How to buy a diamond engagement ring
She is waiting for this moment since she has been a little girl: the love of her life is proposing to her with a beautiful diamond engagement ring.
A diamond engagement ring is the perfect symbol of your never-ending love. She will wear the engagement ring for a lifetime and everytime she will look at it, she will remember the romantic moment you have proposed to her. She will feel and see your promise to love her eternally.
Therefore the purchase of an engagement ring isn’t an easy task for most men.
This diamond engagement ring shopping guide will give you a few important tips when buying an engagement ring for your love.
- Don’t panic. Enjoy yourself while buying a diamond engagement ring. This ring will be the symbol of your love.
- Find out what kind of ring she is dreaming of. Talk with your future in-laws about the ring or with her best female friends. Chances are that they have talked already about the ring when they were little girls. Also look at her other rings. Is she wearing only silver jewlery or does she prefer gold? Does she wear big chunky rings or small delicate rings?
- Find out her ring size. Take some rings she is wearing on her ring finger and measure the inner diameter or bring this ring to the jeweller, so he can determine the right ring size. Or ask her or her mother about her ring size. It depends how secretive you want to be.
- Find a good jewelry store. Ask your married friends where they got their engagement rings. Make sure that the jeweller is a member of the American Gem Corporation (AGC).
- Set a budget and stick to it. A common engagement ring spending guideline says that a diamond engagement ring costs a 2-3 month salary. For this money you can get an excellent cut 1-carat diamond.
- Choose a diamond. Decide on the 4 C’s of a diamond: Cut, color, clarity and carat. See also: How to decide on the 4 C’s of a diamond.
- Choose the setting. The setting holds the diamond and is usually made out of platinum, even on a gold ring, because of the durability and strength of platinum. You may choose a classic solitaire setting or a setting with accents. That means there are other diamonds or other gemstones like rubies, sapphires, etc surrounding the diamond.
- Choose the band. The band surrounds the finger. Decide on the precious metal you like or better she likes.
The traditional precious metal for an engagement ring is yellow gold. Make sure she wears yellow gold before choosing it. Is she is more the silver jewelry type, go for white gold. If it’s within your budget, choose a platium band. Note that gold comes in 9k, 14k and 18k. Go always for 18k. - Read our diamond shopping guide and learn how to avoid diamond scams at the jewelry store.
We wish you a happy honeymoon!