Top Tips For Buying The Perfect Engagement Ring
Buying the perfect engagement ring is not just shopping for another fancy piece of jewelry.
It bears heavy sentimental importance and you want to make sure you buy a style that you will love for decades to come. You also want to be sure that the ring you pick is of great quality.
Attribution: Perfect Engagement Ring by Voltaire Diamonds is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Most buyers aren’t experts in the business of diamonds or precious stones, so getting the most bling for your buck can be tricky.
Here are our top tips to ensure you have a good experience while buying the perfect engagement ring for yourself or your partner.
Tips to buying the perfect engagement ring
Get to know the 4C’s
When choosing the classic diamond engagement ring, it’s important to have at least a basic understanding of the 4C’s – cut, color, clarity, and carat.
Here is a basic run-through of their meaning for those who just need to brush up on their knowledge.
- Color – Diamond color is graded on a scale of D to Z. With D being completely colorless and Z having a faint color. Colorless diamonds are rarer and hence more expensive.
- Cut: The way a diamond is cut and the number of facets it has affects how well light reflects off its surface.
- Clarity: The clarity of a diamond is a grading that sees the number of inclusions and blemishes it has.
- Carat: This is the weight of the diamond which determines its size.
Think About Stone Shape
Round, oval, heart, marquise? There are endless choices for stone shapes. Think about which type of shape you or your partner would like and whether it would suit their fingers.
Round is the most sought-after and traditional shape but there are other shapes that are loved for their uniqueness.
The Setting
This is an important aspect that should not be ignored when going ring shopping. Think of the setting of your stone as the backdrop – it needs to be subtle and enhance the star of the show.
Choosing slightly different settings can add a striking look to your jewel. For example, a bezel setting on a round stone can be beautiful.
Get Sneaky
If you are planning on popping the question and want the engagement ring to be a surprise, you’ll have to do a bit of spying to ensure you pick a style that she will love.
Take a look into their jewelry box – do you see any styles of rings that appear often? That could be the style she likes most. Ask her close friends or family about her preferences – but remind them to keep it a secret.
Finally, see what she wears on special occasions. It doesn’t have to be just her rings. Maybe she has a penchant for white gold jewelry that tells you what metal you should choose for the ring.
Perhaps she wears a lot of colored stones and would like a non-traditional ruby or sapphire engagement ring.
Plan A Budget For The Perfect Engagement RingÂ
It’s easy to go overboard when looking at beautiful engagement rings; however, you shouldn’t be swayed into buying something you cannot afford by pushy sales staff.
Set a budget and be clear about it when going ring shopping.
Ask only to see those jewels within your price range.
If you think your partner would like a large diamond, ask staff what cut and shape enhances the size of the diamond – stones cut with a larger table (top surface area) can make a stone seem bigger.
Shop At Trusted Stores
Ask friends and family for jewelers whom they trust before you head out ring shopping. Also, ask for certification and guarantees of purity for the gold and precious stones in the rings you have shortlisted.
Larger, popular stores are generally more reliable than stand-alone shops.
Ask about return policies as well and, when in doubt, take someone knowledgeable to the stores with you to get a better deal.
Take inspiration from social media
Sometimes, you cannot really make up your mind when it comes to selecting an engagement ring.
After you’ve done the hard work of asking her friends or friends for ideas and hints about what she likes, you might think of buying her an engagement ring that is different, you want to give her a ring that is unlike the one she’s worn before.
For better ideas is to call on the internet, and use social media sites such as Pinterest and Instagram to scout ideas about engagement rings. You will be thrilled with the ideas available on those sites.
Find out about her finger size
The trickiest part of buying an engagement ring is knowing your girlfriend’s ring size.
You have to be sneaky, if you ask her she’ll figure out that you are trying to buy her a ring and the surprise is ruined. Her friends might not always know the exact ring size, so asking them can be a risky option.
Ask her married friends to help out. Try and get them to coax her to try on their ring. If it’s too small or too big or just the right size you can get a general idea of what might fit your girlfriend.
Don’t stick to a trend For The Perfect Engagement Ring
If you browse through Google or search the pages of a wedding magazine, you’ll get plenty of articles and pointers telling you to pick XYZ or ABC fashion trends.
If you go by the book, an engagement ring should be timeless, a symbol of love that should last forever, hence it is best to stick with a tried and tested pattern or a ring that suits your girlfriend’s style.
Go through her jewelry collection and you’ll get a fair idea of what her collection looks like, stick to those patterns and you’ll leave her feeling happy on her special day.
These are some great tips for buying the perfect engagement ring. You can use these tips to better your chances of buying the perfect engagement ring.
Author Bio:
I’m Surbhi, a writer based in Hyderabad, India, with interests and writing experience spanning across industries. Over the past decade, I have written for established publications on a variety of subjects like fashion jewelry, health, digital marketing, business, etc. Diversity across various categories helps broadens my vision and makes me learn more about my writing.