Shopping for an Engagement Ring on a Budget

People often say you have to spend at least two-month’s salary on an engagement ring. Also, on average, in 2019, people in the US spent over $6,000 on their ring. Yet, these engagement ring shopping ideals people consider “normal” are completely unrealistic for a lot of couples. Many of us live on very strict budgets, so even when you want to take your true love’s breath away with their dream engagement ring, you have to think rationally about the purchase. Shopping for engagement rings on a budget does not mean you cannot find a spectacular ring that matches your future fiancée’s vision, it simply means you might have to search a little more to find less expensive alternatives, which often look just as beautiful. So, let us explore the best ring designs and stone options that will give you the most bang for your buck when shopping for an engagement ring on a budget.

Solitaire Engagement Rings

R9424W-.33

Without a doubt, the most cost-effective engagement ring option is a solitaire that holds a center stone smaller than 1-carat, like R9424W-.33. This 14K white gold solitaire engagement ring is one of the lowest-cost rings Valina offers at $730 retail. This ring is designed to fit a 1/3-carat diamond, meaning less gold is used to mold the head, saving you money. This ring is also more affordable because it is a classic solitaire, meaning the shank is almost 100% metal, with no side stones. The only accent diamonds on R9424W include six petite diamonds between the head’s prongs and one signature Valina kiss diamond at the shank’s base, weighing around .03 TDW.

Classic solitaire engagement rings will always have the lowest price, yet, modern solitaires are also a great choice. Modern solitaire engagement rings feature diamonds and intricate patterns on the sides of the shank and in the under gallery, leaving the shoulders bare, in the classic solitaire fashion. Even though this modern twist adds extra sparkle and visual intrigue to a ring design, it also drives up the price because of all the additional accent diamonds. Yet, even with the modern solitaire’s higher cost, all but two of Valina’s solitaire engagement rings (classic and modern) are below $1,500, making the entire solitaire collection very affordable for someone shopping on a budget.

Engagement Ring Shopping Rule 1: Less Accent Diamonds Means a Less Expensive Engagement Ring.

Decorative Straight Engagement Rings

Straight engagement rings are the second most affordable ring style because a straight band is often thinner and can only hold a small amount of accent diamonds. Unlike a solitaire ring, a straight ring leaves more room for decorative details and diamond accents. These additional embellishments create the illusion of luxury, often hiding the fact that the ring is less expensive.

RQ9396W

RQ9396W is a perfect example of this luxurious illusion at play. This 14K white gold engagement ring features a straight band that is pinched below the center stone. This tapered shank elevates the smaller center stone by creating greater spatial contrast, visually enlarging the 1/3-carat diamond. The ring also has a total of 21 accent diamonds, weighing around .11 TDW. Surrounding these side stones, the band features intricate hand-engraved filigree and milgrain-detailed edges. These details make RQ9396W the most affordable vintage-inspired engagement ring Valina offers, costing $990. The vintage patterns also create eye-catching shimmers within the gold, distracting from the fact that this ring does not have a very large center stone nor many side stones. Basically, the gold detailing makes up for the lack of genuine diamond sparkle.

Straight rings also leave room for a modest yet gorgeous halo. When shopping on a budget, halo rings might initially seem out of reach since they are typically on the medium to high end of the cost spectrum. This higher cost results from the extra accent diamonds in the halo. Halo engagement rings are more expensive, but it is no surprise they are the most popular ring style – a halo adds an extra layer of sparkle around the center stone, making it look larger and ultimately, more exquisite. Since a halo’s accent diamonds are far less expensive than getting a larger center diamond, a halo is a fantastic budget-friendly alternative if your future fiancée wants an engagement ring with an enormous center stone.

R9916W

For example, featuring a thin yet dazzling round halo and diamond shank made up of 35 accent diamonds, R9916W looks far more expensive than its actual price of $1,330. To make this ring more affordable, it is designed to fit a 3/4-carat center stone instead of the most common 1-carat center, meaning the halo has a smaller circumference, requiring fewer accent diamonds and gold. R9916W’s design also saves you money because the shoulder’s diamonds only cascade about halfway down the shank, and they are set into the gold versus being pave-set. This means you still get the sparkle every bride loves, but you get it from fewer diamonds, saving you roughly $1,000 in comparison to a pave-set diamond shank.

Engagement Ring Shopping Rule 2: Simple Decorative Details like Hand-Engraving or Halos Make a Lower Cost Ring Look More Luxurious and Expensive.

Golden Statement Engagement Rings

RQ9724W

When decorative details on a straight shank are not enough to please your future fiancée’s lavish style or expectations, consider getting a wider ring instead. Wide engagement rings, often called statement engagement rings, can be very costly because along with being modeled out of more gold, they are also covered head-to-toe in diamonds. But, if you gravitate towards shine over sparkle while shopping, you can find wide statement engagement rings like RQ9724W, which are mainly embellished in golden detailing, which is much more affordable than diamond accents. This 14K white gold diamond engagement ring has 23 accent diamonds, and it fits a modern-chic 1/2-carat Princess-cut center stone. What truly makes this design shine is the spiraling filigree designs encompassing the top half of the shank. By designing this ring with open spirals, the ring develops negative space which draws in the eye and creates beautiful visual tension and contrast. This enlarged and elevated filigree pattern will astound all your future fiancée’s friends and family members – ultimately, nobody will question the lack of accent diamonds, price, or value of this $1,345 engagement ring. Similar negative space effects are created by split shank and criss-crossing spiral ring styles.

