Sales of engagement rings are set to plummet this summer – because men are too busy watching the football to get down on one knee.
While sales of lager and wide-screen TVs soar, jewellers are predicting a huge drop in the number of rings they will shift over the next month as men turn their attention to the World Cup instead of their other half.
Using sales figures from previous football tournaments in 2010 and 2012, Mayfair jeweller 77diamonds.com even estimates sales of engagement rings could drop by as a 70 per cent.
Tobias Kormind, co-owner of 77diamonds.com, said: ”When we looked at our figures in 2010 there was a massive dip during the World Cup in South Africa.
”We hardly sold very few engagement rings during this time, so women hoping to get a romantic marriage proposal over the next four weeks shouldn’t hold their breath.”
In June 2012, 72 per cent of all diamond sales took place in the weeks either side of the two-week European tournament which was held in Poland and Ukraine.
There was also a 22 per cent drop in the number of men buying diamonds during the tournament compared with a month later after the football had finished.
And during the last World Cup in South Africa in June 2010, the firm revealed a 25 per cent fall in sales compared with July the same year.
Traditionally the World Cup period is seen as a boom time for British retailers, who are expected to receive a £1.3 billion sales boost off the back of the four week tournament which kicked off in Brazil on June 12.
That could almost double to £2.5 billion if England reach the final which takes place next month in Rio – with each goal England score estimated to be worth £198.5 million to British retailers.
Figure reveal that up to 23million football fans will spend an average of £56 each as they stock up on beer, food, barbecue equipment, televisions ahead of the month long event.
