It might be one of the most important decisions we make; buying an engagement ring comes with a lot of worries. What if you get the wrong one? What if the ring size you choose doesn’t fit? You can employ some tricks to make sure that you get the right engagement ring for your future spouse.
Here is the checklist:
- Budget – make sure you know your budget long before you head to a store
- Style – pay attention to the styles of rings that your partner likes
- Understand what the four Cs mean
- Which metals does your partner wear the most?
- What type of setting are the most like what they’d like
- Shop online at stores and in person when you can
- Look at the same ring more than once before you buy it
- Consider any engraving
- Check that what you buy will have a certificate of authenticity
Budget
The traditional amount set on an engagement ring is two or three months’ salary, but that isn’t going to work for everyone. Consider what your topline budget is, and work with that. Keep in mind that the higher the quality of a diamond and the carat, the more expensive it is going to be.
Style
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While you want the engagement ring you choose to stand out, it is also important that you don’t stray too far from what they like. If you know, they don’t wear gold, and it is because they don’t like it – don’t be tempted to get a gold band.
Consider if you should be looking at vintage designs, modern pieces, and minimalist styles – there are a lot of engagement rings to check out. If you struggle with the style issue, you can enlist your mutual friends’ help to make sure you get the right thing.
The Four Cs
A common set of Cs that you will encounter when shopping for engagement rings is the color cut, carat, and clarity. For the highest brilliance, choose an Ideal or Excellent cut. A clarity of VS1 or VS2 means that while there might be blemishes, they won’t be noticeable in these grades, and they are good value.
The carat is only the weight, and while a higher one is nice, the other Cs matter more when working on a tight budget. For color, the ageless option is clear (look for G-I ranges), but pink, green, and yellow are also options.
Metal
There are many more options than just gold or silver, which means you can find something unique for them. If they often wear silver, then choose platinum or white gold – it’s a similar shade but just different enough to stand out.
Setting
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The setting you choose should be based more on the wearer’s lifestyle than what is most beautiful – but a combination works well too. An active lifestyle is typically better with a diamond in a bezel – which means it is flush to the metal and doesn’t stick out. This makes it less likely that the diamond can get caught on something and knocked out of its setting.
Invisible ring settings mean that the metal is barely seen and lets the stone really stand out, whereas a tension ring setting holds the diamond in place using pressure from the surrounding metal. The setting makes a surprising amount of difference to the ring.
Size
Guessing rarely gives you the right size ring. Instead, when you can, find a ring that they often wear on that finger or the middle finger and take that with you to the appointment with the ring store. They will be able to get you the right size or make a good estimation based on the ring from the same hand’s middle finger.
Online and In-store
Make the most of the internet and shop for the engagement ring online – but make sure you use stores too. When shopping online, start saving the images of the rings you like the most, and once you have several options – call the store and make an appointment.
You can show them the options you like the most and discuss your budget at the appointment. They’ll be able to then go through the ones you have saved and show you some others that might meet your requirements. Once you choose one, make a further appointment to come back and see it.
Engraving
The final piece of the puzzle that makes your chosen engagement ring even more special is having something engraved on the inside. It might be a loving sentence, a date, a word – anything that makes it unique. Or you could buck the classic trends and go for something completely unique like Ben and JLo: Jennifer Lopez Honors Fiancé Ben Affleck With Manicure That Matches Engagement Ring – Cliché Magazine.
Read more fashion and jewelry articles at ClichéMag.com
Images provided by Flickr, Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay & Creative Commons
