Engagement Rings (merged)

Hi Jonny,

I'm not sure what to do about measuring her finger. I Googled and a popular choice is to tie a piece of string around her finger when she's asleep (!) or to find the size (or try on and remember where it comes to on your finger) one of her own rings. We didn't have that problem as I was there when the ring was bought. But if you go to a jewellers, any worth their weight in gold will resize it for you there and then, or at a later date. In Hatton Garden the vast majority said they could re-size in an hour. My ring fitted perfectly, so I was lucky!

I'd say your best bet would probably be to get one similar to mine one, as in a larger one in the centre and smaller ones to the sides, that way you can get a really lovely centre diamond, but still have the extra sparkle and diamond coverage that comes with more than one stone. If you get three of roughly the same size you will probably end up either paying quite a lot more, or have three smaller diamonds.

Do you know what metal she wants?

We could have got my ring for about £2k had we slightly downgraded on the diamond - it was a D VVS2 - but we had already seen it and fallen in love with it. Equally we could have got a lower colour, cut and clarity but got a larger diamond, but we wanted quality over quantity.

I looked online at settings and I couldn't really see any I liked. But seeing pictures is very different as to actually having it on your finger!

Could you not take your OH on a trip to London or Birmingham, ask her with a cheap/novelty ring, then take her ring shopping?

I would really recommend A&S (http://www.aandsjewellers.co.uk/) - they were really fantastic, had a large range and did not put any pressure on us. They only deal in platinum (and gold, not white gold) though. I think they've been around for 30 years or something. I don't work for them, just a very satisfied customer!

Sounds like a good plan - good luck and congratulations in advance.

When your lucky lady gets the ring of her dreams you'll have to come back and show us!

brownbabygirl wrote: »

my fiance's limit on a ring is £400. Is it possible to get something decent in the UK for that price? Quality is more important than size for me.

I just had a look on Blue Nile - just to get a rough idea - and you can get a nice 0.25ct-ish diamond for about £200. If my budget was around yours I'd go for something like this which is £205 + VAT:

Carat weight: 0.24
Cut: Very Good
Colour: D
Clarity: SI2

Then get a simple gold/white gold band for about £250+VAT.

I know that goes over your budget, but when I priced my engagement ring from Hatton Garden up over at Blue Nile I found it was the price we paid, less the VAT. And you don't have to go for a certificated diamond at that price, so that'd bring the price down a little.

Just don't go to H Samual! For the exact money we paid (OK, a penny less!) here's a comparison:

H Samual
Diamond - 2/3 carat
Diamond clarity -P1
Diamond colour - I
Material - 18ct White Gold
Stone shape - Round
Stone style - Solitaire

Hatton Garden
Diamond - 0.64 carat
Diamond clarity - VVS2
Diamond colour - D
Material - Platinum
Stone shape - Princess
Stone style - Solitaire with baggetts either side totalling 0.12ct

Go to the right place and £400 for a nice engagement ring is very doable. And remember to haggle!

hi again,

does anyone have any ideas/suggestions for a cheap 'pretend' ring for about £50? I want to get something nice, maybe even a bit different as it would be nice for her to wear on her other hand on occasions.

Any help would be much appreciated. thx

brownbabygirl wrote: »

my fiance's limit on a ring is £400. Is it possible to get something decent in the UK for that price? Quality is more important than size for me.

while TediousPhoenix has provided good info on how to maximise your budget,

i would suggest that you can open up the colour grading to a range of D to H grades, while upping the clarity grading to more of a range of VVS1 to SI1

the reason being that very few poeple can tell the difference in colour grades when set in a ring (diamonds are graded upside down against a neutral background) and with clarity grades, again with the naked eye there is no visual differance between a flawless diamond, and a very slightly included VS diamond. My personal oppinion is that while SI2 may be eye clean of inclusions, this is only something that can be determined when viewing the actual stone, but can also have visible to the eye inclusions which can detract from the stone appeal of the stone.
when buying sight unseen, or even for peace of mind i would stick to the VVS/VS range with a possible look to SI1 which should still be ok.

I think what i'm trying to say, within a certain range the grades are something that effect the price of the stone, but not the look, outside this range then the look of the stone starts to be come effected.
For some they want the whitest stone available - and stick to the D E range, the majority of people are happy with the white appearance and cant tell the differance between a D and a H graded stone. the same with inclusions.

for example,
this stone is a 0.23ct G SI1 for £230
Its cut is graded by GIA as Excellent
you can review the certificate here

(for anyone who is looking at any stones that have been graded by GIA, then you can also check the certs online here All you need is the weight of the stone (in this case 0.23) and the report number.

and heres another option a 0.23ct G SI1 same as the other stone, but has a higher polish/symmetry grade

Both stones have proportions that will give excellent fire and sparkle based on the numbers - and at a guess the first stone i linked to will show more fire (the coloured light return) than the other stone and the steeper crown angle (36°) pushes the stone towards what some call the 'Firey Ideal Cut' than the more traditional 34.5° of the second stone. neither is a bad thing, its just the 2 stones will have different personalities.


But, matching either with the cheapest ring available from Blue Nile would put the price at around £560