Comments on: Reader question: Saving money on wedding rings

By: Firenze Woman

Firenze Woman — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:10:56 +0000

Carmen- a pawn shop is an interesting idea. I’m originally from Boston, and you just don’t even see such stores. I even wonder if they are legal. But it there is anything of value that people would pawn, it’s a wedding ring.

By: Carmen

Carmen — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:33:27 +0000

Exactly. I got my wedding ring at a pawn shop and it only cost $500. It is white gold with a .66 (over 1/2 a karat) marquis diamond. The engagement ring was already soldered to the wedding band so that saved us some $. We took it to a jewelry store to have it appraised and checked. It was appraised at $1,400 and was a near perfect stone. I am so pleased with it even after 15 years. On another note, my husband just proposed to me (yes we’ve been married 15 years and he JUST proposed) and presented me with a plain gold band that matches his. He paid $15. (at a pawn shop) :-)

By: jessica

jessica — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:24:05 +0000

Not to disagree with you Kacie, but i am a little. i would recommend getting the warranty. i was painting with my husband a couple months ago, and i was closing a ladder and it closed on my wedding ring. Snapped it right in half. (i’m glad the ring was there to save my finger!) Anyway, i just brought it in, and because i had the warranty, they fixed it for free and i had it back in a week. Anyway, it was extremely useful already. Not sure how much my husband paid for the warranty, but man, i’m so glad we had it instead of having to pay however many hundreds of dollars it would have been to repair it.
My mom also lost a diamond out of her engagement ring a couple years ago, took it back to the place that had taken over the store where my dad bought it for her 35 years ago, and they replaced it and it looks like new.
Bad things can happen, and it’s not like it’s a piece of electronics that will only last 2 years. You will hopefully wear it your whole lifetime, so having a bit of insurance on it is good.
The only other thing that might be better than having the warranty on it is fixing the ring into your home insurance. i think you can do that.

By: ladygoat

ladygoat — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:17:39 +0000

My husband has purchased several rings from eweddingbands.com – he gets great deals and an excellent selection.

Also, considering a wedding ring is something you will wear everyday, get a ring that you really, really like, even if it costs a little more. I splurged a little on mine, but I’m glad I did since I do use it everyday.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:44:34 +0000

If you know anyone who travels it could be a big help. My Mom used to travel to Dubai on business and she got my engagement ring and our wedding rings there.

My engagement ring cost US$700 and was valued for $5000 back in the states. Our wedding rings were $300 between us and were valued at $800 each.

We gave her pictures of what we wanted and they were able to custom make them for us. It’s definitely worth looking at. Anywhere in the Middle East, some places in the Caribbean and Belgium are all good places to get fine jewellery at a low cost.

By: Jendeis

Jendeis — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:16:45 +0000

If looking for something plain, try Wal-Mart or one of the warehouse stores. Both MIL and SIL have wedding rings from those stores and you’d never know – they look beautiful.

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:55:06 +0000

Whoops … super, not stupid. :)

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:49:43 +0000

P.S. Shipping was free, too … and stupid fast! They arrived about a week and a half after we ordered them!

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:43:53 +0000

I just wanted to toss in my two cents on this one! My fiance and I bought our rings from an online wholesaler. The site we went with was http://www.iweddingband.com, but there are many sites like this on the Internet … just look for the online Better Business Bureau logo to confirm that the site is a reputable business. I also researched the companies by Googling their names to find out what other buyers’ experiences were.

The rings we wanted were about $200-$250 in stores, but we paid half that for the white gold bands we bought AND they engraved them for free. I really recommend going this route if you want something simple. We really just wanted plain bands, and we saw no reason to pay more for them.

My only suggestion if you go this route is to shop around in a brick and mortar store a little first not only to figure out what you want and see it on your hand, but also to have them size your ring fingers. Knowing your size before you order online will save you the money and trouble of having them resized later. Good luck!

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:36:28 +0000

Since you’re looking for something similar, I strongly suggest you shop somewhere other than a jewelry store.
Amazon has tons of choices. My brother and his wife bought their wedding bands at Walmart. I bought an engagement ring on EBay a few years ago…didn’t end up marrying my then-fiance, but have never regretted the purchase. Looks like you should be able to get a plain wedding band for $50-100 each. Good luck, and congratulations!