How Much was your setting as compared to the price of the stone

[laney]

I am looking at settings, some designer some not, and was wondering in general, what people spent on settings...

The setting I''m looking at right now - just the E-Ring setting is about 36% of the stone price.

What was your experience. Just for E-ring. Not wedding band.. I guess I''ll start another poll for that!

 

[verticalhorizon]

My setting was 29% of the price of the stone... and 22% the price of the entire ring.

 

[moremoremore]

my setting was 1.4% of the cost of the stone. I totally understand not placing the Mona Lisa in a $2.00 frame, but I am of the opinion that as long as the setting is NOT a cheap looking, light piece of dog poop, that does show off the diamond and not detract from it, then I'm putting every penny towards my stone....Clearly, I'm a diamond girl...I don't care much about someone's setting...I care about the diamond...That's just my opinion...

 

[moremoremore]

GOOD poll idea btw!

 

[Magnum]

My fiancees E-ring setting is 23% the price of the stone. The setting is 19% of the entire purchase.

 

[laney]

moremoremore..

I agree with you about the setting... I have my current stone in a nice platnium tiffany setting - very very simple. As a matter of fact, I was fine with that..

Until... my future husband said... oh.. you can go get any setting you want.. I just got that for now..

How's a girl to say no to that! lol!

 

[moremoremore]

laney...I'm even "cheaper" than you!

I went white gold. GASP...the horror the horrow!

 

[Hest88]

Well, my setting was as important to me as my stone, so the e-ring setting was about the same price as the stone itself. However, to save money I *did* end up with white gold instead of plat!

 

[noobie]

Do side stones count in the cost of the setting or in the cost of the stone? Many settings are sold with side stones and some are not?




Sorry for being difficult, but it affects my vote.

 

[coarchitect]

less than 10%...but its a simple solitare.

 

[laney]

Yes, side stones DO count. The entire e-ring!

 

[Superidealist]

The setting was about 55% the price of the diamond.

 

[limey]

Setting was 32% of the stone - but then I got the main stone for such a great price, and the setting was custom, 3-stone ring (2 x 1/3ct pears) and 14 x small bead set into the shank. Worth every penny.

 

[sluke]

My setting was a very small percent. I'm with moremoremore; my finance gave me a buget, and I spent the whole amount, and then some on the diamond solitare. I ended up with a 14kt white gold tiffany style solitare setting. I'd figure I can always change the setting later. I rather keep the diamond forever.

 

[laney]

Interesting results so far... most people are in the 0-20% category..

come'on... none of you were swayed.. like I am, to get more bling! LOL!

I see some of you are with me..

I have such a pretty stone (from GOG), that I don't want to take away from it.. but it can have more friends.. right?!?

(silently justifying purchase...)

 

[Mara]

Ours was 25% of the stone and 20% of the entire purchase.




Wedding ring was 16% of the entire cost of the engagement ring...we got a little smarter second time around. Just a little.

On one hand it could be considered foolish for a ring to be more than 30% or similar of the actual diamond...you are likely getting into some very large numbers at that point, sometimes I question us spending 20/25% on the setting...but on the other hand it is true that the setting does complement the stone..my ring would definitely not be as 'bling' without the additional diamonds!

So if it makes you visually happy in the long run, amortize the cost of the setting (and diamond of course) over X years of happiness with your beautiful ring.

Probably ends up working out to pennies...makes sense then eh?

 

[Dancing Fire]

----------------
On 5/26/2004 1:44:18 PM laney wrote:

I am looking at settings, some designer some not, and was wondering in general, what people spent on settings...

The setting I'm looking at right now - just the E-Ring setting is about 36% of the stone price.

What was your experience. Just for E-ring. Not wedding band.. I guess I'll start another poll for that!----------------

I paid $5300 for my wife's stone the setting cost $80.,so i guess that's like 1.8%.

 

[chris-uk04]

My gf's setting 15%. Personally I would have preferred to put as much money in the stone as possible and upgrade the setting later, but the gf wanted fancier setting (at a wee expense of the center stone)

 

[rockupied]

My setting was 27% of the stone.

