Your Engagement Ring Cost How Much?

You’re scrolling Instagram when you see it: your cousin, co-worker, or college roommate, beaming next to her partner and flashing her hand with a huge engagement ring. Cue the inner monologue: “Wait… How many carats is that?”

Sure, your first thought might be “Aw, love!” But five seconds later, you’re calculating: Is it lab-grown? Is it moissanite? What did that thing cost?

We know you want to know (because, duh, so do we), so we asked. Bustle reached out to several brides and brides-to-be, and they spilled all the details of their engagement rings, from inherited diamonds appraised at $20,000 to nontraditional gems like rubies and sapphires, and everything in between.

The 44 women who responded spent an average of $6,988 on their engagement rings, with the reported prices ranging from $40 to $22,000. The most common price range? $2,500 to $5,000. Most said their partners paid for the jewelry.

Below, get the low-down on 13 women’s engagement rings, from their romantic tales of picking out their dream ring to all the juicy financial details.

The Bride Secretly Paid For An Upgrade

Style: Hexagon-cut sapphire (0.8 carats) set in white gold with sapphire baguettes

Cost: $2,350

Who paid: He paid $825, she paid $1,525

Age at engagement: 29

“I really wanted to get married, and my partner was unsure. I picked out the ring myself, and a few weeks later, we went back together. He was nervous; I was excited. He didn’t want to get engaged at the time, but I was like, ‘This is such a great price, you have no idea!’

Initially, I looked at a style that was yellow gold with diamonds ($4,500), and I had it made in white gold with sapphires ($2,150). I had the baguettes removed to make it cheaper ($1,650), and I got him to agree by splitting the cost 50/50. But when I picked it up — by myself, he didn’t come — I didn’t like it without the baguettes. I had the jeweler add them back on for an extra $500 because I was like ‘Whatever, it’s mine,’ and the whole thing was my idea anyway. He knows that I paid for the resizing ($200), but not the additional stones.

I love the ring, but I definitely regret pushing the timing. I basically forced it on him. We fought that day, and it sat in his underwear drawer for a year before he proposed.” — Zelda*, 30, Massachusetts

One Month In, The Search Began

Style: Emerald-cut ruby (8 carats) bezel-set in yellow gold with a halo of 34 brilliant-cut diamonds (0.7 carats) on a platinum band

Cost: $3,600

Who paid: Her husband

Age at engagement: 29

“One month into dating my boyfriend, I started looking for my dream engagement ring. On our fifth date, I asked that he propose to me within the year and then went into far too much detail about our future and our future wedding (that I had already planned). He was not deterred by this in the slightest!

At Month Five, he asked for my list of requirements, knowing that I would have one. I have a strong sense of personal style and love jewelry, so he wanted me to be very involved in the selection process. I sent him a list, and at the very top was a ring that checked every box. He asked if it was the one and bought it right then and there.

He proposed on our eight-month anniversary in 2024, we were legally married at the courthouse this Valentine’s Day, and our big backyard wedding will be in 2026.”— Lauren, 29, Minnesota

His Love Language? Business Jargon.

Style: Round-cut natural diamond (2 carats) set in platinum with a pavé band and hidden halo

Cost: Stone is appraised at $20,000

Who paid: Her husband inherited the stone and paid for the setting

Age at engagement: 32

“My fiancé explicitly wanted it to be a surprise but asked for my ‘requirements.’ Since he’s in finance, he interprets information best through decks. I created a CIM — a confidential info memorandum — complete with size and shape preferences, and notes about sentiment over style. An excerpt from the executive summary:

‘The only relevant metrics are the success and longevity of the merger. To support your strategic planning process and maximize efficiencies, the following document has been provided for advisory purposes.’

I noted that if he chose to give me a family stone, none of that would matter because the sentiment is more important than any aesthetic. His father passed away 14 years ago, and my fiancé gave me the stone his father proposed to his mother with. He also got it reset from the same jeweler. The stone matched much of what I wanted anyway, with an added love story we get to honor.” — Daisy*, 33, New York

The Virtual Shopper

Style: Toi et moi ring with a 1-carat round moissanite and 1.7-carat pear moissanite set in 18k gold on a curved band

Cost: $3,500

Who paid: Her wife

Age at engagement: 30

“With our sights set on getting married and buying a house after that, we couldn’t justify the thought of dropping more than $4,000 per ring. We worked with the team at Cullen Jewelry in Australia — whose educational moissanite videos kept popping up on our social feeds — to design two rings via virtual appointments.

