Guide · 4 min read
How Much Should You Actually Spend on an Engagement Ring?
By Ryland, founder of Airwaves · Updated July 2026
Let's clear one thing up first: the "two to three months' salary" rule is not ancient wisdom. It was a slogan written by the ad agency N.W. Ayer for De Beers — one month's salary in the 1930s, quietly upgraded to two, then three, as the decades went on. It's a marketing target, not a financial principle. So feel free to ignore it.
A saner way to budget
Here's the only rule that actually matters: spend an amount that excites you to give and won't stress you to pay. For some people that's $300, for others $3,000. A ring you bought without going into debt is a better start to a marriage than a ring with a payment plan attached.
Work backward from a number you're genuinely comfortable with, then get the most beautiful ring you can for it. That's the whole framework.
Where the diamond budget actually goes
When you buy a mined diamond, a large chunk of the price isn't the sparkle — it's scarcity, supply-chain markup, and brand. Two rings can look identical on a hand while one costs ten times more, because you're paying for the certificate's pedigree, not the visual.
That's the insight moissanite is built on: keep the look, drop the markup.
What the same budget buys in moissanite
Take a $1,500 budget. In a mined diamond, that might get you a modest stone in a simple setting. In D-color moissanite on S925 silver, the same $1,500 — often far less — gets you a larger, brighter centerpiece and money left over. Most of our engagement pieces land well under that, which is rather the point.
You're not spending less because you're settling. You're spending less because you skipped the part of the price that was never about the ring.
| Your budget | What it buys in mined diamond | What it buys in moissanite | Left over |
|---|---|---|---|
| $150 | — | 1–2ct certified solitaire in S925 silver | $0–100 |
| $500 | A barely-there stone | Our biggest certified cuts, up to 6ct | $300+ |
| $1,500 | ~0.5ct, simple setting | Ring + matching band + earrings | $1,000+ |
| $5,000 | ~1ct, name-brand certificate | Everything above, and the honeymoon flight | Most of it |
The honest bottom line
Spend what feels right to you, not what an old ad campaign decided for you. If maximizing the ring while minimizing the bill sounds good, moissanite makes the math very easy.
Questions
Is it tacky to propose with moissanite?
Not even slightly. It's a real, gorgeous gemstone that looks like a diamond and lets you spend on the life together instead of the markup. Plenty of people choose it on purpose, not as a compromise.
How much does a moissanite engagement ring cost?
Most of ours land from around $80 to a few hundred dollars depending on size and style — a fraction of a comparable diamond ring. Every stone is D-color, GRA certified, set in S925 silver.
Should I tell people it's moissanite?
Entirely up to you. Most people can't tell, and the certificate proves exactly what it is if you ever want to. It's your ring and your story.
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