While it is becoming more accepted for a woman to propose to a man, more often than not you will still find that women want to wait on that romantic, fairy tale proposal. That being said, you have met the woman of your dreams and you are ready to take the next step in your relationship. You are ready to propose. You have the perfect scenario in your head, with a beautiful candle lit dinner and music. You can just imagine her reaction as you whip that beautiful engagement ring out and slide it on her finger. Then you remember that you haven’t bought said beautiful engagement ring yet and your eyes roll back in your head and you start to hyperventilate.
Stop freaking out, calm down and put down that paper bag you were breathing into. Buying an engagement ring doesn’t have to make you cross that line between being sane and being a thundering loon. While there is a little bit of information available to help you in your ring buying experience, you don’t have to be a gemologist to get that perfect ring. The first step you need to take is to decide if you want your significant other to be with you when you shop for the engagement ring, or if you want to surprise them with a ring. If you and your hopefully-soon-to-be-fiancé decide that you will be shopping together, then you are off the hook just a bit as they probably have an idea of what they want to begin with.
If you decide that you want to keep that element of surprise, then hopefully you know enough about the love of your life to buy them a ring that they will be satisfied with. Keep in mind, your best bet is to buy a diamond. Yes, it’s true that many an engagement ring has been fashioned with other stones, such as sapphires, rubies and the like. However, most women today still prefer a diamond. Diamonds are timeless and traditional. Diamonds go with anything and everything. And most importantly, diamonds bring on the bling. While the engagement is indeed a fantastic, amazing and special thing, you will find very few women who haven’t dreamed of showing off a big, beautiful rock to everyone around them.
When you walk into a jewelry store, you want to have a little bit of knowledge, so you don’t end up getting something that isn’t worth what you paid or something that your girl won’t like. You don’t have to spend an annual salary to get a great ring. But you might if you aren’t armed with a bit of diamond education. First tidbit of information is you need to remember the 4 C’s: clarity, color, cut and carat.
Clarity — this is how clear the diamond is, or how many inclusions (flaws) the stone may have. The range starts at FL, which means flawless. Then there is IF, or internally flawless. Next is VVS (1 or 2). This is very, very slightly included. VS, or very slightly included is below that and SI, or slightly included follows VS. At the bottom of the range are I1, I2 and I3. These are obviously included, or flawed. The highest priced diamonds would be in the flawless range.
Color – this is just what it sounds like, the color of the diamond. The color range goes from D, which is colorless all the way to Z, which is a light yellow color.
Cut — there are many possibilities for the cut of your diamond, all of which will ultimately affect the cost and appearance of the gem. Generally, the cut of the diamond is based on personal preference. Just as with all things in life, just because one person likes it one way, that doesn’t mean that everyone likes it the same way. Round is a popular cut, but other cuts such as princess, emerald, oval and marquis are popular as well.
Carat — bottom line: how big is the stone? The carat weight is an important factor when you are considering your engagement ring. You can get a solitaire type ring, where there is only one stone, or you can choose to go with a setting meant for multiple stones, in which you would look at the total carat weight of the ring.
With these 4 C’s in mind, you are off to a good start. Make sure that you lay your budget out on the table when you go into a jewelry store, and hold firm to that budget. Another very helpful tip is to try to look and compare your diamonds while they are loose. This will give you a much better look into the stone itself. While settings are very important, they can mask or hide some things about your precious stone that you would want to know beforehand.
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