Thanks everybody for all of the responses to my poll. Abcdefg, I agree 100% with what you just wrote. I originally wanted to see everybody''s personal opinions, but since there are so many comments about my girlfriend''s preferences... well, she just doesn''t know. If two diamond rings were equal, then of course she''d pick the Tiffany. She just doesn''t know if it''s worth the large markup. We looked at dozens and dozens of rings online and in brick+mortar stores, coming down to the final decision of being on the fence. Well, she''s 50/50 and wants to leave it all up to me to surprise her.
I''m leaning toward the Tiffany and here are some considerations why:
1. Will she still like this ring 50 years from now? We don''t plan on ever upgrading and I don''t want anything "trendy" that might go out of style. I feel the classic Tiffany is less likely to go out of style here.
2. This is the one and only chance in her entire life that she''ll ever get a Tiffany engagement ring. I don''t want either of us to ever look back and regret anything. We''re more likely to look back and regret missing out on a Tiffany than to look back and regret paying too much for it.
3. Several thousand dollars is a huge deal right now, but when you''re thinking in terms of a lifetime... several thousand doesn''t seem quite as large. Anyway, I wouldn''t really be saving those thousands of dollars as I''d just be pumping it into a larger Blue Nile diamond.
4. While diamond ring shopping, the first thing I looked at wasn''t cut, carat, color, clarity, or cost. I was looking at my girlfriend''s face to see her reaction. I really think trying on a smaller Tiffany ring made her face light up more than any of the other larger rings.
Any thoughts about the poll or my rationale for leaning toward the Tiffany? I''m still not 100% on the Tiffany, but definitely leaning toward it. Thanks everyone for the great responses and for the votes!