Cheap Wedding Rings
My boyfriend and I put a pretty low priority on jewelry; neither of us wears any. When we wanted to research wedding rings, we headed to a few standard jewelry stores, and here's what we found:
Given that he is a self-described depreciation machine, we decided tungsten would be the way to go. It's the strongest and most scratch resistant. He also has a tendency to lose jewelry, but tungsten rings are inexpensive, so we could easily replace the ring. The drawback is that the ring could never be re-sized, but, again, given the affordability, we could always just buy him a new one.
For my ring, we decided 14k white gold would be ideal with a cubic zirconia stone. That's right, I said cubic zirconia. I found out NO ONE can tell the difference between a quality CZ stone and a diamond using just the naked eye, not even a jeweler. This is the $200 ring I picked out.
However, our story has a twist. My BF called to say he was cleaning his bedroom and found - FOUND - a man's yellow gold band lying on his floor. Inside, it said 14k. He put it on. It fit. Free ring! It's probably his father's or grandfather's ring, given to him and promptly forgotten. (I was too overjoyed to lay into him about his organizational habits.)
Then, he mentioned to his mother that we had visited some jewelry stores. Her engagement ring was packed away, and if I liked it, I could have it. He brought it over. It fit. ANOTHER FREE RING!!!
Yes, it's true, we didn't get the styles we wanted, but we can live with what we got. It was the cost, or lack thereof, that was the most important part. And, each ring is worth more than we would've spent on ourselves.
We couldn't believe our luck. We had $400 budgeted for rings, but the total cost was $0!
Given that he is a self-described depreciation machine, we decided tungsten would be the way to go. It's the strongest and most scratch resistant. He also has a tendency to lose jewelry, but tungsten rings are inexpensive, so we could easily replace the ring. The drawback is that the ring could never be re-sized, but, again, given the affordability, we could always just buy him a new one.
For my ring, we decided 14k white gold would be ideal with a cubic zirconia stone. That's right, I said cubic zirconia. I found out NO ONE can tell the difference between a quality CZ stone and a diamond using just the naked eye, not even a jeweler. This is the $200 ring I picked out.
However, our story has a twist. My BF called to say he was cleaning his bedroom and found - FOUND - a man's yellow gold band lying on his floor. Inside, it said 14k. He put it on. It fit. Free ring! It's probably his father's or grandfather's ring, given to him and promptly forgotten. (I was too overjoyed to lay into him about his organizational habits.)
Then, he mentioned to his mother that we had visited some jewelry stores. Her engagement ring was packed away, and if I liked it, I could have it. He brought it over. It fit. ANOTHER FREE RING!!!
Yes, it's true, we didn't get the styles we wanted, but we can live with what we got. It was the cost, or lack thereof, that was the most important part. And, each ring is worth more than we would've spent on ourselves.
We couldn't believe our luck. We had $400 budgeted for rings, but the total cost was $0!
I must congratulate you both on your pragmatism! Although I have bought a few beautiful rings for my wife over the last 25 years, each one has been an upgrade. That is, when we were married, we used “simple” wedding bands because we could not afford anything more expensive and we knew that the ring symbolizes unbroken love regardless of how much it costs. However, over the years (as the level of our annual income has increased), I have progressively bought her more expensive rings every 8 to 10 years. What I really like about your approach is, it saves so much money for really important things such as an unforgettable vacation or a down payment toward a home!
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h one has been an upgrade. That is, when we were married, we used “simple” wedding bands because we could not afford anything more expensive and we knew that the ring symbolizes unbroken love regardless of how much it costs. However, over the years (as the level of our annual income has increased), I have progressively bought her more expensive rings every 8 to 10 years. What I really like about your approach is, it saves so much money for really important things such as an unforgettable vacation or a down p
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