There are several very important factors one needs to keep in mind when one goes to buy a diamond for your engagement ring. Buying a diamond is a serious endeavor as it will likely be one of the most important purchases of your life, next to your house and car. The diamond you will select will be with you for the rest of your life and may even be passed down to your child. Keeping this in mind, one needs to take a step back and reflect on what makes you happy. What shape or cut makes you happy and what, within your budget, can be purchased which will make you look down at your ring every day and say, yes! That’s the one!
Many will tell you that three month’s income should be your budget for your ring. I will not be so bold as to say this, as many cannot afford this and others find this to be insufficient. Your budget should be something which when purchased through a credit card can be paid off in two years at most. That way you allow yourself the flexibility to choose a diamond engagement ring which will not break your budget and at the same time be substantial in value.
Selecting the shape is sometimes quite easy as this is a very personal, yet definite choice. Round Brilliant Cut diamonds are the most popular by far in America. The majority of the brides to be in the US choose a round brilliant cut diamond for their engagement ring as it has been featured in so many campaigns by diamond companies and major brand manufacturers for a very long time. Rounds are also very easy to work with as a designer as they are very attractive and full of scintillation. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) offers several online courses on how to pic a diamond (you can find a video by clicking here). You can also find other videos and articles throughout the web. Be careful not to fall for anyone telling you something which is different than what the GIA recommends, this means they have a deal for them and a bad deal for you!
Generally speaking most people cannot tell the difference between a .95 carat diamond and a 1.00 carat diamond just by looking at it. Yet, you will have a much lower price if you purchase a .95 carat diamond than if you buy the similar quality diamond in a slightly larger size. This stays true for any incremental size. A 1.90 carat diamond will be substantially less than a 2 carat diamond, and so on. So I recommend that in order to get the best value you look for a 1.40 carat diamond with Very Good, Very Good, Very Good with no fluorescence. This will be cheaper than an XXX 1.5 carat diamond and render the same look.
The choice of diamond shape is very important. There is round brilliant cut, pear brilliant cut, oval brilliant cut, radiant cut, emerald cut, cushion cut and many more which are either combinations of the previous or unique patented cuts. A brief statement about unique patented diamond cuts like “Crown of Light” or the Tiffany “Lucida”, when one purchases one of these patented cuts one is confined to the prices these manufacturers place on their diamonds and one is not able to shop the same diamond in the general market. Caution, always give yourself options and the ability to choose from several sellers of the same good. When you select a patented cut, you are not able to shop around for best value.
On the next blog I will speak about different diamond shapes and what shapes lend themselves to what personalities and tastes.
As always, you can stop by and chat with me about your engagement ring design and I will be more than happy to help you with your most special project.
