How much should a wedding ring cost?

For a single wedding ring in Australia, a plain gold band usually runs from around $400 to $1,500, depending on the karat, the width and how much metal it contains. A plain platinum band sits higher, roughly $900 to $3,000, because platinum is denser and dearer per gram. Diamond-set bands, such as channel-set or pave designs, generally start around $1,500, and a full eternity band set all the way around can run to $5,000 or more. Most couples budget for two rings, and a common combined spend lands somewhere between $2,000 and $4,000 for the pair. These are ranges rather than fixed prices: a narrow 9k gold band and a wide diamond-set platinum band are both wedding rings, and they sit at opposite ends of the scale.

There is no rule, and importantly there is no salary guideline for wedding rings. The idea of spending a set number of months of income was a marketing line written for engagement rings, and it never applied to wedding bands at all. A more useful approach is to treat the wedding rings as one line in the overall wedding budget and spend what is comfortable against everything else being paid for. It is also worth remembering the wedding ring is worn every day for decades, so a durable metal and a width that will not wear thin matters more over a lifetime than a high price at the counter. Many couples set a single combined budget for both bands and split it according to the design each person wants, rather than matching the two figures exactly.

Four things move the price. Metal is the biggest: platinum is the most expensive, followed by 18k gold, then 14k and 9k, since higher karats and platinum contain more precious metal by weight. Width and thickness matter because a gold or platinum band is largely priced on the metal it contains, so a wide, heavy band costs more than a slim one in the same metal. Diamonds add the most variable cost: a few small accent stones add a little, while a channel-set or full eternity band can double or triple the price of the equivalent plain band. Finally, brand carries a premium. A band from a designer house such as Cartier costs well above an equivalent ring from an independent jeweller, because a large part of the price is the name. Choosing a bespoke maker over a branded one is often where the saving sits.