How The Rising Cost of Gold Affected Us
Posted on December 17, 2007 by Him and tagged finances, wedding
photo: CaroWallis1
Last year around this time, Her and I went to the place where I purchased her engagement ring to shop for my wedding band. We ended up both liking a simple yet classic, plain, polished wedding band. The price for getting it in platinum was ~$800; the price for the same ring in white gold was ~$250. There was little discernible difference between the two metals except for the price, so we thought that we'd go with white gold. Since we knew that the wedding was more than a year away, we decided that we wouldn't purchase anything that day and would give ourselves time to mull over the choice for a while.
That while turned out to be another year. This past weekend, Her and I went back to the same jewelry store, spoke with the salesperson, and looked at the same simple yet classic, plain, polished wedding band. Except that this time, the price for the wedding band in white gold increased to $450. We finally decided to purchase it.
I've read headlines about the rising price of gold and whether to invest in it, but never really paid attention. I was pretty blindsided that the rising prices of gold would affect us in this part of our life. The salesperson was all too familiar with this and the daily fluctuations of the price of gold; she said that we wouldn't have to pay the difference if the price of gold rose even more during the period it took for them to order the ring.
At the end of the day though, it was a great feeling to be one step closer to being married.
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Merry Maid | Dec 17, 2007
I bought my platinum band today for $450 at Robbins Bros. The comfort cut was twice the amount so I went with the classic cut!
white gold vs platinum | Dec 17, 2007
if you don't care about how brilliant your white gold looks, in the long run, platimun may be cheaper as you do not need to replate it (white gold is re-dipped when it starts to lose its luster). we went for white gold as it was cheaper and we are pretty low maintenace people so we don't really care how shiny the ring looks. i only re-dipped my engagement ring once (for my wedding ceremony which was a year after proposal) as it was looking dull next to my never worn wedding band.
just a thought | Dec 18, 2007
love your blog! we're recently married in a big city and remember how overwhelming all the price decisions are. $450 compared to the prices my husband heard from his co-workers is a pretty good deal. that being said, kohls has a 14k white gold 4-mm band for $92 (that's what we got) -- but they don't always have 1/2 sizes and lack a little in customer service, so it depends on your needs.
My wedding band is platinum and my engagement ring is white gold (eloped, so the wedding band came before the engagement ring) and the platinum has many more scratches than the gold and looks much duller. We probably would have saved the money and gone with gold if we had known.
That being said, we got a 1 carat platinum band from Costco for $1,300, which was a steal.
MVP | Dec 20, 2007
Congratulations on taking that next exciting step! I'll repeat what another commenter asked: did you consider shopping around for the best price? Since you wanted only a simple band, it may have been possible to find a similar style for a lesser price.
Also, as Corinne said, platinum is softer than gold, meaning it'll scratch easier. After you've worn the ring for awhile, it'll stun you how scratched up even the gold gets.
Sarah | Dec 21, 2007
Why would you buy a ring at a brick & mortar jewelry store when you can buy at places like BlueNile.com or Zales.com and get things on sale and get paid back rebates through fatwallet.com or ebates.com??? You could have probably gotten the same or a similar ring for hundreds less!
Him | Dec 21, 2007 | Reply to Sarah
The same ring at BlueNile is $375. Zales sells lower quality rings that are waaay overpriced. Their rings in the price that we purchased are 14K at Zales; much lower quality than the one that I picked up. I'd like to see what I could get for "hundreds" less that is the same quality.
We ended up going to the same jeweler who I purchased Her's engagement ring from. They offer free engraving if the ring is purchased through them. They will also resize it for free if needed.
E.C. | Dec 17, 2007
Did you shop around to see if you could find a better deal elsewhere, possibly by buying online?
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