 

[noobie]

----------------
On 5/27/2004 2:34:06 AM Mara wrote:







So if it makes you visually happy in the long run, amortize the cost of the setting (and diamond of course) over X years of happiness with your beautiful ring.

Probably ends up working out to pennies...makes sense then eh?

----------------

Actually, if you take into consideration the significant terminal value of the diamond, you're probably talking mere fractions of a penny per day for unquantifiable happiness.

As if you guys really needed another justification to buy diamonds and rings

 

[fire&ice]

My vote is skewed as would be most large stone purchases.

 

[hoorray]

I can't really vote for one thing. My first setting was probably 0 - 20%. Simple with a couple of side stones. When I had to replace it due to it not being strong enough, I took the opportunity to add some flash, and the setting was almost as much as the stone (not a super expensive stone tho...). Now I've gone back to simple with my upgrade, and it's just a platinum solitare. In light of the cost of the stone it's in the negligible range.

I think settings are important to show off the stone, but it's personal taste on how much flash they should have.

 

[Hest88]

As F&I basically said, it's one thing to be in my shoes---where I bought a stone that was less than $3000---and another to have bought a $10,000 stone. Can you imagine what a $10K e-ring would look like (short of one of those celebrity rings with the inflated mark-ups)?

 

[laney]

----------------
On 5/27/2004 2:34:06 AM Mara wrote:



So if it makes you visually happy in the long run, amortize the cost of the setting (and diamond of course) over X years of happiness with your beautiful ring.

Probably ends up working out to pennies...makes sense then eh?
----------------

Hmmm lemme think.. what would the proper calculation be for X years of estimated happiness and the daily cost of my ring...

Let's take a random reasonable number like 20 years of happiness..
.50 a day - amount to spend on setting and stone = $3650
1.00 a day - amount to spend on setting and stone = $7300
2.00 a day - amount to spend on setting and stone = $14600

Ok let's up that to 40 years of happiness, I think I'll still be happy at 73.. right?

.50 a day - amount to spend on setting and stone = $7300
1.00 a day - amount to spend on setting and stone = $14600
2.00 a day - amount to spend on setting and stone = $29200

Think any jeweler would finace $2 a day for 40 years of happiness

 

[Mara]

Laney...give up the morning Latte and you've got your $2 a day!

 

[moremoremore]

well then, if we're going to do it that way...then I'd like my 3 carat jubilee now please!

 

[verticalhorizon]

Yeah, but what's that $2 a day for 40 years at say 9% interest?

 

[niceice]

Needless to say that we are finding the results of this thread to be really interesting! The April 2004 edition of National Jeweler Magazine published the results of their survey which you might find interesting as well...

Question 1. How much did you spend in total on your wedding (this includes engagement, wedding, honeymoon, etc.)
24.6% said less than $1,000.00
19.2% said $1,000.00 to $2,499.00
18.2% said $2,500.00 to $5,000.00
20.5% said $5,000.00 to $9,999.00
8.4% said $10,000.00 to $14,999.00
5.9% said $15,000.00 to $24,999.00
3.1% said $25,000.00 plus.

Compare that to:

Question 2. How much did / will you spend in total on bridal jewelry?
28.7% said less than 5%
19.4% said $500.00 - $999.00
19.2% said $1,000.00 - $1,999.00
15.2% said $2,000.00 - $3,499.00
7.2% said $3,500.00 - $4,999.00
5.3% said $5,000.00 - $7,499.00
2.1% said $7,500.00 - $9,999.00
Less than 1.2% indicated more than $15,000.00

 

[moremoremore]

less than a grand on a wedding? clearly not from NY!!! although I guess that would cover a civil ceremony with a little celebration. Not nec. a bad idea. Also, probably includes a few nights in vegas! A great idea! It KILLS me to think of how much I spent on my wedding, dress, etc...HEY..that would make a good poll too!

My bridal jewelry- a pair of pearl and diamond earrings from ross simons for 199 bucks. That was it!

 

[headlight]

My setting was 25% of the cost of the stone (stone $20k, mounting $5k).