What Are the Cheapest Wedding Ring Sets? – Luxuria

What are the cheapest wedding ring sets?   In some respects it’s a bit of a loaded question because much hinges on ones definition of cheap.  

Poundland, a British variety store chain hit the headlines in 2019 by offering £1 (US$ 1.40) engagement rings.   Yes, that’s right, a proposal ring for less than US$2.   True love shouldn’t be defined by how much the ring is worth seems to be the thinking.

On the other hand the real deal doesn’t come cheap.   The average American couple spends around $1,000 on the bride’s wedding band and around $500 on the groom’s. And that’s just the wedding rings.  According to The Knot 2020 Jewelry and Engagement Study, the average cost of an engagement ring is $5,500.

So realistically, when thinking about the cheapest wedding ring sets – what is a good and affordable compromise that doesn’t look terrible or scream fake?  The answer we argue below is precious sterling silver combined with quality diamond simulant.    Done right such rings can look like US$20k diamond engagement rings but only cost around US$100.

Are you interested to learn more?  Then, please continue reading.   We will share tips on how to find beautiful but cheap wedding ring and engagement ring sets.

Cheapest Wedding Ring sets, Tips before looking

Before you start looking for cheap ring sets, it helps to have a few ground rules in place. This will make it easier to navigate buying budget rings without getting overwhelmed.

Know Your Budget

Once upon a time, the rule for men proposing was that they should spend two or three months’ salary on a ring. Happily, that rule no longer applies. However, you should know how to set your budget and establish your priorities.

Start by taking a look at your cash flow, expenses, debts, and projected cost for the wedding. Figure out what you can afford to spend from your savings. From there, you can figure out your price point and avoid purchasing any rings over that hard limit.

Think about your priorities too.    Many couples looking at options for the cheapest wedding ring sets do so because they plan to allocate most of their money to a house deposit instead.   This is wise because a permanent place to live is far more important than a ring.   Further, property increases in value with time.   On the other hand a diamond ring typically loses fifty per cent of its value just by leaving the store, ouch!

Compare Prices & Packaging

Once you find rings that are within your price point, don’t be shy about comparing prices. There are a lot of jewelry retailers out there, from local jewelers to Etsy to Amazon to huge jewelry chains like Zales. Don’t be afraid to bookmark pages and double-check your options.

Also, don’t forget to factor in things like shipping, sales tax and shipping insurance.   When comparing prices online please be aware that the cheapest wedding ring sets often come with no box.   Alternatively, some suppliers charge extra for a ring box or supply the most horrid ring box or pouch.   

The message is simple – don’t under estimate the importance of ring packaging.  The box is the first thing that your future wife will see when you hand over the ring.  It will tell of the quality and craftsmanship of the ring within the box and add (or unfortunately in most cases subtract) from the overall Wow factor.

PHOTO 1: One problem is that often the cheapest wedding ring sets come with cheap box, no box at all or a no frills drawstring pouch.   When popping the BIG question, you only get one chance to get it right.  High quality packaging like that supplied with Luxuria® wedding rings (see above) will completely wow her and make the proposal memorable.   Photo above is of a princess cut diamond simulant engagement ring from Luxuria.

Don’t Buy the Spiel

The first rule of buying jewelry is to know how to buy like a jeweler. That means not falling for the jeweler spiel.

For example, nearly all colored gemstones are treated. Completely “Natural” gemstones are rare in finished products typically found in stores selling cheap engagement ring sets.   By the way “finished jewelry” refers to a piece that is completely assembled rather than a ring setting waiting for its center stone. 

Heat-treated or even synthetic gemstones are fine. What you want to avoid are stones that have been irradiated with colored glass or silicon.   Even for the cheapest wedding ring sets you want to avoid effectively buying a gray paperweight injected to look like a ruby or sapphire.   Furthermore, please completely avoid buying rings with crystal or coloured glass centre stones.   The reason is both crystal and glass scratch and chip too easily and look awful quickly. 

PHOTO 2: You won’t find precious gemstones like natural sapphire, ruby and emerald in the cheapest wedding ring sets.   However, high quality and affordable wedding rings are available using synthetic gemstones.   Synthetic stones are chemically identical to natural ones but are lab created.  They  and are a good option for cheap wedding ring sets. Seen above are affordable 925 rings with synthetic sapphire, emerald and ruby.  At less than US$100 each they are examples of affordable wedding rings.

