Buying a diamond ring

Every man in a relationship at some point has the thought cross their minds that maybe the gift of a diamond engagement ring could be just the perfect gift for that special occasion, here I will focus on engagement rings. Where does a man start when he looks? On the Internet and in shop windows is where! So here I try to lend a helping hand using my own experience as a goldsmith and stone setter for the last ten years in a very central Dublin 1 location, I can safely say that I've seen a lot of different styles and made quite a few too.
Women on the other hand usually know what they want but at the same time are open to new things. That's why you can see them with their heads stuck in jewellery shop windows, looking for something that might catch their eye.

First up is price. How much are you willing to part with or more practically, how much can you afford? I've seen all sorts of price tags on rings but its whatever suites your pocket is where the line has to be drawn. Sure you can take out a loan and spend months paying it back but looking to the future, if you're going to be planning a wedding and your still paying off that loan then its going to be difficult even coming up with the funds for the deposit on the venue.
So best advise is be sensible.
Traditionally it was whatever the man made per month was what he'd spend so that's a good idea of where to start also.

Lets say you earn between €1,500 and €3,000 per month. That's a tidy sum and it will get you a wonderful little gem but obviously, the more you fork out, the better you are going to get.
You can get diamond rings at low end prices like €300 also so don't fret if you cannot afford much more than that.

What to look for in a ring.
After you have determined how much, then you move onto where and what to look for. Maybe you have gotten ideas form her already, maybe not. If your haven't then you have a bit of a risky road ahead. She probably has idea already made up in her head, she has dreamed about her wedding day since childhood probably and you can bet shes looked at rings in magazines, celebrities usually show off their rings and ideas have taken shape in her own head as to what suites her best.
Sadly, this is the way its gone. The romance is somewhat lost nowadays as more often than not have I seen the man hand over the cash as the woman picks it out. Men do try to go at it on their own assumptions but most of the time you'll see them come back in after handing it to their new fiance and exchange it for something that she likes. A word of warning, most jewellers will only give you an exchange and not a refund so make sure they have a good selection from which to choose from or a good goldsmith to make one up just in case shes not happy with any they've got in the window.
Really, your best bet is to plan it over months and try in a very subtle way to get out of her or even as her friends, what style she would like, if you are going at it alone.
So you've found the style, its something along the lines of a single round stone or RB for short with stones down the shoulder, all in diamond. OK, you've got a frame so off you go, looking around.

Where to look???
Here is where I strongly suggest you go on foot to those expensive places in the city centre that have a reputation for high prices but also nice styles. The high prices are there because of their location but also a little factor called quality. Most high end shops will stock diamonds that are top notch. There is a chart that you can use to see what your looking at, its called the "four C's".
The four C's are: Colour, Cut, Clarity & Carat.
Colour means is it yellow, white, pink or even black. You can get coloured diamonds but the best are white. Whiter the better, ideally you will look for a G or H colour, it goes from "D" which is the best/whitest, up along the alphabet getting yellower along the way.
Cut is to do if A: is it round, square, oval, pear, emerald shaped or marquises? B: how well is it cut, proportions, are they right for the stone style?
Clarity is to do with, visibility. Is there marks inside or on the surface of the stone. These can look like tiny black dots or little clouds or tiny chips inside. Clarity is measured by in stages. I will go into greater detail in the following pages but for now I will say this, anything SI2 and above is safe with the naked eye. If you can't see anything with the naked eye then nobody else will either, in saying that, you then must take a closer look with a 10x Lupe/eyeglass to see the inside fully & behind a white background and plenty of light, even ask for the ring to be washed out in an ultrasonic and then you can get the best view possible while the stone is set in the ring. For the very best view the stone needs to be loose and out from the mount but most jewellers won't go that far and allow you to remove the stone from its setting.
Carat is the weight of the stone. There are one hundred points in a carat so a fifty point diamond is measured like this: .50ct
Here's a thing, a .49ct diamond will cost you a good deal less than a .50ct as the .50ct stone has reached a weight that puts it into a new bracket and a .99ct stone will be considerably less than a 1.0ct stone.
So as you can see, there are numerous factors involved and you should do your home work before jumping right in and buying if you want to find the best value for money and as with all consumer items, shop around.
I will continue in to the next page with a certificate example and show you how to decide based on what that says but to just finish this section off I will say this. You get to know what you're looking and find what you think is the nicest setting you can find and then try to get it made somewhere cheap by a goldsmith, usually that is what their aim is to do. They try to undercut the bigger shops by making it at least 20% cheaper in most cases, this is what I do, goldsmiths can afford to do this because they don't have high overheads like shop do such as staff and electrics but most of all the mortgage that they pay for being in the high street and so goldsmiths can keep cost down for the customer.
Most Jewellery stores offer this service but I do suggest you get quotes from all around town and meet up with the goldsmith that makes the pieces if possible and get him/her to talk through with you!
Taken from parts of my website www.buyingadiamondengagementring.org