“How much would you expect a guy to spend on an engagement
ring?” I asked a close friend in a spot survey for this article.
“The ring doesn’t really matter if the relationship is
strong,” she replied thoughtfully. “It’s the caliber of the relationship that
counts.”
While I suspect — or hope — that most women would give a
similar response, spending on engagement rings rose to an all-time high in
2016, according to online wedding resource The Knot.
Respective research by De Beers, The Knot and The Wedding
Report has pointed to a continued upward trend in engagement ring prices, even
if the three have reached varying conclusions about what that price is.
De Beers found that the average price of diamond engagement
rings had appreciated by 75% over the past decade, coming to $3,400 in 2015 —
the last time the company ran such a survey. This statistic is encouraging, as
it falls against the backdrop of some challenging economic trends, such as
lower salaries and higher student debt, a De Beers spokesperson explained.
One factor that has likely bolstered the higher average
price is that millennials tend to marry later in life, the spokesperson added.
By that point, they’re more established and have had more time to save up.
The nature of the purchase also lends itself to higher
costs, suggested Shane McMurray, founder of The Wedding Report, which conducts
research relating to the wedding market.
“Spending for weddings is directly correlated to income,
with a twist of unreasonableness due to the love factor,” McMurray said. The
Wedding Report’s study revealed that the average spend on engagement rings
stood at $3,406 in the first quarter of 2017 — the same as last year — while
the average total cost of weddings was down 2.8%.
Love factors aside, couples are rethinking how they spend
their money, given the high level of college debt and other personal expenses
they have. They’re also talking about spending more on an experience and less
on the wedding, McMurray added.
Creating that experience at the actual wedding is similarly
on the rise, according to The Knot. Couples are inviting fewer guests, but
spending more per guest to enhance the experience, the website’s survey showed.
The Knot’s Real Weddings Study found that the average spend on engagement rings
was $6,163 in 2016, up from the $5,871 it reported in its 2015 Jewelry &
Engagement Study. An updated study is expected to come out later this year.
Similarly, the experience of the engagement is increasingly
important, as couples want a good story to tell, explains Stacy Tasman, founder
of The Knot’s “How He Asked” website, which chronicles couples’ proposal
stories. That extends to how they found the ring, and their involvement in
choosing it, she added.
But while custom design and alternative ring options are
gaining popularity as a means to elevate the story, there is still a tendency
toward tradition among brides, Tasman said. And since the man is usually the
one making the final purchasing decision, she noted, he tends to play it safe.
Still, women are more involved in the ring purchase than
before — even if it’s just dropping a hint about what they want or sharing
ideas with their fiancé, The Knot’s research showed.
Women tend to scour social media and other online platforms
for inspiration on design, while men are more invested in the cost
considerations and understanding the 4Cs. Out of The Knot’s respondents, 85% of
men said they’d rather buy a smaller, better-quality diamond than a larger
stone of lesser quality, while only 57% of women said the same.
As such, there is an expectation when it comes to the ring,
regardless of the strength of the relationship, I argued with my friend. That’s
true, she countered, but it’s almost like the value of the ring is inversely
proportional to the value of the relationship.
“It’s kind of like the diamond itself,” she said. “An
internally flawless diamond tends to be smaller, but have greater value.”
In which case, I pressed, how much do you think the average
amount spent on a diamond engagement ring is?
“Probably around $10,000,” was her winked reply.
With rings going for only a third of that, American couples
will hopefully be able to meet each other’s expectations.
Image (left to right): The most popular engagement rings from Coast Diamond coastdiamond.com; Christopher Designs christopherdesigns.com; Rahaminov Diamonds rahaminov.comArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - August 2017. To subscribe click here.