Our extensive coverage of Italian engagement rings has resulted in a great deal of feedback in regards to how much people actually budget for engagement rings. And the consensus is…just kidding, you will have to read the entire issue to find out. The fact is that we are finding a very large split in the dollar amounts that people are spending. A large percentage of engagement ring buyers is searching strictly for cheap engagement rings, almost as large of a percentage is going specifically for cheap cz engagement rings, and of course there is always the market for the ultra high end Italian engagement rings or their so-called equivalents. If you are trying to match an engagement ring sold here in the U.S. to an Italian engagement ring, we wish you well but know that your efforts will result in disappointment. On the other hand, the sales of engagement rings under 500 dollars have grown exponentially, especially in the past two years. To summarize this phenomenon we will reference a key detail we have disclosed in previous issues of DT Era – with cz engagement rings, much like with cheap engagement rings under 100 dollars, the price dictates the materials used – usually sterling silver and cz stones instead of gold and diamonds – but has no bearing on the quality of the design. Taking this concept to the next level, the difference between engagement rings under $500 and their $5,000 engagement ring counterparts is in the quality of diamonds, but under what circumstances is this difference in diamond quality noticeable? In this issue of DT Era we address engagement rings under $500, to put the price differences in perspective and to help our readers make some informed decisions.
We start with Italian engagement rings because that is perhaps the only engagement ring category that does not have any valid points of comparison. With Italian engagement rings you are paying a top dollar premium for two factors – quality and craftsmanship. The Italian engagement ring pictured above features a two tone 18k gold shank with only a quarter carat Italian round brilliant cut solitaire diamond, and a price tag of $1,499. For anyone who has never worn an Italian engagement ring, this price may seem outrageous, but once you slip this royal masterpiece on your ring finger, you will pay anything to avoid taking it off.
Moving on to cz engagement rings, we again reiterate that the design is uninterrupted, but the metal will typically be a gold plated crystal alloy or 925 sterling silver. CZ engagement rings have tremendously grown in popularity, not only because your boyfriend wants to save money on you, but also because cz engagement rings typically make traveling a much safer experience.
Finally we address engagement rings under $500 head on. When you purchase a solitaire engagement ring, where the entire performance of the design falls on the one and only diamond, provided that the diamond is greater than a fifth of a carat, the cut and clarity of the diamond are vitally important. However, when you purchase a designer engagement ring, in which the largest diamond is a fifth of a carat or less, and especially in designs which feature mostly smaller diamonds, the difference between I2-I3 and VS1-VS2 diamond is not visible to the naked eye. In other words, take either of the two diamond engagement rings under $500 pictured above, and replace each of the diamonds with a GIA VS1-VS2, and your unaided eye will not see a difference.
The choice is yours but choose wisely, as your engagement ring is with you for life, or until you decide to buy a better engagement ring and reinstate your vows. It is extremely simple to justify spending extra on an Italian engagement ring, since you are buying a sophisticated design, usually 100% handcrafted and produced by a master Italian jeweler. But with all other engagement rings, if you are spending extra, make sure that you are getting extra. Otherwise you might as well just send the difference to us, as a tax deductible contribution!
