $600. Diamonds are a big waste of money and a scam.
Do you ever listen to the ads? “Guaranteed to appraise for at least twice as much as we sell it for” or “He went to Jared” Haha, what a joke.

BTW, the poll needs to be updated with an option for “the price of an old broken em”

Family Guy's take on diamonds...

I worked at a retail jewelry store for a number of years back in the day and sold folks a lot of engagement rings. I would echo some of the advice here along with adding some thoughts of my own;

1 - Figure out what she wants. While it’s super romantic in your head to completely surprise her with it, she may have something very specific in mind or you may be like a friend of mine who thought it was a great idea to get his wife hip waders for her birthday. She has never expressed the faintest interest in fishing. While the look she gave him was priceless, it’s probably not the memory you’re looking for. If you think you have a good handle on it or are determined to go on your own, make sure the store has an ironclad no questions asked return policy.

2 - If you can leverage a family heirloom, go that route. You may even want to buy used, but that is not recommended unless you know what you’re doing and/or have a friend in the biz who can check it out. There are a lot of great looking fakes out there, pricing is variable etc. The markup on jewelry is exorbitant and you will never get back what you’ve paid. So make sure both the ring and she are for the long haul.

3 - If you do end up going retail, size matters. The 4 C’s drive pricing for the most part. Carat weight, color, cut and clarity. The reality is that for the most part you will never see differences in color or clarity unless you’re comparing two stones side by side, and even then, the differences are very subtle. Any diamond where you can see inclusions with the naked eye are generally considered more industrial grade and not usually used in jewelry. Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen, so you need to know what you’re looking at but I would focus more on carat weight and cut to get the most bang for your buck. The most asked question is “how big is it.”, very few people will ask her about the color or clarity grade. Finally, if you’re going higher end with a GIA certified stone, it should come with papers that show the dimensions of the cut. What makes a diamond sparkle is the proportion of the cut. There is an “ideal” percentage between the bottom and top parts of the diamond which maximize the refraction of the light back to the viewer. Diamonds are generally cut to try to take the most advantage of this ideal percentage, but may have more differences from this as the stone cutter tries to work around flaws in the raw stone and retaining maximum size. That’s part of the art of cutting a stone. You want a stone that’s as close as possible to the ideal proportional cut, regardless of the shape it might be such as a round cut, princess cut etc. There used to be a company out there that specialized in ideal cut stones, been a long time though so ymmv at this point. If you’re not getting a higher end stone look at a bunch of similar stones to see which seems to sparkle more. A “flatter” or “thicker” cut of what’s represented as the same size, color and clarity will not sparkle as much.

That’s the basics, good luck and wish ya the best!

I wouldn’t go expensive , get a nice setting that looks good , because the second you get divorced, she’ll drive right to the pawn shop !! I mean do you really want her to cash in on a $ 9000 ring you worked your ass off to get her

Here’s a set that I was just going to put on CL.
They are system 11 priced.

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Costco

Happy house, happy spouse. It takes two to make things work. Give and take from both parties.

Really need to drive that home.

I do respect the rest of your post and agree with it. But this "happy wife, happy life" platitude needs to seriously leave our society.

Seeing that the only pin I had when I got engaged was the one my parents bought me when I was about 12, Hi Deal for about $250, her ring was significantly more. Especially considering that I was driving a Zamboni after graduating from college making $5.80 an hour.
I used the mentality of I wouldn’t want her to pick out my golf clubs, so let her pick out her engagement ring.