You’ve made the decision to ask her to marry you. You’ve taken her father out to dinner and asked for his permission to marry her before anything else (women usually love that, by the way!), and you’ve gotten the blessing of both parents. You’ve settled on a brilliant proposal plan, one you know she will absolutely love, and you know she loves you and that she is going to accept the proposal. You only have one step left – the ring.
This can be a tricky subject because every woman in different in the type of diamond she likes. Maybe she doesn’t even like diamonds. Maybe she finds them colorless and boring, and would rather have a ruby or an emerald. Other gem stones are acceptable for an engagement ring – after all, the ring is for her, so you don’t want to get her something she isn’t going to like. So how do you know what she likes?
Before you even begin shopping, you need to familiarize yourself with the Four Cs – cut (the shape of the ring, essentially, clarity, color, and carat (the size of the ring). Knowing about these will help you determine what she likes and help the jewelry recommend rings for you.
If you’ve been dating her for a while, you’ve had plenty of opportunities to observe her and discern what type of jewelry she likes. For instance, pay attention when she admires someone else’s ring. Did she comment on the cut, the size, the color? Does she fawn over a friends bezel set engagement ring or absolutely love the antique ring her mother wears? Little comments here and there can add up to help you begin thinking about what she admires most in jewelry pieces and then you can use that information to help you make a decision.
Another way to find out her wants and desires is to ask her friends and family what she likes – they probably can lead you in the right direction. This is especially helpful if she knows you’re going to propose, because some women like to tell their friends very specifically what they like just in case you ask. Not to mention her friends are likely to mention to her after you propose that you asked their opinion, which shows that you really care about what she wants and likes (she’ll love that, too!).
Another good indicator of style choices are her current jewelry pieces. Notice the other jewelry she wears. Does she like simple designs or complicated ones? Does she usually wear gold or silver jewelry?
If all else fails, here are a couple if ideas to finding out what she likes and getting her to pick out a ring. Enlist her mother (or your mother if they’re close) to help you. Bring her to the respective house and set out a jewelry magazine on the coffee table. If she’s at all interested in jewelry, as soon as she gets at all bored she’ll pick it up and start looking through it. Often women will show other women the rings and jewelry they like, just to make conversation. Make sure she shows your mother or her mother something, and then get the information afterwards.
If that isn’t an option for you, or you truly have no idea what she would like, and no way to find out, it’s okay to propose without a ring, or with a simple promise ring or plain band, and then take her with you to pick out the diamond. She’ll appreciate your thoughtfulness in making sure she likes her ring, and if she picks it herself, you know for sure that she likes it!
This all may seem quite overwhelming, but remember the reason you started this quest in the first place; Your wonderful woman. This is the first of many steps together, so try to have fun with it and all will end well.