Engagement Ring Shopping Rule 3: Negative Space is an Affordable Embellishment that Creates the Illusion of Size and Grandeur in an Engagement Ring Design.

Smaller and Lower Quality Engagement Ring Center Stones

Every ring example discussed above is designed to hold a center stone smaller than 1-carat. This is because a diamond center stone can easily cost more than the ring itself, especially if you purchase a less expensive ring. There are so many factors that go into center stone diamond pricing that we could write multiple blogs on the subject, so instead, we will make it as simple as possible: diamond prices increase almost exponentially as the carat weight increases.

In general, a 1-carat diamond is ten-times more expensive than a 1/3-carat, four-times more expensive than a 1/2-carat, and two-times more expensive than a 3/4-carat. For a more precise price comparison, here is data pulled from our local jewelers in 2020, showing prices for different sized round diamonds with the top cut (Excellent), clarity (IF), and color (D):

• 1/3-carat diamonds (0.33 TDW) cost around $750-$1,180
• 1/2-carat diamonds (0.50 TDW) cost around $1,630-$2,850
• 3/4-carat diamonds (0.70-0.80 TDW) cost around $3,770-$6,990
• 1-carat diamonds (1.00 TDW) cost around $9,000-$13,000

Since every diamond is unique, as you can see above, even diamonds with the same total diamond weight, cut, clarity, and color can have drastically different price ranges. They all have special features that elevate or degrade their appearance and consequentially, their value. Therefore, you should always look at center stones in person before buying them.

Another trick for saving money on an engagement ring center stone is getting a diamond in an unusual size/weight, like getting a .43-carat or .57-carat to fill a .50-carat head. The exact stone weights, like those in our price comparison above, are considered more pristine, resulting in higher prices due to higher demand. Even a .97-carat diamond can be up to $6,000 less than a perfect 1.00-carat diamond. Another benefit about purchasing one of these slightly larger or smaller diamonds is the fact that their minor size differences do not require modifications to the head of the ring, so, you will save money, and nobody will notice the difference.

Similarly, most people cannot see the difference in color and clarity with the naked eye, especially for center stones smaller than 1-carat. So, instead of getting the most crystal-clear 1/2-carat diamond with perfect clarity and color (IF D) costing up to $2,850, get an average 1/2-carat diamond with H VS1 clarity and color for a max price of $1,990. Thus, just by purchasing a slightly lower grade diamond, you can save around $1,000 on the overall engagement ring purchase, which is perfect when you have a restricted budget.

Engagement Ring Shopping Rule 4: A Smaller Center Stone with a Slightly Lower Color and Clarity Can Literally Save You Thousands of Dollars.

Gemstone Engagement Rings

Engagement rings designed to fit 1-carat center stones can be affordable if you choose an alternative stone to fill the center. One option is getting a clear gemstone other than a natural diamond. Popular choices include lab-created diamonds (anatomically identical but typically less than half the price of natural diamonds), moissanite (the second hardest clear gem with 9.5 hardness at about a tenth the price of natural diamonds), cubic zirconia (the cheapest diamond alternative with D coloring and 8.5 hardness), and white sapphire or white topaz (neither as bright or sparkly as a natural diamond but fairly clear, colorless, and hard).

Alternatively, consumers are increasingly choosing colored stones over clear diamond alternatives because having something unique is becoming far more important to young couples than getting an expensive ring. These couples are primarily getting center stones in blue sapphire (costing between $450-$1,910 for a 1-carat), ruby (costing between $1,180-$3,510 for a 1-carat), and morganite. Even though these are the most popular bridal gemstones, there are plenty of other options, which you can learn more about in our blog: The Rise of Gemstone Engagement Rings.

R9379W-BSA

You can even customize Valina rings to feature gemstones in place of the accent diamonds along the halo and shank. Depending on the gemstone choice and the number of accent diamonds, this switch can save you a few hundred dollars. For example, R9379W-BSA costs $1,305 while its all-diamond version, R9379W, costs $1,560. Just by replacing the six stones embellishing the center stone, a decrease of .08 TDW, you save $255. Switching up the side stones also gives your future fiancée a more playful and personalized, and ultimately, more special engagement ring.

Finally, if your love prefers this colorful engagement look, remember that colored diamonds are readily available and are often less expensive than their pristine clear white counterparts. Diamonds come in yellow, pink, purple, red, blue, green, orange, brown, black, grey, and combinations of colors. Each color has its own grade range – some are less expensive than regular diamonds, while others cost far more. Your local jeweler can better help guide your decision if you want a colorful diamond center stone.

Engagement Ring Shopping Rule 5: The Center Stone and Side Stones Do Not Have to be Clear Diamonds, Consider Cheaper Alternatives like Created Diamonds, Colored Fancy Diamonds, and Gemstones.

What Really Matters When Shopping for Engagement Rings

You do not have to go bankrupt to take your true love’s breath away, so please explore our budget-friendly, Valina engagement ring options that cost less than $1,000 and $1,500.

Remember, even if you are on a budget today, that doesn’t mean you will always be. You and your true love have the rest of your lives together to prosper and grow. Maybe one day you can buy them that $10,000 engagement ring of their dreams or replace the center stone in the budget ring you originally purchased with a diamond that sparkles like a thousand stars. The ring is not the most important consideration here – the meaning behind the ring, your unconditional love and bond, that is what truly matters when you get down on one knee, open that ring box, and ask “Will you marry me?”