Selecting a diamond made easy

Your future fiancé expects a diamond engagement ring, but how do you choose a diamond ring that encapsulates your partner’s taste and symbolizes your commitment?

Trust us, there’s more to the diamond ring shopping process than going to your favorite jeweler and picking out the first ring that catches your eye. Aside from wanting it to be impressive and sparkly, there are many other factors that must come into play.

This blog post will teach you how to choose the diamond ring of your bride-to-be’s dreams, while ensuring it is a wise investment.

The Four Cs

You don’t want to choose any diamond. You want to learn how to choose the most perfect diamond for your significant other. And no better way to begin this journey than by understanding the crucial four Cs of diamonds: cut, clarity, color and carat weight. These variables will help you properly explore a diamond’s value, quality and aesthetic appeal. Keep reading to learn more about the four Cs later in this blog post. 

Choices Galore: Different Diamond Ring Styles

When figuring out how to choose a diamond ring that your bride-to-be will fall in love with, the ring’s style is a very significant feature. Understanding your partner’s taste and preferences will help you pick out the perfect ring design with the perfect setting. Keep reading to learn all about diamond ring styles.

Diamond Ring Styles

Knowing your future spouse’s setting and style preferences will help you decide how to choose a diamond ring they will cherish forever and ever. Here are three of the most popular diamond ring styles today:

Solitaire - This is the most classic and, arguably, the most timeless of diamond ring styles. It’s hard to go wrong with this simple yet elegant look, which showcases one diamond prominently on the ring for all to see. This type of ring usually has prong, bezel or tension settings to keep the diamond securely in place.

Halo - This lavish style has been a favorite for more than a century. A dramatic and striking ring, the halo design features one center diamond with micropavé diamonds surrounding it. This adds more sparkle and emphasis to the ring.

Pavé - This type of ring highlights smaller diamonds across the ring’s band, creating a brilliant luminescence and luxe aesthetic. Pavé can be displayed as one center diamond with two other diamonds on either side, one center diamond with smaller diamonds throughout part of the band or any similar style with multiple smaller diamonds.

Diamond Ring Metals

Don’t downplay the importance of the ring metal for your engagement ring. While you may not think your partner has a preference, we’d bet that you’re wrong. Here are descriptions of the most popular ring metal types to help you learn a little more about these metals.

Platinum - Strong and sturdy, platinum rings can withstand wear and tear more than other metals. Platinum is known for being able to grip diamonds securely in place and retaining the color of the metal, keeping maintenance at a minimum. However, it’s one of the more expensive metal choices and is thus seen as a more grandiose ring.

Yellow Gold - While this is the most popular ring metal and believed to be one of the most lavish, it is also the softest and therefore the weakest. Yellow gold is easily scratched and bent, plus, the gemstones are more likely to fall out of this highly-desired metal. We recommend you second guess buying a 24-carat gold ring, and opt for one with less gold, so that it’s more durable.

White Gold - This fine metal contains more metal alloys and is stronger than its yellow gold cousin. Often confused with silver (which isn’t a bad thing at all), white gold is an excellent choice for someone who wants a cooler tone or a stronger metal. But keep in mind that some white gold is made with nickel, which about 10 percent of the population[1] is allergic to.

Sterling Silver - When silver is mixed with copper and other durable metals, we get sterling silver, which is a strong, beautiful metal. One of the most affordable metal ring options, sterling silver is the best choice for someone who wants an opulent look without the high cost.

Tungsten - This robust metal is several times stronger than titanium but features a much lower price tag. While this type of ring is scratch-resistant, doesn’t tarnish and needs little-to-no maintenance, it may fracture if sharply hit on a hard surface.

Diamond Shapes

How do you choose a diamond ring that your partner will be excited to wear every day, forever? Pick a diamond shape that accentuates their style and personality. Most people have long-standing gemstone shape preferences, so if you’re not sure what they are, you may want to browse your future fiance’s Pinterest boards or ask their closest friends. We also recommend you don’t choose a diamond shape based on a current trend, but instead, what your spouse-to-be finds beautiful and enchanting.

