Engagement Rings (merged)

Lob_Rockster

We're talking diamonds and they're fun. Four Cs - colour, clarity, cut and carat.

She'll like big numbers on the carat; your pocket might not.
Colour - D E are good F G H and you start to see yellowness.....
Clarity - under the microscope you'll see this....
Cut - the shape.

The missus managed to get a 0.93 D VVSi out of me in a custom setting. We chose it together as I did not want to get it in ANY WAY WRONG!

rchddap1

My parnter chose the engagement ring without my help. Turned out he did very well indeed. I'm actually pleased that he did this as I really wanted it to be a special gift from him....and it wouldn't have been if I had picked it out.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Most of all does anyone have any good cost effective shops either web or high street that I can trust?

Congratulations John. If you're even considering buying off the net, you're going to be choosing a picture of a ring, not the ring itself. I know internet shopping is all the go now, but it may not be a good choice for something that carries as much meaning as an engagement ring. An independent high street jeweller should give you better value and service - remember Ratner's ! If you really want value for money, have a look at what the pawnbrokers in your nearest large town/city have. You know your budget, but remember she will see the insurance valuation so what you spend won't be a big secret. The guide used to be that the cost of an engagement ring was at least equivalent to what a bloke earned in a month.
Best wishes and here's to a happy future for you both.

mistercash

Hi,
I have one tip for you - buy the ring in the diamond district in New York. The money you save on the ring will more than cover the cost of getting there. I took my GF (now wife) to NY and proposed there. We then spent a day shopping (and haggling on my part!) in the diamond district. GF got to pick the stone first, then the ring and then got to watch it being made. It was a fantastic experience for us both but it also was great for her to be able to know (and tell all her friends!) that she had picked the stone and watched the ring being made rather than picking it out of a shop window.

The ring was a 1.25 brilliant cut diamond solitaire - I reckon it would have cost me at least three times as much in the UK.

Good Luck!

Horasio

We chose mine together but a solitaire as large as you can afford is a good bet. I have an 18ct .50 diamond gold one but I love gold over platinum.

If you know her well enough to consider marriage, you would know her taste in jewellery.

saver6

Get a feel for what your girlfriend would want to do. Does she buy a lot of her own jewellry? Have you bought her something but then she didn't really wear it afterwards? Drop hints outside jewellers or just browse yourself until she starts too (I guarantee she will!) - I'm sure she'll point out styles she likes. If not, you do it, and see what she says to your choices. In fact, it doesn't even have to be rings you're looking at! As long as you know what metal, the diamond part is easy.

As for me, I much prefer the romantic surprise. I agree with CC Star in a way cos although me and my OH had only been together 1/1/2 years when he proposed, it was a complete surprise and the ring was exactly what I would have wanted (because I had told him previously what i liked and disliked etc) and he had also been one to steal one of my other rings and try it on his own hand for size. I know it wasn't an expensive ring as we were quite young at the time and he wouldn't have been able to afford anything too flashy, but the fact he'd picked it himself and it's exactly the style i wanted meant more than how much he had spent, and i wouldn't exchange it now for the biggest diamond in the shop!

Congratulations!

gingin_2

My Husband presented me with just the diamond so that I could have the setting made just as I wanted, to me it was very romantic.

heleen

Same suggestion as New York, but slightly cheaper to get to: go to Amsterdam or Antwerp (close to Brussels so if you've in London could take train). Go to the diamond district and haggle like you've never haggled before. Works best if you have cash. Works better in Antwerp than Amsterdam.

Before you go, spend a lot of time memorising what things could or should cost on diamonds.com

My husband didn't get me a ring because he knew I'd want to pick it myself. It's not a solitaire but 5 square stones (princess cut). He could've afforded a big rock but I personally didn't want one.

If you're nervous about the girl choosing too big a size, I dont' think there's anythign wrong with lettgn her know the budget. That's a healthy beginnign to what married life will be like :-)

All the best!

Gingham_Ribbon

I love these threads. It's so nice to sense the excitement in the posts.

It's going to be down to what she's like and how you want to do it, I think. To some women, having the man choose the perfect ring is a big deal, to others, they want to pick it themselves. Me? I didn't want one at all because I wanted to use the money on other things. But some of my friends would have been horrified by that.

My husband proposed with a plastic Christmas cracker ring and then produced a wedding band. He said he wanted a marriage, not an engagement.

I imagine the shop will allow you to exchange it if it's not right, so if you want to get it yourself, just go for it.

(I like platinum with a solitaire by the way. But the prettiest engagement ring I've seen is my friend's and it's an emerald with a small diamond on either side. It positively sparkles every time she moves her hand and I know it was a very inexpensive ring.)

Have fun deciding and good luck.

sjb92

Appreciate the advice on Antwerp and NY, but for those of us who can't sneek out of the country to buy a rock: is the "diamond district" of London (i.e. Hatton Gardens, near Holborn) good value, or would it be cheaper to head out of London to a small independent shop somewhere where the rents aren't so high?