Emporio Armani Sterling Silver Cufflinks – $175.00
You spend two month’s salary on her engagement ring and what do you get in return? An ulcer caused by worrying that she either won’t like it, or… your plan to propose will tank. That hardly seems fair.
My wife’s wedding band cost about half as much as her engagement ring. My wedding band cost a 10th of that. And the security guard helped get it out of the case for me (he was awful nice. Doubt he made commission on the minuscule sale though).
Yes these cufflinks are irresponsibly expensive for two little chunks of metal, but compare it to the cost of her ring(s). C’mon. Getting married is already about spending wads of cash on small intricate things. The flowers, the invitations… why not throw this almost $200 pair of Armani Cufflinks in there too?
They’re mainly black so they’ll go with anything, plus they’re sterling silver and thus have real worth to them.
And don’t even try that man-gagement ring crap. You want a husband, not a whipped pool boy.
Engagement Cufflinks. Think about it. Just an idea.
That I’m absolutely sure will never catch on.
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aww, shot down your own idea before you even gave it a chance
i would rather get these than those EA logo’d links
Why not get him these classics?
http://ny-image0.etsy.com/ialcr_fullxfull.6940.jpg
@kin: Hopefully the reverse psychology will work? Nice links from Tiffany. Tough to go wrong there. These from Tiffany have always been on my long term list but it doesn’t look like you can order them online anymore… if at all.
@TheMeInTeam… major points for that. Hilarious!
I don’t know if I’d go for the cufflinks themselves, but I like the spirit of what you’re working for. As a currently-engaged man myself, I feel the pain of spending 10x the amount on a engagement ring for her, and then half again for her band, and then getting my simple metal band in return. What about the idea of an engagement watch?
http://www.askmen.com/fashion/mens-watches_500/571_engagement-watches-watch-snob.html
Maybe not the level of watch that the writer recommends, but at least the idea is there.
Now that’s a terrific idea. Cufflinks are great, but unlike the engagement ring and band for her, you can’t wear them every day. And you wouldn’t wear the watch every day either… but if she got you something that could work in both dress and casual situations, then that’d be a fantastic gift. I’m thinking this watch from Burberry (not the usual chrono I link to) is the perfect chioce. Her ring is still going to cost way more right? So we can get a little expensive when it comes to the watch? (Can’t forget a similar gunmetal band watch for the guys who prefer metal links either.)
That really is a great idea. My parents actually did that, and my dad’s Omega is one of his most prized possessions. (I don’t think they were as crazy expensive in 1980 as they are now, but still).
Now, how does one go about *asking* for said watch without looking greedy or materialistic?
On one knee, holding up ring to her.
You: “Will you marry me?”
Her: “YES!”.
She goes to put on ring, but you snatch it back.
You: “Great, now wait one second. In return for this ring I’d like this watch.”
Pull out catalog from back pocket and point to expensive watch.
Her: “On second thought…”
Still would be a nice gesture if any women are reading this blog and decide to do it of their own accord :).
I like the idea here but I wouldn’t wear something with such obvious branding. Some of the other cuff links you’ve featured? Yes.
And I get that. Usually I can’t stand branding. But if it’s a pair of Armani cufflinks with a $100 suit I got off Overstock? I’ll let it slide 🙂
I can’t stand branding, to the point I have spent extra money to not have brands emblazoned on shirts etcetera. Nevertheless, I like this idea. With the cost of a ring, I think woman should be encouraged to buy their guy a nice Breitling, Omega or at least a Tag. If jewelers have convinced morons to buy “man rings”, maybe they can turn their evil towards something we want. Hell, they convinced woman that one of the most common stones was precious.
I think either one of these ideas is brilliant. I gotta say Joe when you brought up that Burberry watch I thought to myself, “this dude really wants that watch!” But then you managed to find an even nicer looking puppy! This idea I’m gonna work hard to promote. That way hopefully whenever I do decide to get married, with some luck it becomes custom.
I think we need to quantify what’s appropriate for the ladies. Now, no guy would ever ask. Or even expect. That’s just terrible. But if she CHOOSES too… how much should she spend? The old benchmark for guys is the ring should cost you about two months salary. Should we say 5% of the cost of the engagement ring for cuff links? If she goes watch, 10%? Is that… “fair”???? (This just seems so, so wrong…)
Hey Joe, I’ve never seen you mention that that Burberry watch you always link to also comes in a non-chronograph version for almost $200 less. Without the chrono it might be getting so understated that it’s actually just boring, but I still think it looks pretty sharp, and at least the price is back down in Dappered territory.
Wow, never knew that rule about 2 months salary (I’m young). Maybe an “Engagement Ring” article is in order. Some time between now and the next few years would be great, thanks. 🙂
Bryan, I just got engaged a few weeks ago so I went through the ring buying process recently. You can get dirt cheap stones and settings through a dozen online retailers but the best advice I can give you is to do the legwork of talking to all of your local jewelers in person until you find one that you feel wants what you want.
I found a jeweler who made the whole process painless and I ended up with a fantastic ring partially because of his input. I knew I could trust him when he talked me down from an even larger center stone to keep from sacrificing the proportions of the whole ring.
Who cares if we have to spend more on the ring than they do on our gift whatever it may be. Thats how it always has been and how it will be. I think a watch is a pretty cool idea or even a tie bar (maybe from tiffany). I think it depends from guy to guy, I rarly wear french cuff shirts, so I would rather have a nice tie bar. Also even tho our band normally dosent cost as much, we cant forget that it does cost something and is the gift that is meant to be worn all the time.