Best places to buy engagement rings under £1000
A budget of £1000 gives you a lot of options for an engagement ring. Of course, you can spend a whole lot more if you want to (I personally wouldn't), but if you shop online or choose the cheaper diamond engagement ring retailers then it's certainly enough.
According to various statistics, it is below the average (which is somewhere between £1200 and £1800) but quite frankly many people naively walk into a jewellers without doing any research so don't get the best deal.
Here's our guide to buying a diamond engagement ring on a budget of £1000 pounds.
According to various statistics, it is below the average (which is somewhere between £1200 and £1800) but quite frankly many people naively walk into a jewellers without doing any research so don't get the best deal.
Here's our guide to buying a diamond engagement ring on a budget of £1000 pounds.
Buying second hand engagement rings under £1000
If you want your money to go further, buying your engagement ring second hand is the obvious option. Diamonds plummet in price, even if they've only been worn for a few hours, seemingly because a) diamonds have a substantial mark up and b) people are superstitious about used jewellery.
If your budget was lower - perhaps £300 or £500 then I might lean towards buying second hand, but with a budget of £1000 it is probably worth seeing what you can get new first.
If you search for diamond engagement rings under £1000 on eBay you'll see that you can get yourself a diamond with a weight of more than 1 carat, or if you want something that is made by Tiffany (which pushes the price up) then you could expect to get something nearer to 0.50 carat. Another online seller for second hand engagement rings is Etsy. Search for Etsy diamond engagement rings under £1000.
If your budget was lower - perhaps £300 or £500 then I might lean towards buying second hand, but with a budget of £1000 it is probably worth seeing what you can get new first.
If you search for diamond engagement rings under £1000 on eBay you'll see that you can get yourself a diamond with a weight of more than 1 carat, or if you want something that is made by Tiffany (which pushes the price up) then you could expect to get something nearer to 0.50 carat. Another online seller for second hand engagement rings is Etsy. Search for Etsy diamond engagement rings under £1000.
Buying new engagement rings under £1000
If I was working for a budget of £1000, I'd probably go for a new diamond engagement engagement ring and buy online.
£1000 won't get you a great deal in a lot of jewellers (I had a rather disappointing trip to Hatton Garden when I was searching) but it does go a long way online.
Here are a selection of the best value online engagement ring sellers, with an idea of what you can get for £1000 pounds (as of January 2015):
£1000 won't get you a great deal in a lot of jewellers (I had a rather disappointing trip to Hatton Garden when I was searching) but it does go a long way online.
Here are a selection of the best value online engagement ring sellers, with an idea of what you can get for £1000 pounds (as of January 2015):
- Amazon (up to 0.60 carat for £1000)
- QP Jewellers (up to 0.75 carat for £800)
- Diamond Heaven (up to 0.40 carat for £1000)
- Beaverbrooks (up to 0.25 carat for £950)
- Littlewoods (0.50 carat for £890)
- Jewellery World (0.33 carat for £1000)
- Purely Diamonds (0.45 carat for £980)
- Diamonds Factory (0.50 carat for £1020)
- H Samuel (0.50 carat for £1000)
- Goldsmiths (0.45 carat for £1050)
- F Hinds (0.50 carat for £1000)
- Ernest Jones (0.50 carat for £850)
- Aspire Diamonds (0.50 carat for £1000)
- TH Baker (0.25 carat for £750)
- Diamond Jewelery United (eBay store - 1.34 carat for £1000)
Our conclusion
Don't believe the hype - £1000 is a perfectly generous budget for a diamond engagement ring. Some people will try to tell you that you need to spend a month or two's salary, but you don't. Spend what you can afford, rather than what you feel you need to.
If you would rather spend less than £1000, take a look at our guides to spending £500 or £300.
If you would rather spend less than £1000, take a look at our guides to spending £500 or £300.
