Tips for Choosing Your Engagement Ring

Diamonds are still the most popular gemstones for an engagement ring.  Understanding diamonds & what determines their value can help you decide what type of ring to buy & perhaps save you some money in the process.  Other gemstones can make an interesting & different engagement ring.  Most of the information relevant to diamonds also applies to coloured gemstones.  Plan your budget before you buy.  For a diamond ring, most experts recommend spending about 2 months salary.  Coloured stones are preferred by some couples, not only for their looks, but because it often means you can have a much larger stone that the budget may allow for in a diamond.  Some woman even like the idea of having a gemstone as an engagement ring to begin with, & buy the large diamond ring of their choice when they are financially more secure.  An engagement ring will always be cherished by a woman for the rest of her life, therefore it should be a style that suits her tastes & one that she will be happy to wear indefinately. Whether you are interested primarily in a diamond or a coloured gemstone ring, learning the basics is the place to start.  After that we will consider how to use this information in making jewellery chooses & conclude with some "ideas" to get your imagination working.  The Basics begins with...........    A Modern style Diamond Engagement Ring.  Diamond bands are very fashionable.  Note the complexity & beauty of this ring's setting.  The diamonds are set in white gold which adds to their sparkle, on a yellow gold band which contasts the stones nicely.  This modern but classic design is timeless in its beauty.

Understanding the Four "Cs" Diamonds of equal size are often not of the same value.  Why is this?  The answer lies in understand the 4 C's & how they determine the rarity & therefore value of an individual stone.  These are Cut, Colour, Clarity & Carat. Cut - This of often consider the most important of the 4 as it is the cut that gives a stone it's brilliance.  A Diamond should be cut with its facet proportion in exact geometric relationship to each other.  Then it is polished. Colour - For a diamond the best colour is usually considered to be no colour!  A colour-free stone in considered the best because of it's ability to reflect & refract light, thereby adding fire to the stone.  Colour is indicated by number scale in which 'D' indicated absolute blue/white.  Few stones are this colour.  F & G colour diamonds are considered white as are H colour stones.  Of course fancy coloured diamonds are rare as well & the most brilliant of these are more valuable than even D coloured diamonds. Clarity - This indicates how may inclusions an individual stone contains.  Flawless diamonds are extremely rare (infact a stone having none is sometimes an indication that it is a fake).  Inclusions are so common that jewellers sometimes refer to them as "nature's fingerprints."  It is whether any inclusions are visible to the naked eye, as well as the number of them that indicates a diamonds value.  There is a complex table for labelling diamonds' clarity.  SI grade diamonds have flaws that are only detectable through powerful magnification. (There are further sub-divisions.  The best SI diamonds have flaws so tiny that only experts will detect with magnification & study.) SI is the grade that GemLovers usually sells.  Diamonds with the designation I have flaws that are observable with the naked eye.  Diamonds grades I1can sometimes be acceptable;  I3 are usually not considered gem quality, but they do turn up in rings. Carat - This refers to the weight of a stone.  There are 100 points to a carat.  Therefore a stone with the weight of 1/2 a carat (often written as .5 carat) is 50 points. The four 'Cs' are the same for all precious gemstones.  Though of course in the case of coloured stones the deeper the colour the greater the value.

