How to Choose the Perfect Diamond Engagement Ring

The selection of a Diamond ring for your partner is a major decision, and will be a yardstick by which you will be judged by her, her friends and family, and your friends and family. It will also cost you financially.  The main components in your choice are, in order, emotional, aesthetic and financial.

Emotional

It is nice to give the ring as a surprise. Listen out for clues dropped by her on the type of ring she would like. Does she like traditional, like her mum’s or grandmother’s, or modern? Does she like simple or ornate? A selection with a good family story, either her family or yours, may go down well with both families. An extravagant ring may be traditional in one family, and a more prudent approach may win praise in another. Best to start well with a new mother-in-law!

Check her other rings and jewellery, and decide if her preference is for white gold or yellow gold.

Aesthetic

Large hands need larger rings than small. Multi-stone rings give you more carats of diamond for your pound than solitaire rings. They can give more surface area of sparkle.

Trilogy rings are traditional and have three stones, while other designs have a larger central diamond, with smaller diamonds around it, or on either side of the centre stone.  A trilogy ring traditionally means one stone for the past, one for the present and one for the future.

A simple traditional ring may be safer if the ring is to be a surprise, particularly a solitaire diamond ring.  Smaller hands may look good with a solitaire, which is a safe traditional design.

Smaller diamonds cost less per carat, and so you can afford a higher quality of smaller stones than larger stones of the same total carat weight.

If you want a solitaire, a trilogy, or a large stone with smaller ones, you must decide on the quality of the larger stone(s).  This means looking at the colour, clarity, cut and size of the larger stone.

Colour

The colour grading of a diamond runs in an alphabetical scale, with colours D, E, and F being colourless.  These three grades show no hint of any colour in the stone and as a result, are the most expensive.  These diamonds look colourless to the naked eye with a faint hint of yellow colour when examined under a microscope. The next bracket of colours, G, H, I,  and J, are classed as near colour. s  As these diamonds are not classed as completely colourless, they are less expensive than those graded D, E, and F and are a viable option for the smaller budget. Diamonds graded with a colour K-M are classed as faint yellow and have a slightly more noticeable yellow tint than the higher grades.  The prices of this grade are lower,wer but bear in mind the colour is noticeably faint yellow.

The colours graded from N – Z have a very definite hint of yellow to them, but are not classed as Fancy Yellow Diamonds.

Fancy coloured diamonds are available and growing in popularity due to the unused and vivid colours available.  Blue, champagne, pink and canary yellow diamonds.  Although these diamonds are far from the colourless grades of D, E, F they are not much cheaper than those graded with colours G-J.  These coloured stones can be used to produce fantastic, eye-catching jewellery perfect for someone who enjoys being a little different or who does not want a completely traditional ring.

Clarity

Clarity is measured by the presence of black inclusions in the stone. Diamonds with an I grade have increasingly visible inclusions visible to the naked eye.  Inclusions in clarity SI can be seen only with x 10 magnification, and so opting for SI or higher will not give a conspicuous visible benefit.  However, the higher the clarity, the higher the status in the view of the connoisseur,  and then obviously the higher price.

Cut

The sparkle of a diamond is determined by the cut. The benefit of a good cut is visible on careful examination without magnification.

Carat

The size of the larger diamond chosen is a matter of taste more than cost.

A large stone is the most visible statement of value.

However, a large stone in a poor home may suggest vulgarity, poor clarity or even an artificial diamond.

In ama millionaire’s home, a small stone may be of a very high clarity, which may suggest modesty, understatement, and impeccable taste.

This gives leave to those of us who are somewhere in the middle to choose a large or small stone according to our taste, preferences and pockets.

Financial

Diamond rings are accessible to many.

Your ring can be set in different grades of gold, typically in increasing carats: carat, 9ct, 14 ct, 18 ct. The difference in gold grades is not visible to most people without checking the hallmark.   However, it is important to remember that 9ct gold is harder than 18ct gold, so when two rings are worn next to each other, they should be of the same or similar carat weight to avoid damaging the softer gold.

A cluster of small diamonds gives a large sparkle at the lowest cost.

Next expensive comes small diamonds around a centre stone, and Next expensive is a trilogy ring. Next expensive is a true solitaire ring.

I suggest that you invest first in the design you want, and if you want clear or coloured diamonds.

Then, in the colour quality.

Then decide on the size you want (within your budget), bearing in mind that the clarity shown in our charts is at x10 magnification.  However, you must realise that if you are purchasing a ring with an “I” stone, it is not going to be as good as a VVS.

Buying a diamond ring is a balancing act to get the best possible ring for the money you have available.  For some people, the size of the diamond is the most important thing,  and they would rather have a poorer grade of diamond but larger, and for others, the clarity and colour are the most important.