Something we particularly loved is that team members were available on the call with similar ring sizes to both me and my wife, so we could better visualize how a certain setting or stone size would look on our fingers. As a plus-size person, I’d already resigned myself to the fact that I likely wouldn’t be able to truly try sample size rings on the correct finger, so this felt like a nice touch that made me feel a lot more comfortable and confident buying such a big piece.

My wife’s ring is also a toi et moi with a 2-carat emerald moissanite and a 1.2-carat pear moissanite set in 18-karat gold on a plain band. Since we wanted things to be equitable between us, we aligned on a budget that neither of us would exceed, and aligned on rings that cost a similar amount!” — Theresa, 31, New York

An Uncut Gem

Style: A raw, uncut natural diamond (3.66 carats) set in 14-karat yellow gold

Cost: $1,991

Who paid: Her husband. He thought the price was lucky because it’s his birth year.

Age at engagement: 29

“We got engaged very casually after six months of dating. I’m not the type who likes a grand romantic gesture (we got married at the courthouse), so we figured the right ring would find us eventually and didn’t stress about when that would be. We both love anything unique and vintage and are nontraditional in a lot of ways.

When this ring popped up on my Instagram feed from a vintage jewelry reseller I follow, I felt it was perfect. I sent the post to my husband; he took it from there and presented it to me very sweetly a few weeks later at one of our favorite date spots.” — Raya, 32, California

A $40 Vintage Find

Style: Two interlocking loops of pavé crystals

Cost: $40

Who paid: Her husband

Age at engagement: 43

“We went ring shopping together at a vintage store, and it jumped out at us — so unique. The two connecting loops look like the two of us are coming together.” — Selena, 45, New York

Clean, Classic, & $22,000

Style: Emerald-cut natural diamond (2 carats) set in gold with a hidden halo

Cost: $22,000

Who paid: Her husband

Age at engagement: 27

“I’ve known my whole adult life what I wanted — a simple, clean, and classic emerald cut with a gold band to match the wedding band I inherited from my grandmother. I gave my fiancé the cut and band color and let him have 100% control of the shopping.” — Emily, 29, New York

A Custom Claddagh Ring

Style: Claddagh with natural diamonds (1-carat center stone, plus more) with a heart engraved inside the band

Cost: $10,000

Who paid: Her husband

Age at engagement: 32

“He worked with a local jeweler to design a ring to match the claddagh I’d worn since studying abroad in Ireland. It was a complete surprise! It’s not what I would’ve picked for myself, but I absolutely love it — and the thought he put into it. He even made the ring box from bog wood from Ireland.” — Erin, 40, Virginia

The Bride Who Came In Under Budget

Style: Oval-cut lab-grown diamond (2 carats) set in gold with kite side stones

Cost: $10,000

Who paid: He paid $7,500; she paid $2,500

Age at engagement: 29

“We picked the center stone together, and I designed the setting with our jeweler. His budget was $7,500, and I planned to cover anything above that. I assumed the total would be around $15,000 and we’d split it, but switching to lab-grown brought the price down more than expected. Smaller natural stones with worse color were double what we ultimately spent.” — Morgan, 31, New York

The Side Hustle Saver

Style: Round-cut vintage natural diamond (size unknown) set in rose gold with a handful of diamonds on an embellished band

Cost: At cost, price unknown

Who paid: Her husband

Age at engagement: 27

“He saved up by helping an older woman on his days off: running errands, fixing things around her house, and driving her to appointments. They became close friends and would chat on the phone about life beyond just the ring.

He had it custom-made by a jeweler in Georgia. He told them that I loved Lord of the Rings, so that became part of the design inspiration. The jeweler gave him the ring at cost. My husband is a pastor and was just getting started at that time. He was serving and supporting a lot of people, so the jeweler wanted to do something to support him, as well.” — Lauren, 31, New Mexico

A Teenage Dream

Style: Rose-cut sapphire (1 carat) in white gold with diamonds and moons flanking the center stone

Cost: $2,200

Who paid: Her husband

Age at engagement: 28

“I had it on my wedding Pinterest board when I was 17 or 18. Years later, when we went ring shopping, I tried it on, but wasn’t sure. He felt it was ‘the one.’ He said the stone reminded him of the ocean, one of my great loves.” — Sophie, 31, Ontario, Canada

An A+ Acting Job

Style: Asscher-cut natural diamond (1 carat) with a halo and pavé band

Cost: $3,500

Who paid: Her husband

Age at engagement: 23

“We went looking at rings together casually, and I fell in love with the style. He acted like he didn’t really like it, so I was genuinely surprised to see it when he proposed. It turns out he actually loved it — he said the Asscher felt unique and layered, like me, but had been trying to throw me off.” — Hannah, 37, Ohio

Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.

*Name has been changed for privacy.