It’s the best feeling ever when you find the one you love and realise you want to spend the rest of your life together. Asking them to marry you is just one way of showing them how much they mean to you. If you are thinking about popping the question, then you are going to need an engagement ring. Buying the engagement ring is an exciting yet stressful process and it’s hard to know what to prioritise when it comes to picking. On top of figuring out how you are going to propose it all gets a little confusing. Buying an engagement ring is not the cheapest thing in the world, so pay attention to what you can afford. If your budget allows, opting for a vintage engagement ring will get you more value for your money. In this article, we will go through give you some tips for engagement ring shopping.
Know the 4C’s
One of the first tips for buying an engagement ring is to understand the 4C’s of a diamond. These are colour, cut, clarity and carat weight. This is a global standard of quality and it allows you to compare diamonds. More often than not, jewellers will sell a setting and diamond separately so you can have some personalisation.
Colour: Colour is graded from D-Z, D is a completely colourless diamond and reflects no yellow tinge. Colour Z has a light yellow or brown colour. Obviously, colour D is the rarest and the most desirable and this is one of the key factors to take into consideration.
Clarity: Clarity is how many internal features there are in a diamond, these are called inclusions, surface irregularities and blemishes. This is graded from flawless to included.
Cut: Cut is how the light reflects and interacts with the diamond. This is determined by the diamond proportions, symmetry and polish.
Carat weight: The carat weight is the actual size of the diamond, the bigger the carat, the rarer it is.
In truth, the carat size is the least important, you want something that is colourless, cut is important if you want the diamond to really sparkle in any light, and clarity is important, but in truth, anything from VS2 can’t be seen by the naked eye. If you don’t want a diamond there are other options such as a vintage diamond ruby ring or emerald is a newly trending option.
Narrow down to the shape you want
Sometimes, your partner already knows what they want in terms of shape but others don’t which makes it more difficult to decide. Each shape is different, and they all cary different prices per carat. Round cuts are the most expensive whereas marquise are less expensive. If the size is important, you can get more carats if you go for an alternative shape. Before going to the shop, take a look and do some research before committing.
Choose a metal for the brand
Engagement rings come in a range of metals including white gold, platinum, yellow gold and rose gold. Rose gold is trending, but this doesn’t mean it will forever, whilst yellow gold is a traditional and classic choice. Platinum is the rarest and doesn’t scratch as easily as other metals, so it’s important to decide this.
