Engagement Rings

leandygandy

OP, could you ask for assistance from your gf's best friend/sister? If they were to go on a shopping trip and happen to look in a couple of jeweller's windows she might come out with some insight as to the style of ring she would like i.e. stone type, cut, metal etc.?

Strangely enough, my husband and my brother (!) picked my engagement ring and it is EXACTLY what I would have picked if I had been given the choice myself.

You are asking this woman to be your wife - it stands to reason that you should know her well enough to have a good idea of what she would like, but it can't hurt to get some outside opinions if there are people that can help.

onlyroz

shegirl wrote: »

Casually chat about a friends engagement or dilemma and you can pick up clues about the kind of thing she would like stone wise etc

How can you possibly know what you'd want until you go and have a look? Or do women really go around looking at potential engagement rings well before they've ever had a proposal? :eek:

shegirl

onlyroz wrote: »

How can you possibly know what you'd want until you go and have a look? Or do women really go around looking at potential engagement rings well before they've ever had a proposal? :eek:

Because we know our style and we have seen things around,seen what friends have,been in jewellery shops for various reasons

split_second

take her with you- my fiance knew i was going to propose and one day we went to look at rings, she saw one she liked and i said 'if you want it i will buy it for you', she texted her sister to tell her i had bought her a ring (it was her sister's birthday and they are very close) and then we went to have a sit down as we had walked around for ages and i proposed then

i would have got the size massively wrong for a start lol

Lunar_Eclipse

Cry For The Moon in Guildford, Surrey. A treasure trove of the most gorgeous diamond and genuine vintage jewellery. I've never bought anything from there personally, though friends & family have, but it is by far my favourite jewellery shop in the world! I just enjoy window shopping there.

Idiophreak

onlyroz wrote: »

How can you possibly know what you'd want until you go and have a look? Or do women really go around looking at potential engagement rings well before they've ever had a proposal? :eek:

Oh man, women know what they want - and they have a way of making sure their OH knows it too... I wasn't even worried when I went to get the DW's ring...I knew exactly the style she wanted, the size, the stone, the metal, the shape of stone...

I don't get how people can not know this, yet feel happy to propose...it's not that my wife hinted outrageously all the time what kind of ring she wanted, but every so often you walk past a jewellers and they she says "ooh, I really like that one" or "that would be lovely if..." and you take notes...And over the course of your relationship, you just grow to know their style...I'd have questioned how well I knew her if I wasn't 100% confident in picking out a ring she'd like...

gratefulforhelp_2

More questions...yellow/white gold? platinum? Does she work with her hands, in which case you need to think about the setting.

gadgeteer_2

Here's a question though. Which of the 4 C's is most important? Obviously it's a tradeoff in some respects.

But is it better to get a larger carat at the cost of clarity & colour? Or is it better to get a smaller carat but better clarity/colour?

Because whilst I can understand in theory colour & clarity are important, in practice can women truly tell? Especially when they are showing their friends & family, is it not better to have a bigger carat?

Idiophreak

gadgeteer wrote: »

Here's a question though. Which of the 4 C's is most important? Obviously it's a tradeoff in some respects.

But is it better to get a larger carat at the cost of clarity & colour? Or is it better to get a smaller carat but better clarity/colour?

Because whilst I can understand in theory colour & clarity are important, in practice can women truly tell? Especially when they are showing their friends & family, is it not better to have a bigger carat?

If you had them side by side, you wouldn't be able to tell between, say, a colour G and a H (although you'll pay a whole lot more for it), but 2 grades apart you could tell with the naked eye...Of course, when it's on their hand, you don't have a side-by-side comparison, so in practice it's hard to say "looks like an M to me..." but once you know your diamonds you can easily tell a good (nearly colourless) diamond from a cheap (yellowy) diamond.

That said, not many people are clued-up enough to spot the difference - so upping the carat's the easiest way to make them "ooh" and "aah".

Personally, I went for a relatively small, but practical, carat weight (.52 iirc) and then got the best colour I could afford - I was never too bothered about clarity. But that's just me. The thing I like most about her ring is how "white" her diamond looks - it's really noticeable against some of her friends' ones

claire16c

Idiophreak wrote: »

Oh man, women know what they want - and they have a way of making sure their OH knows it too... I wasn't even worried when I went to get the DW's ring...I knew exactly the style she wanted, the size, the stone, the metal, the shape of stone...

I don't get how people can not know this, yet feel happy to propose...it's not that my wife hinted outrageously all the time what kind of ring she wanted, but every so often you walk past a jewellers and they she says "ooh, I really like that one" or "that would be lovely if..." and you take notes...And over the course of your relationship, you just grow to know their style...I'd have questioned how well I knew her if I wasn't 100% confident in picking out a ring she'd like...

What about if the woman has it wrong though? Its hard to tell unless you actually were to try on rings - which I find to be weird if you are not yet engaged.

I told my husband (boyfriend at the time of course!) that I wanted a square shaped stone. Then I saw someone's ring at work and changed my mind and wanted a heart shaped one. Then I changed back to square. For certain. I thought..

But then we were in a shop, I tried some on and hated the square ones because they werent as sparkly as a round one of the same size carat and ended up loving a round one! Which made my DH very relieved he didnt choose it himself!