Choosing an Engagement Ring: A Quick Checklist to Start Your Search

For many people, shopping for an engagement ring is a confusing experience at first. They have never bought a diamond. How can they know what to look for? I hope I can help you get started. Shopping for an engagement ring should be fun. It’s such an exciting time in your life, so try not to stress yourself out with this purchase. Let’s look at the first three things you need to do. Once you’ve gotten them out of the way, you can focus on the most important part of the ring: the diamond.

1) Set a budget

It is the first thing I recommend to my clients. You want to set a price you can afford and stick to it. There’s no hard and fast rule about how much you’d spend, but many people shell out around two months’ salary for their ring.

Please don’t spend more than you can afford. I have friends who took out a massive loan just so they could buy a bigger ring and are still paying it off years after the fact. There is no point in putting yourself (and her) in financial difficulties. If you can’t get her the diamond size she wants right now, you can always “upgrade” her ring later in life when money isn’t so tight. Your budget will depend on a number of different factors, but be prepared to shell out a good chunk of change. Diamonds aren’t cheap, but she’ll wear them forever and I promise the smile on her face will make it worth it.

2) Choose the type of metal for the band

You have three main options here: yellow gold, white gold, or platinum. Take a look at what you already own when it comes to jewelry. If you only wear yellow gold, then it’s an easy decision. If most of your jewelry is silver or white gold, you will have to choose between white gold and platinum. Platinum is about 3 times the price of gold. It is the most durable metal and many people love the fact that the ring can be passed down to future generations of their family. You’ll need to polish it from time to time as it can start to get a “dull” look, but other than that there’s not much maintenance.

White gold has a bit more shine than platinum and is considerably cheaper. It can be damaged a bit more easily, but that’s usually not something you need to worry about. You will have to put it back every one to two years; keep this in mind. White gold is not actually white, it is gold mixed with other metals to give it a white appearance. It is also rhodium plated to remove any yellow tint. As the coating fades, you will begin to see a slight yellow tint return. Having it linked is not expensive, but keep in mind that it will be necessary to do so.

It’s not a bad idea to go and take a look at how both white gold and platinum look. Some don’t like the look of platinum and vice versa. It will help you make this decision.

3) Choose settings

The setting is the basic style of the ring itself. Do you have a diamond? Are there multiple diamonds in the ring? This is determined by the setting you choose for your engagement ring. You have three main options to think about. A solitaire engagement ring is the simplest but also the most popular. It is a single diamond mounted on a band. This is the perfect way to show off a diamond. A three-stone engagement ring has a center diamond and two smaller diamonds next to it, one on each side. These side diamonds are typically 30-60% the size of the center diamond.

A sidestone diamond engagement ring has a main center diamond and then several smaller diamonds on both sides. These diamonds are usually very small so they do not cost an arm and a leg. If you’re not sure what you’d prefer, try to find out. The best way is to ask one of his friends (whom you trust!) to ask him and then let you know. The girls talk about jewelry so that he doesn’t automatically suspect anything. You’ll feel so much better knowing you gave her the right one.

Once you’ve completed these three steps, you can move on to the fun part – choosing the diamond! She’s going to wear this for life so make sure you focus on getting a dazzling diamond – it’s so much fun watching my wife get compliments on it. Reminds me of the good work I did!

I have prepared a guide that you will find on my website that will help you save money and choose the best diamond in your price range. Take a look – hope it helps.

All the best!