Choosing Your Special Ring As you doubtless know diamonds (& other stones) are cut into different shapes & cuts.  The most popular shapes are round, which can have different cuts.  The most well-known & the cut usually used on a diamond with any size is the 'brilliant'.  Other cuts exist & smaller & tiny diamonds are usually cut with less facets.  Other common shapes are oval, marquis, pear, heart, emerald & square.  In recent times square diamonds are frequently faceted to the popular 'princess' cut. While often considered only a matter of personal taste.  The shape of a stone should be considered when purchasing a 'special' ring like your engagement ring.  While of course you should always get a shape & cut you personally like the shape & size of the ladies hand should also be considered.  Just to give a few examples.  If a lady has small hands a classic diamond (even a small one) on a slender band will love lovely.  In fact some settings (eg.a present,future & past style) may even be too wide.  Conversely for a lady with large hands may need a cluster of diamonds  or as an alternative if a large diamond can not be afforded perhaps a large gemstone & diamond ring. Similar principles apply with regard to shape. Two tips to help with choosing are to try out a few different shapes (perhaps in sizes outside your price range to see what styles & sizes really suit you) & to try (if possible) the ring with the wedding band width you prefer.  It can sometimes be amazing the difference this can make to the way a ring looks and especially as that is the way it will be worn always in the future!  Some woman have very different ideas as to what style etc they want in a wedding ring;  other ladies just want a wedding ring that will complement whatever engagement ring they choose.  This may also influence the final choice of design as different styles need to be paired with wedding bands of certains widths. Engagement & wedding rings are usually made of either 14, 18 or 22 kart gold.  22 is the purest & has the best colour, but is fairly soft.  18k has been the traditional choice.  In recent years 14k is becoming increasingly popular because it is cheaper & stronger than 18k, but still an acceptable colour.  Sometimes diamonds are set in platinum for extra strength, although white gold has a better colour.  Some unusual metal like titanium are occasionally chosen by some couples as their metal of choice.  It needs to be remembered that rings worn together rub each other & if they are mixed the stronger will wear the weaker away.  Therefore it has always been considered best for the engagement, wedding & eternity (or anniversary) rings to be the same weight of gold.  eg. all 3 rings should be 18k or all 14k.

Money Saving Tips How much money you wish to spend or save on a diamond can depend on what your motive for purchasing the ring is.  If 'investment' comes into the equation at all; buy a ring with one diamond only & of course the best quality (not size) you can afford. Some couples after quality go into a large jeweller & start by looking at some of the largest (& most expensive diamonds he has.  In larger stones the colour is more obvious, as is cut. After picking out the diamond that has the best colour & sparkle (remember we are talking diamond here -totally disregard any setting if it isn't to your taste) then ask to look at rings in their planed price range.  Using the large diamond as their standard makes it easy to pick out rings with the best quality diamond/s they can afford. Diamond with flaws are priced cheaper (sometimes much cheaper) than stones of equal size without flaws.  It is possible to find a diamond with an excellent colour & cut but has a large number of tiny flaws. These flaws reduce it's brilliance a touch;  but reduce it's price a huge amount.  Some very large stones have to be downgraded to I because of having one flaw - sometimes black - that is obvious to the naked eye.  Again depending on where the flaw is & how it the stone is set, it can be an excellent buy. On a more general level, some shapes of diamonds look larger per carat than other.  Oval shape is a said the best buy in this regard.  In any price range you will find diamonds that sparkle more than others.  Also you can find diamonds that are below average put into a very glamourous setting to hide their colour or other faults. Size & price aren't always guidelines of what are good gems.  No matter your budget, you can find a very special ring if you educate yourself. Also remember not all engagement rings for special people like yourself are diamond......

Adding Colour to Your Ring You can make any diamond ring special by adding some colour to it.  Some women (Like Princess Mary) like to have a diamond as their main stone, with a coloured gemstone on each side.  A baguette shaped sapphire, ruby or emerald will offset the coolness of diamonds with a flash of colour.  Other people prefer to have their main stone a bright coloured gem.  Having a gemstone engagement ring can be a way of expressing individuality.  Anyone can have a large ring on their left hand by picking a stone than we can afford & for most of us that won't be diamond.  A variety of gemstones in a rainbow of colours are available in well made modern designed rings at extremely reasonable prices.  What colour & design should I choose?  What colour do you like, & what colour matchs you & the clothing you usually wear?  (Read the other helpful tips in Useful Information for more ideas.)  With designs it is important to remember that the ring needs to be worn with a wedding ring.  In some cases it may be best to have a matching wedding ring made.  Here at GemLovers you will find two pages of unusual but lovely gemstone engagement ring ideas;  some with well-known stones, other with stones you may not have heard of before. On these pages we have picked out designs that are more traditional & that could be  matched with a standard wedding ring. You may find other rings in our gemstone section that appeal to you more. See our Colourful Gemstone Engagement Rings Our Bridal Section has Diamond Engagement & Wedding Rings  Peridot with diamonds  feature in this beautiful ring availble in both white & yellow gold.  Follow link at left for more details.