ย 

Engagement Ring Sales Are Up as Couples Enter 5th Month of Togetherness


If sales of engagement rings are any indication, a growing number of couples hunkered down in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic are asking themselves: why not?

In Connecticut, jewelers say theyโ€™ve seen a noticeable spike in demand for engagement rings from mid-March to July compared with previous years.

For the first two months of quarantine โ€” if things were going well โ€” couples browsed online. In May, as jewelry and other retail stores opened under Gov. Lamontโ€™s Phase 1 guidelines, future brides and grooms scouted in person.

At Lux, Bond & Greenโ€™s six retail locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts, co-owner John Green estimates his engagement ring business is up 25% from the same period last year.

โ€œWhen we shut down in March, we got emails and an appointment requests,โ€ John Green, co-owner of Lux, Bond & Green, said. โ€œWe made special appointments and lots of social distancing and masks and gloves and the whole business.โ€

โ€œMany couples are saying, โ€˜Who knows when weโ€™re going to be able to get married, or maybe weโ€™ll just do a small civil service, but letโ€™s get engaged,โ€˜โ€ Green said. โ€œTheyโ€™ve talked about getting married, but in this generation, thereโ€™s no rush. Now, itโ€™s like, โ€˜Weโ€™ve talked about it: why donโ€™t we just do it?โ€˜โ€

Photo: Getty Images

ย