Selecting An Engagement Ring
So you have decided to seal your commitment to your beloved with a ring. Congratulations! Now what? Let's go over the basics. First you will need to know the metal that you will be using for the setting. Traditionally, platinum, white gold, yellow gold and silver have been used. It is a good idea to know the ring finger size if the fiancée will not be part of the selection process. And, you must consider how much you would like to pay for this ring. For many people a white diamond is what is given. So you should be familiar with the 4 C's of the diamond: cut, color, clarity and carat weight. These together will help determine the stone's cost. Cut refers to the shape of the stone: round, pear, emerald, trillion, asscher etc. Color refers to it's whiteness- with D being the whitest thru a G, H is on the border heading towards I which has a slight yellowish tinge and so on. Diamonds can come in many colors- a true yellow diamond is both very rare and very expensive. Clarity refers to the flaws in the stone and can you easily see them with the naked eye, or does it take some magnification to see them. All natural stones have flaws. A VVS takes the most effort to find the flaws while and I1, 2, or 3 will have easily visible charcoal, or other flaws. The 1 carat diamond is very popular today- it weighs 100 points.
Ok. Now we have lots of information and what are you going to do? Well, if money is no problem- just go to the store of your choice and buy the biggest VVS, D color diamond in your choice of cut that your budget allows.
Now, for the rest of you, my suggestion is to look at a nice Si1 (eye clean) G color in slightly less than a 1 carat stone- say a 95 or 96 pointer in the shape that appeals to your intended. What have I just said to you? I have just suggested that you save money by buying a stone that looks just like it's more expensive sister- the 1 carat but the difference is not visible to the naked eye! Also, the clarity is good enough that most people will not be able to rate an Si1 from a VVS without the aid of a magnifier (few people carry these around to check out a new engagement ring on someone's finger...)- so your wallet will know, but most people won't. And G is still a good color white stone- you would need to actually place it next to a higher color stone in a strong light to see the difference. You also want to buy your ring with diamond certification- either an EGL or GIA is the top industry standard. We check out our competition all the time and I was once told by a sales clerk that "xxxx buys so very many diamonds, that we couldn't possibly certify ALL of our diamonds!" And that was for a ring that carried a $10,000 price tag. My advice in that situation is to leave, quickly. You now have the basic information to go to a jewelry store, pick out a stone and have it set in one of their standard "custom" settings that are available pretty much everywhere- sometimes given fancy names and much higher prices- but still that is what is available at most jewelry stores. For most of you, this is going to be all that you need to do.
For some of you, however, you might want a little more personal touch in your choice of jewelry. For you, a custom jewelry designer may be the right answer. Not only will you usually save money by dealing directly with the jewelry designer who will actually create your ring, but you will usually get a lot more value for the money that you spend. Most jewelry designers deal directly with the diamond and stone dealers, so a lot of the retail mark up is not added on to the final cost. How do you know when you have found a real custom jewelry designer? Easy. That person will be able to take out a sheet of white paper and sketch a drawing that will look exactly like the finished product- no squiggles, lines, dots, "wait til you see it later- it will look better" - Too many places advertise that they are able to do custom jewelry- put them to the test- you want to see it drawn in front of you. Our design studio has designed and created a ring that is two angel's wings holding up the diamond, an engagement ring with a heart shaped center stone that matches the fiancée's eyes, a ring that has two woodland fairies whose wings hold blue diamonds and whose crown holds the main diamond- currently we are working on a ring that holds the birthstones of the couple's children. To find a jewelry designer, just goggle "custom jewelry design" plus your town, towns, or nearby city. We are located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and are happy to answer any of your questions about jewelry.
By Joyce Aldawood
Ok. Now we have lots of information and what are you going to do? Well, if money is no problem- just go to the store of your choice and buy the biggest VVS, D color diamond in your choice of cut that your budget allows.
Now, for the rest of you, my suggestion is to look at a nice Si1 (eye clean) G color in slightly less than a 1 carat stone- say a 95 or 96 pointer in the shape that appeals to your intended. What have I just said to you? I have just suggested that you save money by buying a stone that looks just like it's more expensive sister- the 1 carat but the difference is not visible to the naked eye! Also, the clarity is good enough that most people will not be able to rate an Si1 from a VVS without the aid of a magnifier (few people carry these around to check out a new engagement ring on someone's finger...)- so your wallet will know, but most people won't. And G is still a good color white stone- you would need to actually place it next to a higher color stone in a strong light to see the difference. You also want to buy your ring with diamond certification- either an EGL or GIA is the top industry standard. We check out our competition all the time and I was once told by a sales clerk that "xxxx buys so very many diamonds, that we couldn't possibly certify ALL of our diamonds!" And that was for a ring that carried a $10,000 price tag. My advice in that situation is to leave, quickly. You now have the basic information to go to a jewelry store, pick out a stone and have it set in one of their standard "custom" settings that are available pretty much everywhere- sometimes given fancy names and much higher prices- but still that is what is available at most jewelry stores. For most of you, this is going to be all that you need to do.
For some of you, however, you might want a little more personal touch in your choice of jewelry. For you, a custom jewelry designer may be the right answer. Not only will you usually save money by dealing directly with the jewelry designer who will actually create your ring, but you will usually get a lot more value for the money that you spend. Most jewelry designers deal directly with the diamond and stone dealers, so a lot of the retail mark up is not added on to the final cost. How do you know when you have found a real custom jewelry designer? Easy. That person will be able to take out a sheet of white paper and sketch a drawing that will look exactly like the finished product- no squiggles, lines, dots, "wait til you see it later- it will look better" - Too many places advertise that they are able to do custom jewelry- put them to the test- you want to see it drawn in front of you. Our design studio has designed and created a ring that is two angel's wings holding up the diamond, an engagement ring with a heart shaped center stone that matches the fiancée's eyes, a ring that has two woodland fairies whose wings hold blue diamonds and whose crown holds the main diamond- currently we are working on a ring that holds the birthstones of the couple's children. To find a jewelry designer, just goggle "custom jewelry design" plus your town, towns, or nearby city. We are located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and are happy to answer any of your questions about jewelry.
By Joyce Aldawood
0 comments:
Post a Comment