Location’s the deciding thing
When buying an engagement ring
In Cavan they’re small,
Hardly costing at all,
But a Cork man spends cash like a King.
John Moynes
Pic: Shutterstock
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Everything. As It Happens.
Location’s the deciding thing
When buying an engagement ring
In Cavan they’re small,
Hardly costing at all,
But a Cork man spends cash like a King.
John Moynes
Pic: Shutterstock
You’d want to be off your box, spending that much money on an engagement ring. €3500 average???
and they’re probably the type of people who then spend another 20k on the wedding. going into a marriage with huge debt has to be the worst idea ever.
but we love a bit of debt, nom nom nom debt.
I’m glad there’s now a trend of people attending jewellery-making courses with silver/goldsmiths et al so they’re spending 150-200* on a ring instead of stupid levels of money on a ring that has f-all meaning and is mostly about the sparkle-sparkle.
*based on the cost of few classes and materials from a guy in Skerries.
You’d hardly get much sparkle-sparkle for 150-200, would you? They probably end up with a barn- brack looking ring after that course..
Some people prefer that look.
My cousin’s engagement ring cost almost €17000 (I kid you not) and I always found it a wee bit tacky. Each to their own, I suppose.
No sparkle at all, metal (silver) crafted by hand by the person giving it. Solid with whatever ornamentation you want.
The expensive ring was traditionally a way for a jilted bride-to-be to get back on her feet by selling it if the husband-to-be vanished/died/left. Jewellers added the glamour side of things (diamonds are a girls best friend) and the ‘spend two months wages on it’ idea and that’s where the engagement ring market is today.
It really is a ‘each to their own’ thing and a couple should decide that between themselves. The person buying the ring should have a fairly good idea what their partner wants, if they want jewels then so be it.
If I were on the receiving end of an engagement ring, I’d hate to be presented with a 3k ring, I could have spent that money on a telly and a holiday to share with my significant other.
Actually that sounds cool..know any of these places that do these courses? The boyfriend keeps calling me by his last name..not a good sign.
Edward Cooke runs a great one out of Skerries Mills, he’s the guy who won the RTE Craft Master programme a few years back. Nice guy. He takes four people to a class so you get a lot of his time, not just “hammer away at that and I’ll get back to you in an hour”. I only know about him because my Mum is a regular and comes back with amazing things made from silver, copper etc.
great..thanks! A ring’d be nice..dunno about the marriage bit though. :)
if the boyfriend gets ‘wedding eyes’, just snip the ring and turn it into a nice necklace or beat it thin into a bracelet :)
You’re behind the times Jimbo, where art my sparkler?
What Paul said !
That Corkmen are gobshites is hardly news now, is it?
Paul, have you got any pictures of the items your mother has made?
nothing on hand, unfortunately. It’s mostly bird silhouettes made from copper, metal, silver etc mounted on driftwood. They’ll be on sale here this Sunday; http://www.tseac.ie/events/e/2057
I’m sure Ed at Skerries Mills would be only too glad to show what comes out of his classes. He provides the tools, materials and expertise (and sometimes some inspiration) but you bring the ideas, or, at the very least, a starting point eg. I want to make a ring for my sister or a necklace for my Aunt etc. A good few people I’ve known have given vouchers for classes as gifts only to find out the person has followed up the gifted class with subsequent classes to work on a big project.
Many thanks, looks good, as do the classes, always wanted to get into jewellery making.