Some examples of popular diamond shapes include:

• Round
• Oval
• Cushion
• Princess
• Emerald
• Pear
• Marquise
• Radiant
• Asscher
• Baguette
• Trillion
• Heart

How to Get That Perfect Fit

A diamond ring needs a snug fit but shouldn’t be too difficult to get on or off. Since finger shapes are unique and knuckles play a role in determining the size, this is a measurement best left to the professionals. Get that perfect fit by bringing your partner to a professional jeweler in the middle of a day that isn’t too hot or too cold to get their ring finger sized.

Some other helpful tips:

The ring band’s width will impact the size

Don’t measure ring size after physical activity or in hot environments

Cold weather makes fingers shrink

It’s safer to overestimate the ring size so that it will fit when you propose

What Determines Diamond Ring Quality?

Unless you’re a diamond expert, you’re not supposed to (nor are you expected to) walk into a store, pick up a diamond and immediately recognize its value. While shopping, request diamond grading reports for the diamonds you like. These grading reports will spell out quality by analyzing the four Cs:

Cut - The most important of the four Cs (as well as the most complex to analyze), cut is not about the shape of the diamond. Instead, cut regards the quality of the workmanship taken on literally cutting the diamond so that it reflects, refracts and disperses light in a beautiful, brilliant manner.

Clarity - Since diamond is carbon formed by aggressive heat and pressure, irregularities may evolve in its atomic structure. Diamond clarity depends on the number, size and other factors of these irregular characteristics. Although they usually can only be seen with magnification, they still have an enormous impact on clarity.

Color - Diamond comes in a variety of hues, making colorless diamonds the rarest. Ranging from nearly colorless to light yellow or light brown, diamond experts use a color-grading system and highly trained eyes to determine the colorlessness of a diamond. Fancy-color diamonds are those that are naturally colors such as pink, yellow or blue and are considered to be outside of the typical color range for diamonds.

Carat Weight - When most people think of carat, they think of the size. However, carat regards a diamond’s weight, greatly influencing the cost of the diamond. This unit of carat measurement (one carat = ⅕ gram) is consistent throughout the world.

Where to Find the Best Diamond Rings

For the final step in knowing how to choose a diamond ring for your future fiancé, you’ll have to do some online research to discover where to shop. You’re either going to shop in a brick-and-mortar store in person, shop online or a mixture of both. Here are some factors that will influence where you’ll want to browse:

Where the diamonds were sourced - If you and/or your partner care about ethically sourced diamonds, then you’ll want to find stores that represent that concern.

Price - Don’t waste your time and energy going to a jeweler that only sells diamond rings out of your price range.

Creating a custom ring - If you or your bride-to-be have your hearts set on a custom ring, choose a private jeweler to help your dreams come to life.

Preference for one designer - You can research trunk show schedules for your partner’s favorite designer to find a large variety of styles, plus the good possibility of getting a discount.

Read reviews - Always read online reviews about a physical store, nationwide chain or online jeweler before you spend the time shopping or make a purchase.

How to Take the Best Care of Diamond Rings

Now that you’ve learned how to choose a diamond ring, you must protect your investment by providing the best care for it. Below are some crucial tips to ensure the best care of your diamond ring and its longevity:

• Clean your diamond ring once a week by soaking it in a bowl of warm water with a little mild dish soap for 20-40 minutes. Gently pat it dry with a soft cloth or let it air dry.
• Don’t ever treat the ring with harsh chemicals.
• Have your diamond ring professionally cleaned at a jeweler twice a year or opt for monthly professional cleaning if you won’t be cleaning it at home.
• Spend the extra money on insurance for the ring.
• Have the diamond ring appraised every five years.
• Touch the diamonds as little as possible (preferably never).
• Don’t remove the ring in public.
• However, remove the ring before hand-focused physical activities.
• Be careful not to bump the ring into other objects.