Similarly, never buy on your first visit to the store.  Always leave without buying and surf around online. Do your homework on the kind of piece in which you are interested.  Also, know that no piece of jewelry is an investment. If you want an investment, buy stocks or real estate. Jewelry is a luxury item, wedding rings included.

Remember, jewelry is not an investment. No jeweller is going to guarantee to buy an engagement or wedding ring back in a year at a 5-percent premium over what you paid. A jeweler who tells you that jewelry is a good investment is lying to you. Therefore always buy within your means.

Finally, be aware that shop lighting enhances stone sparkle.     Check out what the stones look like under low light conditions.   Don’t fall for the oldest trick in the book which is the jeweller suggesting you look at the stone in sunlight.   Every stone, including fake diamonds, will sparkle in the sunlight.

How to Find the Cheapest Engagement Ring Sets and Cheap Wedding Ring Sets

Once you’ve done your preparation, you’re ready to start shopping around. Here are a few tips to help you find beautiful wedding rings without breaking your budget.

Keep the Width Thin

There are plenty of factors affecting a ring’s sticker price, but they all boil down to one salient point: the more elaborate a ring, the more expensive it is. In other words, the more work and precious material that went into a wedding ring the more expensive it is.

So, if you want to keep your wedding ring budget-friendly, one of the best ways to start is by looking for a thinner-width ring, especially one with simpler designs. The good news is that wedding bands themselves tend to be plain and less flashy than the engagement rings.

Our Luna by Luxuria wedding band is a great example of this–it’s slender and pared-down for a simple, understated band.

PHOTO 3:  How to find affordable wedding ring sets?   The cheapest wedding ring sets tend to be less elaborate and have thinner bands. The Luxuria® D’PROMESSO high quality diamond simulant bridal set is seen above. It includes an affordable anniversary or wedding band combined with a 2 carat engagement ring. The band material is precious 925 silver which is plated in rhodium. Rhodium is a rare, silver-white hard metal in the platinum family which provides extra shine and durability.  See Luxuria D’PROMESSO for more product information.

Try Less Expensive Metals

If you’re shopping on a budget, this is not the time to go for gold or platinum. You can, however, opt for many equally beautiful but inexpensive metals.

For example, tungsten doesn’t get as much love as silver or gold, even though it really should.    Tungsten is four times harder than titanium.   Tungsten is also one of the most scratch-resistant metals you can find for a wedding ring.   This is important because hopefully you will be wearing your wedding ring for decades.   Of course, there’s also titanium, which is strong but lightweight.

However contemporary metals such as tungsten, titanium and cobalt are not precious metals.  Put simply, they don’t have the prestige or intrinsic value that precious metals such as gold, silver or platinum have.

If you are wanting a precious metal that is affordable the go to choice is sterling silver.  925 silver, especially when plated with precious rhodium looks a lot like white gold.  In fact 925 silver can be even brighter than white gold.

PHOTO 4:  Wedding ring sets typically contain an engagement ring with a matching wedding band. Seen above are some inexpensive wedding ring sets. On the left is a 925 silver bridal ring set with a canary (yellow) diamond simulant. On the right is a 925 sterling silver wedding ring sets with a high grade white diamond simulant central stone. These nice cheap wedding rings are typically less than US$100.

In sum, when hunting for cheap wedding ring sets keep an eye out for a sterling silver engagement ring set.  Sterling silver is a precious metal and with care it will last a lifetime.  

Think Beyond Diamonds

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend–at least, they have been since De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. launched a marketing campaign to create the idea that diamonds are rare, valuable signs of esteem inextricably linked to love.  De Beers successfully popularized diamonds in order to keep South African diamond mines profitable.   With the help of Hollywood and the slogan “A diamond is forever”, the status of diamond engagement rings took off.

“The reality of course is that diamonds are not especially rare and neither are they indestructible.   Diamonds can in fact be shattered, chipped, discoloured or incinerated to ash.   Furthermore, millennials are choosing diamond less often.”

But what happens if you don’t have or don’t want to spend the average of US$1,000 on a wedding band and US$5500 on an engagement ring?

A go-to choice for the cheapest wedding ring sets – that look just like the real deal – is to combine 925 silver with diamond simulant.    If you want some tips on how to choose a fake diamond or placeholder ring check out the below video.

VIDEO:  Cheap wedding rings can look like the real deal if you know what to shop for. This video provides some great tips on how to ensure you’re finding the cheapest wedding ring sets to meet your unique expectations while also keeping it within a reasonable budget (for anyone). We run though options and ideas for affordable wedding rings and wedding ring sets.

