When the price tag rings false

Sometimes men bend the truth when it comes to how much they shelled out for the all-important engagement ring

A HMADU Garba, 37, says the amount he paid for his wife’s diamond engagement ring is “an agreed-upon mystery” at home.

The Los Angeles-based screenwriter, who penned the 2017 f ilm “Shine,” has been married for eight years and got engaged at a time when he was still “a struggling artist.”

His wife never asked him how he could afford the sparkling three-stone diamond ring that, according to a printout he received from the seller when he bought it, would have retailed for roughly $8, 500, although he paid much less.

Garba has been more than happy to let her remain in “blissful ignorance” about that fact.

While good relationships are built on being open and honest, when it comes to the cost of engagement rings, many men make an exception.

“[Some] people truly believe that the more money you spend on the engagement ring, the more you love someone,” says Justin Insalaco, the founder of Legemdary, a Web site that connects diamond sellers with potential buyers and encourages underbidding.

Even America’s commander in chief has been caught bluff - ing — earlier this month, Forbes reported that President Trump might have paid full price for Melania’s 10-carat diamond, instead of getting a $1 million discount that he once claimed to have received. But, unlike the president, most guys pretend to pay more rather than less.

That’s what Michael Iorio, a 40-year-old driving instructor from Matawan, NJ, did. He admits he doesn’t make a lot of money, but he wanted to buy his f iancée a ring they would both be proud of.

Iorio bought a ring from Legemdary.com and paid approximately 30 percent less than the jewel’s $7,000 appraisal value. He told his f iancée that he got a deal on her engagement ice shortly after the proposal, but he says that seeing her in an expensivelooking stone, no matter the discount, makes him feel good about himself: “The fact that I was able to get her a ring like that — it feels like I did my job as a boy- friend and a husband.”

For Mike, a 30-year-old Manhattan-based entrepreneur, the fact that he paid wholesale for his girlfriend’s three-stone diamond ring came out even before they tied the knot. One night, on the couch watching television, he says she started “f ishing” about how much he’d spent. When he told her, “it was less than she anticipated,” he says. She was surprised, but then appreciated that he saved money by getting a good deal.

“I def initely didn’t want to start the marriage off with a lie,” Mike says, “so I was happy to share the information with her.”

But most come clean after marriage.

“It’s like, ‘Now that you’re mine on paper, this is what really happened,’ ” says Insalaco.

Garba, however, is eight years into his marriage, and he’s happy to still keep the information from his wife.

“At this point in our life,” he says, laughing, “she probably doesn’t want to know.”

How much is that diamond in the box? Some guys will come up with a number way higher than the truth!