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"My friend Nina is smack in the middle of a whirlwind romance! She called me two weeks ago to tell me that she has met the love of her life. They&amp;#x27;ve been emailing since July (he lives in Alaska, she lives in Brooklyn), spent a completely blissed-out week together, and now talk for hours on the phone every day. It&amp;#x27;s sooooo sweet. Now he has asked her dad for her hand in marriage (a controversial move) and they&amp;#x27;re shopping for an engagement ring that won&amp;#x27;t break the bank. But where? Check out three rings after the jump--including one for $10!--and tell me what you think...**** What do you think of these three rings, my dears? This Erica Wiener engagement ring is only $100. Why the crazy cheap price tag? &amp;quot;Herkimer diamonds&amp;quot; are actually valueless quartz crystals. (Fun fact: Sneaky jewelers during the Civil War used to pass them off as actual diamonds.) &amp;quot;We love the visual joke created when these severely flawed, yet impressively sized stones masquerade as diamonds in our classic engagement-ring setting,&amp;quot; says the shop Bona. Impress your friends with bling while saving your loot! An Alissa Melka gold ring is a cheeky way to say &amp;quot;I love you.&amp;quot; It comes in at $570 -- and you can find colorful $10 versions, too! Choose an antique engagement ring, which you can find at shops like Tail of the Yak in Berkeley, California, and Doyle &amp;amp; Doyle in New York. This stunner rings in at $2800 (which isn&amp;#x27;t bad considering that a classic Tiffany&amp;#x27;s ring can cost $10,000 to $15,000. Yikes!) Keep in mind, dear W., that any ring can be an engagement ring, so don&amp;#x27;t feel pressure to get a certain type. What do you think, my readers? Would you like any of these three rings? (I think the first one is awesome.) What do you think is a good price for an engagement ring--and when do you think it starts getting insane? Do you have any other ring-shopping tips for our very smitten Smitten reader? P.S. What happens if you hate your engagement ring? Check it out on Dear Sugar....And read other readers&amp;#x27; dilemmas about trying out phone sex and hooking up while wearing Spanx, and see our sweet proposal stories...."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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