ENGAGEMENT RINGS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 79, Issue 7145, 14 December 1949, Page 10

ENGAGEMENT RINGS

VARYING METHODS OF PURCHASE DIPLOMACY REQUIRED OF JEWELLERS In spite of the htgn cost of setting up a home, Christchurch jewellers have noticed ho tendency for couples to buy cheaper engagement rings. Sales have remained steady, except for a boom period immediately after the war, and the general tendency is for people to buy rings irrespective of thg cost of living. Engagement rings to-day range from about £l5 to £l5O, but only a minority buys the cheaper arid ddarer rings? The average couple spends from £35 to £45 on a ring, compared to an average of about £l5 to £2O in 1936, when rings were cheaper. There is a tendency in the South Island for women to be somewhat conservative in the choice of a ring. In the North Island the demand is generally for. more fancy settings than in the South, where claw and coronet settings are more popular. Jewellers regard engagement rings hs a good investment, which they Say will always realise a proportionately fair figure, but this is not the attitude of the couple Who come to buy. “Far from it”, said a Christchurch jeweller. From the woman’s point of view, it was an important occasion, which only came once in a lifetime, he said, apd the ring was to be a lasting fifh'Blem of the days before the horiie building period. Some of the couples have obviously discussed the matter beforehand, and have come to some decision as to the style or price, but others have no idea what is wanted. One jeweller said that some couples who came in had decided to become engaged on the spur of the moment, or the night before. "Then rather awkward situations arise, when the man does not know what the girl expects arid the girl does not kno'w how much her fiarice is prepared to-pay”. Jewellers have to be diplomats, as one of the most important points in salesmanship is to minimise embarrassment. If the couple have not discussed the matter ftfily, the salesman gives them time to sort things out, and they will perhaps come back later to make a choice. Other couples See a ring in a window, buy it and walk out of the shop within 10 minutes. Generally, however, there is not much delay, and most couples collect the ring within two or three days or a week from deciding to buy. Occasionally a man comes in by himself to buy an engagement ring, but not very often. He has usually been told the style required. Similarly, a girl will occasionally come in by herself, as her fiance is in the country, or living elsewhere. The

price has generally been agreed on in these cases. Jewellers often find that the couple to whom they sold an engagement ring will return later to the same shop for a wedding ring.