The 6 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid When Buying an Engagement Ring

(The Vogue) - De Beers was the first to link diamonds with engagements. During the Depression, in a campaign that would’ve made Don Draper proud, those advertising geniuses started running an ad pushing men to spend one month’s salary on a ring if they wanted to be “responsible,” by the 1980s, it jumped up to two months. These days, the rule of thumb that’s often referenced is that one should fork over at least three months’ salary when purchasing this piece of forever jewelry. That said, engagement rings are now procured in a myriad of ways—from reworking great-grandma’s diamond, to going splitsies, to forgoing bling altogether and opting for a simple gold band à la Amanda Seyfried. Even though there are now lots of different ideas with regard to cost and aesthetics, there’s no denying that most proposals still involve a ring that costs the person popping the question a hefty chunk of change—so the last thing anyone hopes for is to get it wrong. No one wants their betrothed pulling a Carrie Bradshaw and bitching to their friends about how their future spouse gave them, “a pear-shaped diamond . . . with a gold band.” Dun, dun, dun! In an effort to avoid this early days engagement catastrophe, we caught up with wedding stylist Cynthia Smith of Cynthia Cook Brides to get her list of the top mistakes many make when ponying up for this big purchase and how to avoid them.