Affordable wedding ring sets and bridal sets can be purchased for less than US$100 but still use precious metal and look great.    The key is to know what to look for.    In our blog on tips for choosing a fake diamond ring we cover the basis.   Careful attention is needed to stone cut, the mount and setting, picking the right imitation diamond type and size.   

Get it right and cheap wedding rings costing less than US$100 can look to naked eye just like a US$10,000 dollar ring.  Check out our blog on affordable engagement rings below 100 where we outline the some of the cheapest wedding ring options.   

Affordable wedding ring sets using synthetic gemstones

PHOTO 5:   Synthetic gemstones such as synthetic sapphire, emerald and ruby are popular for use in cheap wedding ring sets.      Synthetic stones, especially sapphire and emerald are hard, won’t easily scratch and look fabulous.   Photo above is of a lab created emerald engagement ring set from Luxuria®.    

Cheap wedding bands

Cheap wedding bands need not be a big compromise.    It is however best to choose a precious metal.   925 silver is a good choice and is frequently used in the cheapest wedding ring sets.

Silver is a popular choice for cheap wedding rings because it polishes to a beautiful mirror finish and has one of the whitest and most reflective surfaces of metals.  Another reason why silver is a favourite choice for jewellery is that it costs less than other metals – it is more abundant in nature and is easy to shape.   

However, we recommend that silver wedding bands are coated in rhodium.    Rhodium is a rare, silver-white hard metal in the platinum family on the periodic table.  It’s highly reflective and holds the distinction of being one of the most expensive precious metals in the world.  Rhodium increases shine, luster and durability and looks a lot like white gold.  Rhodium plating will also make the metal more scratch resistant and less prone to tarnishing.   But perhaps the biggest upside to expensive rhodium plating is it’s completely nickel free, making it hypoallergenic. 

PHOTO 6:   925 silver is a popular choice for inexpensive wedding rings.    We strongly recommend rhodium plating to improve durability and reduce the chances of skin allergies.   Seen above are simple silver wedding bands from Luxuria®.  

Consider Cheap Wedding Rings with natural gemstones

Other options apart from diamond simulants exist.    One great idea for affordable wedding rings is to pair sterling silver with natural semi-precious gemstones.   Such rings have higher intrinsic value because there is stored value in both the gemstone and the setting 925 metal.   Did you know for example the spot price for silver increased by nearly 50% during 2020?   The price of silver has continued to increase in 2021 because silver is a safe haven asset that generally fares well in times of turmoil.

PHOTO 7:  Looking for a cheap wedding ring for her? Why not consider combining a natural semi-precious gemstone such as amethyst with precious 925 silver? Affordable wedding rings can still use precious materials which have intrinsic value and look great, despite the reasonable price tag. Further non-diamond engagement rings are becoming an increasingly popular option for modern brides.   Photo above of a amethyst gemstone engagement ring from Luxuria.

Many diamond alternative gemstones exist.   You can also think outside the box with unexpected gemstones, like smoky quartz or amethyst rings. The key is to choose a hue you love, not just follow a trend. That will give you an unusual ring that still ages well over time.   If you are interested in amethyst do check out our amethyst ring buying guide.

Of course, since this is the wedding ring, you can also opt for budget-friendly details beyond just gemstones, like engraving. This will keep the price down but still give you a beautiful, thoughtful ring.

The Cheapest Wedding Ring Sets to Show How Special She is

We know that love and marriage shouldn’t have to break the bank.  Why spend a fortune on a wedding ring anyway?   As the old saying goes “love has no price”.  

That’s why we are pleased offer some of the cheapest wedding ring sets you can find.   Though we offer affordable wedding rings they are all made with quality materials that look beautiful but won’t break your budget. That way, you can focus on what really matters: planning your wedding and starting the next chapter of your life together.

If you’re looking for affordable and gorgeous rings, check out our shop today.

Want to learn more?

Check out our blog on affordable engagement rings under $100?

There is a rapidly growing trend in the USA and elsewhere of proposing with fake diamond rings.  Sometimes also called a temporary, placeholder or proposal engagement ring, this is a highly effective way for prospective grooms to buy a wedding ring on a low budget.

Semi-precious gemstone rings can make great low cost wedding ring alternatives.   Check out these amethyst wedding ring buying guide and blue topaz wedding ring buying guides.   A decision to opt for the cheapest wedding ring sets available can still use quality materials.