Cities In Love: Most Romantic Cities

Ever wondered which are the most romantic cities in the UK? We’ve looked into which cities are buying the most engagement rings for that all important proposal, as well as which cities are spending the most on engagement rings, in order to find out where in the UK is just bursting with love.

31 JANUARY 2022 | EDITOR - ERNEST JONES

Ever wondered which are the most romantic cities in the UK? Not the ones with the most picturesque backdrop for a proposal, or the ones where you’d book for a valentine’s weekend away, but actually, the ones with the most people in love. We’ve looked into which cities are buying the most engagement rings for that all important proposal, as well as which cities are spending the most on engagement rings, in order to find out where in the UK is just bursting with love.

Cities in the UK with the most ring sales

When looking at which cities had purchased the most rings online from Ernest Jones in 2021, we found the following came out top:

1. London
2. Birmingham
3. Maidenhead
4. Newbury
5. Manchester
6. Bristol
7. Glasgow
8. Liverpool
9. Nottingham
10. Edinburgh

After we got the results of the above list, we decided to do a little more digging. We looked at the ring sales divided by the population (with a minimum of 15,000 people) to get a truer view of who purchases rings more, and this is what we found:

1. Newbury
2. Maidenhead
3. Rochdale
4. Carlisle
5. York
6. Harrow
7. Mansfield
8. Salford
9. Brighton
10. Penwortham

So there’s our top ten! The lovely market town of Newbury in Berkshire came out top, buying the most rings (per person) in the UK. Closely followed by Maidenhead - there must have been love in the air in Berkshire! Up North we have cities like Carlisle, York and Salford, all showing the love this year more so than other cities in the UK!

Valentine’s day in the most romantic cities

As we approach the most romantic day of the year, do the top UK romantic cities stay the same, or do we see different cities fighting for the spotlight? We looked at ring sales data for the month of February in 2021, So let’s see what we found…

1. Newbury
2. Maidenhead
3. Rochdale
4. Mansfield
5. Penwortham
6. Carlisle
7. Harrow
8. York
9. Salford
10. Grimsby

With just a slight shuffle in the order and one drop off, these locations have truly shown us they’re the romantic cities of the UK. Newbury, Maidenhead and Rochdale secure the top 3 spots again, and while Carlisle is knocked down 2 positions, Grimsby enters the top 10 eliminating Beighton off the list. You certainly know where to visit now if you’re searching for some cupid magic!

Big spending cities

As tradition goes, it’s said that you should spend three months’ salary on an engagement ring for your loved one – after all, they’ll be wearing that ring for the rest of their life. The amount of this can vary between jobs and how much people earn, but as times have changed, some people dismiss this tradition and choose to spend what they feel comfortable with.

Of course, some people want to go above and beyond, but the most important thing to do when choosing a ring is to set yourself a realistic budget of what you can afford and are willing to spend and go from there. Engagement ring prices can vary by a number of factors including the style, design, stone and even more – therefore setting your budget should be the first thing you do.

So, which cities in the UK have we found are the big spenders and is it what you thought they’d be? Below we’ve put together a list of the top 10 cities in the UK with the highest average order value when purchasing a ring from Ernest Jones.

Cities that are the big spenders:

1. Saltburn-by-the-sea – £2,505
2. Vicars Cross, Cheshire - £1,601
3. Warwick - £1,460
4. Wolverton, Milton Keynes – £1,321
5. Dublin - £1,321
6. March, Cambridgeshire - £1,257
7. Northolt, Ealing - £1,206
8. Leigh-on-sea, Essex - £1,203
9. Redbridge - £1,182
10. Croydon - £1,174

As part of a study we ran in 2021 of people who had got engaged recently or were in the market to get engaged, we found that 51% of people looking to propose or be proposed to thought that paying between £500 and £2000 is reasonable for an engagement ring. So while we only have one city at the top of the big spenders list with an AOV of £2,505, the following top spenders are all sitting at the low £1,000 - £1,500 mark, proving that the 3 month wage price tag is definitely a thing of the past.

So there you have it, our 2021 list of the most romantic cities in the UK. Is your hometown a city in love?