Engagement Rings For Women Too Expensive For Valentine’s Day 2014

Engagement rings for women are too expensive according to a majority of Americans, but is the bad US economy responsible for this shift in thinking?

In a related report by The Inquisitr, Emily Maynard was given four engagement rings as part of the proposal by Tyler Johnson. There’s also rumors that Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are engaged.

While the unemployment rate in 2014 has dropped to a point where you’d think the recession is over, many middle class Americans are still fighting to keep afloat financially. Part of this is due to the numbers being lower because people are giving up on finding jobs in the US economy, but otherwise the cost of living has gone up while average wages and savings have gone down… except for the high rollers, who have seen their income increased greatly. Some businesses have even responded to this noticeable trend by focusing on high end and low end options.

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner Americans are thinking about buying engagement rings and they’re considering how expensive they’ve become over the years due to the rapid rise of gold and silver. In fact, they probably think engagement rings for women have become too expensive. The National Retail Federation expects jewelry spending to total $3.9 billion in 2014, which is actually down from the $4.4 billion in 2013.

According to polls, 59 percent of Americans don’t want to spend more than $2,000 on engagement rings. Overall, everyone hopes to pay an average of $2,311, which would be down from 2013’s average price of $2,410. As a comparison, back in 2006 before the recession the average price of engagement rings was $5,317.

Even though times are hard New York Times money columnist Tara Siegel Bernard points out expensive engagement rings are here to stay:

“At a time when many young people are facing big student debts, a weak job market and rising housing costs, this luxury purchase still appears to be firmly planted on many ring fingers across the country.”

It’s also claimed that high-quality one-carat diamond engagement rings cost around $12,700. But this doesn’t necessarily need to be true. When you are purchasing engagement rings or jewelry in general the prices can fluctuate greatly. While bartering is practically unknown in the United States, it’s still possible to ask the sales rep if they’re able to give a special deal or discount.

For Valentine’s Day, this writer bought his wife a butterfly pendant from Kay’s just the other week and I was able to receive around a 40 percent discount just by bargaining. In addition, it’s also possible to purchase loose diamonds from overseas and then have a local jeweler custom set the rock into a ring. Using this method, I was able to purchase a 2 carat blue diamond that was set into an eternity band (white diamonds all around) engagement ring without breaking the bank.