How to find the right engagement ring

(this post can apply to any piece of jewellery)


I did a post a while ago about my engagement ring (here) I didn't really go into too much detail about anything out side of the ring search.  I am going to give you my hints & tips and as much advice as I can think off from my whole experience of actually buying 'proper' jewellery not  just finding the right engagement ring!


About my own ring:


-1 carat diamond
- Colour: I
- Clarity: SI1
- Cut: Round Brilliant
-18 carat white gold 




Ring trends:

Yes that's right, engagement rings do have trends! Who would have though? Right now the present trend looks a bit like this, I still haven't made my mind up for this trend (I think its a bit too in your face!)


The Ins and outs:


When I started my search, I didn't think I didn't think I had. What happened was I went into town with the mother and decided to brave Brown Thomas jewellery section. O.K yeah maybe not the best place to start a search, but ya gotta start some where? I felt like a bit of twat when the sales assistant started asking me what type of ring I had in mind,  I really didn't know.  So she brought out a small sections of different rings, more so to see what I liked. It really dose help because you don't think too much about everything that surprisingly goes into looking for a ring. 


I found the technical side to diamonds really daunting at first, as the sales assistant
went straight into diamond jargon thinking that you knew what they where on about. As the weeks went by I got used to this learnt off  the jargon that vomited form sales assistants mouths. I came to the realisation that their is only two thing that are important, Clarity and Colour. Clarity being how imperfect the diamond is and colour well if their is colour in the diamond. 


here are two charts that all jewellers generally use

source

source

(there are more but these are the main ones)

When you pick a few rings that tickle your fancy, don't get put off if the ring is too small.   Bring the ring up to the middle part of your figure (as below) and see how it looks.

You will get a very good idea if it will suite your finger or not.

From this picture, you can see holes in the band. These holes are important, it allows for more light to shine through the diamond. Even if the diamond itself is not amazing quality, having all of these 'light holes'  will give the ring an appearance of having higher quality diamonds. 

Where to start your search:

The best thing, I personally think, is to go into any shop on the high-street.  why? its a more relaxed environment, and, they will give you a booklet about all the basic information you need to know.  

OR

You can have a look at different engagement rings on-line, this will help you get an idea of the style of ring you like. 

Do have a look in antique stores and small jewellers when you have an idea of what you want, you get to see a wider verity of rings (If you live in Ireland and are up in Dublin any time, have a look in Powerscourt in their antique section, they have the most amazing verity of rings and vintage jewellery in general) 

Things to avoid:

Avoid jewellers that claim to give a discount on their diamonds. often the certificate is fake. SO you never know where the diamonds really came from or the clarity and cut is not what they say it is. 

Diamond labs, its not that the diamonds are fake or poor quality. its that the rings you can chose from  are restrictive so if you have a particular type of ring in mind it may be a dead end. you can check out one of the many diamond labs here. 

Dose it suite?

With costume rings you just throw it on and and don't think much else of it. When you start trying on different rings you start to know what suits your finger. What you are looking for is something that looks balanced on your figure not lost or bulky. A sales assistant should know what suits best or just try on a verity of different rings. 

My Top tips

• Don't tell the jeweler's your real budget, they will bring out rings that are way over your own budget. A grand under should allow then to pick out rings that are in your budget.
• When you think you have found the right ring, sleep on it and try other rings just to be sure.
• Lest face it, most couples that get engaged are young and don't really have that much money to play with. try not to focus too much on the quality of the diamonds but on the ring its self. You can change the diamonds any time, but not the ring.   
• If you found the right ring but it was too pricey, go to a small jewellers (i.e one that makes the rings themselves) and see if they can make it for a cheaper price. 
• Check out a small jewellers if you have a design in mind but can't find it. 
• Keep an open mind.