{"id":707,"date":"2014-05-06T09:54:09","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T13:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wwww.birkatelyon.com\/blog\/?p=707"},"modified":"2017-07-23T14:58:24","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T18:58:24","slug":"much-spend-engagement-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birkatelyon.com\/blog\/much-spend-engagement-ring\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Should You Spend on an Engagement Ring?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buying an engagement ring can be incredibly tricky. First, selecting a style is challenging. You want to choose a ring that can serve as an emblem<\/em> of your love \u2013 a visual representation of your partnership \u2013 but that also fits the personality of the beloved. Second, determining the right price range can be confusing. When you want to decide how much to spend on your ring, you can look to two different sources: successful diamond marketers and married men themselves.<\/p>\n

The diamond industry perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n

You may have heard the notion that you should spend two months of your salary on an engagement ring. That idea is a classic meme<\/em> \u2013 a nugget of cultural information<\/a> \u2013 that was devised by a diamond company. DeBeers created the concept of two months salary in 1947 to spur lagging diamond sales in post-WWII America<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The idea behind this perspective was that tying engagement rings to salary would give every groom access to diamonds that fit their budgets. Two months salary for a man making $96,000 would be $16,000, while the same formula for a man making $30,000 would be $5000. This rule can be seen as problematic from three basic perspectives:<\/p>\n