Want to find a cheap engagement ring?
For many people shopping for an engagement ring is a confusing experience at the start. They haven’t ever shopped for a diamond – how can they know what to look for? Hopefully I can help you get started. Shopping for an engagement ring should be a fun thing. It’s such an exciting time of your life so try not to get stressed about this purchase. Let’s look at the first three things you should do. Once you get these out of the way, you can focus on the most important part of the ring – the diamond.
Make a Budget
My clients are always recommended to do this first. You want to decide what price you can pay and stick to it. There is no “set in stone” rule about how much you need to spend, although many people recommend spending the equivalent of 2 months salary for the 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 they are still paying it off years after the fact. There is no point putting you (and her) in financial difficulties. If you can’t get her the size of diamond you want right now, you can always “upgrade” her ring later on in life when money isn’t as tight. Your budget is going to depend on a number of different factors, but be prepared to fork over a decent chunk of change. Diamond aren’t cheap, but she will wear it forever and I promise the smile on her face will make it worth it.
Choose what type metal for the band.
There are three choices for the metal used in the setting for the ring: yellow gold, platinum, and white gold. Look at the kind of jewelry she now has. If her preference is yellow gold that’s an easy choice and the decision is made. On the other hand if her favorite jewelry is white gold or silver then your choice is between platinum and the white gold. Platinum is a whopping 3 times the price of white or yellow gold, so if you’re on a budget white gold becomes an easy choice. However, platinum is the most durable of the 3 metals and numerous folks love it as they believe it’s durability makes it possible for the ring to become a family heirloom. Keep in mind that the platinum will get a matte look unless you polish from time to time. This is really the only maintenance with this metal.
White gold is cheaper and a bit more shiny than platinum. It will damage a bit easier but not enough to worry about. You may have to have it replated once every year or so. White gold is not actually white; it is actually gold combined with different metals that give it a look of white. Rhodium is used to plate it with to take the yellow tinge away. If this plating comes off you will start seeing the yellow tinge return. Replating is not very expensive just remember this will need to be done.
It’s not a bad idea to go and have a look at how both white gold and platinum look. Some don’t like the way platinum looks and vice versa. It will help you out as you make this decision.
3) Choose the setting
The setting is the basic style of the ring itself. Does it have one diamond? Are there several diamonds on the ring? This is determined by the setting you choose for your engagement ring. You have three main choices to chose from. A solitaire engagement ring is the simplest but also the most popular. It is one single diamond mounted on a band. This is the perfect way to show off a diamond. A three stone engagement ring has one center diamond, and two smaller diamonds beside it – one on each side. These side diamonds are usually about 30-60% of the size of the center diamond.
Then there are the diamond engagement rings that have side stones; these have one large stone in the center and several smaller diamonds on each side. These diamonds are usually inexpensive because they are extremely small. Try to figure out which one she would like. Maybe one of her friends would find out for you but make sure she would not give away the secret first. As much as girls talk about jewelry she won’t be suspicious. You will feel more secure in the knowledge that you got her the kind she wants.
You can now get to the fun part since you have done the three first steps – selecting the diamond! Since she will wear this ring for life make sure to concentrate on getting a diamond that is truly stunning – it is such a pleasure watching my wife receive positive remarks on hers. Lets me remember that I did good picking it out!
Tags: diamond rings, diamonds, engagement, engagement rings, Gifts, jewelry, marriage, proposing
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