lol i agree, but sadly many girls are like that.. so influenced by the people they surround themselves with

 

I paid $3400 for my wife's engagement ring, .84ct center Princess Cut Diamond, and a few diamonds on the setting. I think it just depends on how much money you make etc. I wasn't making much, so I could only really afford that considering I was going to be paying for most of the wedding etc. Anyways, just get what you think you can afford and want to spend on her. You can always upgrade for an anniversary or something. If you give her something huge to start with, there won't be anything to upgrade to! Heh

 

rarely if ever is this true. the engagement ring is usually a large multiple of the wedding band

 

LEK, i'd suggest you talk to your girl about the type of ring she wants. it's so worth it. i went through this whole process last fall and my girl wasn't that picky but she wanted something non-traditional (sapphires instead of diamonds). she gets lots of compliments for having a non-diamond engagement ring since it's pretty unique and it looks good too. across 3 stones, the ring has 3.5 total carat weight and looks huge on her little hands. very nice deep blue sapphires that are color matched well. it was an ordeal to put it all together but very worth it in the end and i knew she'd be happy with it.

 

Cut
Color
Clarity
Setting

These are the terms that you should be talking about. If your girl gives you some pointers on those (yes she'll know all of this), then you are good to go, if not see this...


Cut: Prolly the most important as it will affect the stone shape and the type of ring and most importantly, sparkle. Most popular are the round cut and the princess cut (square) with all sorts of cuts in between. There are now rings with baguettes that add another .5 to 1 carat of weight on a ring. These are nice, but if you have a high quality center stone, the baguettes (usually of H or I color) will stand out as dull against a much better looking center stone unless you have the ability to specify the side stone quality. I would only suggest baguettes if you are going with a center stone of lesser color and size is a key priority. Remember that cut is VERY important to a stone. Even a diamond of superior color and clarity can be ruined with a bad cut that does not highlight the other two features. The perfect cut is designed to produce attractive facets that will reflect and refract light to make your stone shine and sparkle.

Color: D is considered perfect here. DEF is within Tiffany range and anything in G and H can be considered as mid class. I and up and you'll start to notice a slight yellowish color. Color is important as it affects the amount of light that is absorbed by the surfaces and refracted within the facets. It also controls the hue of light and sparkle that is transferred to the outside and to the human eyes.

Clarity: Somewhat less important depending on the stone, but clarity describes the homogeneity of the stone and occlusions or imperfections within the stones (bubbles, crystals, trapped minerals, etc.) can affect the look of a stone. My personal experience has been to know the type of defect and location as it can determine the final clarity of the stone. Some compromises may be made here depending on your goal.

Setting: Knowing what your girl wants first is a great help on this as there are a myriad of differing setting choices. The most popular Tiffany setting is a 6 pronged setting that will hold a round cut diamond. There are also four prong varieties as well as settings for princess cut stones. My philosophy on esthetics would be to flaunt your stone's strenghts and hide it's flaws with the setting. A stone with an attractive table, but visually weak on the side may gain from a Tiffany style setting which leaves big openings for a top view, but obfuscates side views through the "basket." A larger attractive stone may gain visual appeal from an "open" style setting such as a Cartier style setting with an open basket design to let alot of light in from the sides as well as the top. Consult a professional jeweler to determine the best strategy once you have selected a stone.

Good Luck!

 

my boy dropped 10k on a ring, ended up not get married and she wouldnt give it back.

yeah lek. just go hard wit it, just goto the nearest korean store and get a big a$$ cubic zarconia joint, you know the ghetto 2 carrot super sparkly joint and tell her its a 50k ring. she'll get real siced. ohh and make her sign a prenup. you never know if that sh*t dont work out, you dont want her to Michael Stranghan your a$$. unless shes rich, then dont do a prenup.

 

Excellent advice. I just got engaged last year and it's very helpful to discuss options with your girlfriend. She let me know what she wanted and I took some personal liberties designing the ring based on what I could afford. If she wants a big stone, stay just under 2 carats because once you hit 2 the price goes way up. Good luck

 

^^hmm i wonder if you spent good money on really good CZ that only a few could detect if she'd ever find out!! I mean like spend 1k and get a 2 carat CZ!! :P

 

i'd say one other thing, usually if you talk with your girl and she's somewhat practical, both of you will realize sinking lots of $ into a ring just isn't worth it. the money could go toward the honeymoon (experience trumps stuff imo) or toward a down payment on a house. i started out thinking i would spent about 2-3k, but when i really got into it, i set my limit around 5k and got something really nice. it's still a lot less than some are prone to spending but that was as much as i could spend and not have regrets about it.

remember, hopefully she'll wear it every day and you want to enjoy it almost as much as she does

 

Unfortunately I've been saving quite a bit for a nice ring for a while now. I figure its a one time thing and traditionally my family gives nice rings (Indians in general usually do). Its not like I have to and if she doesnt want such a nice ring then I'll just spend the rest on me or the wedding.

Good luck though Lek. Better hope Byrnie's not too picky

 

well said!

 

I once met a guy who worked for DeBeers. He had some educational background in geology and gemology and additional training he received while at DeBeers. He constantly travels and acts as a buyer/distributor for various DeBeers clients. He wasn't much of a looker, but needless to say, he was the center of conversation amongst all of the women in the party.

 

i really hope my future wife comes from a poor family so i can spend the money on mods instead

 

^^ mods are an even worse way to spend that money... put it into an appreciating asset if you aren't going to spend it on the ring. That or put it towards the honeymoon/wedding or house.

 

Like many have mentioned, do your research and come to a financially sane conclusion. I recently got married and had to go through the whole ring shopping experience. My logic was buy something nice so you only have to buy it once. Upgrading may cost you both more in the long run. I picked up a 1.5ct brilliant round, ideal cut, F color, SI1 that was eye clean. You can shop online if you choose but I found that seeing it and examining it is key. My opinion is, if you need to make sacrifices on anything, highly consider clarity. Reason being is her/his ring will get dirty with normal wear. 90% of the time, he/she is not going to be wearing a spotless ring that shines like the ones in Tiffany's showcase. But also consider that anything SI1 or lower may have inclusions that are visible using the naked eye unless he/she has bad vision. In that case, you may have benefited.

Luckily for me, I had was able to get the stone and custom ring for pretty much cost although still spent bank. I opted for white gold with a 6 prong setting. F is near colorless and stands out in a white gold or even platinum setting. If you choose yellow gold, you can go down to say a G color and it might not be an obvious color change. If he/she has skinny long fingers, get a ring thats 3-4mm width. That way, on a 6 prong settling, a 1.5ct diamond may look like 1.75-2ct. However, don't get a guy/girl with short round fingers a 3mm ring. That just appears you went cheap on the setting itself. As for shape, round is most common and desired and cost a bit more than a square princess cut. You can get all fancy with hearts & arrows round cut but to me that was unnecessary. My wife at first always hinted me on princess cut primarily for the name "princess cut" but I made the executive decision on round cut as it proved to look better in the 6 prong setting. One thing regarding cut that I've learned is pay more for an "ideal" cut diamond if you're shopping for a round diamond. Even in restaurant lighting, it sparkles more and doesn't look like a piece of glass. As I mentioned before, it's great to be able to shop at a store and look at what you're buying. At the end, you'll know what one you want if it's able to make you smile about shelling out thousands for a rock. Best of luck to you.