9 Pieces of Advice For Anyone Buying an Engagement Ring
The only guide you’ll need before you get on your knee
So, you’re in love and want to get married? Congratulations! Now, let’s make sure you get this right. Buying an engagement ring can be an intimidating and unfamiliar process, but with a little planning and research, it can actually be a fun, exciting milestone in your life that leads to a moment you’ll never forget.
That’s where I come in. My name is Vinit, and over the next few minutes, I’m going to share everything you need to know about buying a diamond engagement ring for the first (and last) time.
If you’re wondering why I’m qualified to help you out, it’s not just because diamonds are something I’m deeply passionate about, but they’re also at the heart of my family history.
Before I share 9 things you should know about buying an engagement ring, here are a few quick facts about me:
- My family has been in the diamond business for generations.
- We come from a region of India where the first diamonds on Earth were discovered and mined, including some of the rarest, most valuable and beautiful gems in history.
- I’m the founder and CEO of Golkonda, a boutique online diamond company that also has a physical location on 5th avenue in New York.
Now that we’ve got that covered, let’s help you buy a ring.
1. Know your Cs
The 4 Cs are cut, clarity, color, and carat, and they’re the baseline knowledge everyone buying a diamond should have. When you walk into the store or start doing more research online, the 4 Cs are likely the first thing that will come up.
CUT
The first “brilliant cut” diamond had 17 facets and dates back to the 17th century. After centuries of experimentation and innovation, the “modern brilliant cut” was introduced in the early 1900’s with 58 facets.
The best possible grade a cut can receive is excellent, and from there the scale moves down to very good, good, fair, and poor. These grades are determined by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the foremost authority in diamonds with a mission to “ensure the public trust in gems and jewelry by upholding the highest standards of integrity, academics, science, and professionalism through education, research, laboratory services, and instrument development.”
Here’s a side-by-side example of an excellent (left) and poor (right) cut diamond.
The way a diamond is cut has the biggest effect on its appearance, so it’s considered to be one of the most important characteristics of a diamond. Optimizing the number of facets is critical when calculating the light paths in a gem. The overall grade of a cut is determined by three key factors: brilliance, dispersion, and scintillation.
- Light that is reflected off the surface of a diamond is known as brilliance.
- Light that enters a diamond and is refracted to create the spectral flashes of color is referred to as dispersion or fire.
- Scintillation refers to the dance of light in a diamond.
If you’re looking for the highest optical performing diamond in the world, one that can only exist thanks to years of tradition meeting modern technology, try the Clear Light Cut, certified by the GIA as the best cut you can get.
CLARITY
Natural diamonds are the result of carbon exposed to tremendous heat and pressure deep in the earth. This creation process can result in a variety of internal and external characteristics. Evaluating diamond clarity involves determining the number, size, relief, nature and position of these two characteristics, as well as how these affect the overall appearance of the stone. Grades range from “Flawless”, with virtually no imperfections, to included, which contain a significant number of imperfections.
COLOR
Diamonds come in all colors of the spectrum and diamond color evaluation of most gem-quality diamonds is based on the absence of color. The less color in the stone, the more desirable and valuable it is. The color scale begins with the letter D, representing colorless, and continues, with increasing presence of color, to the letter Z. A chemically pure and structurally perfect diamond has no hue, like a drop of pure water, and consequently, a higher value.
CARAT
Diamond carat weight is the measurement of how much a diamond weights. A metric “carat” is defined as 200 milligrams. Each carat can be subdivided into 100 “points,” which allows very precise measurements to the hundredth decimal place. All else being equal, diamond price increases with the diamond carat weight, as larger diamonds are rarer and more desirable.
Nevertheless, two diamonds of equal carat weight may have very different values depending on the other three factors of the diamond 4Cs: Clarity, Color, and Cut. You can learn more about the 4 Cs here.
2. Be responsible, but don’t be cheap
Like any other purchase you make, there are plenty of options across a wide price range to choose from when it comes to an engagement ring, but no other purchase you make in life will come with the scrutiny, attention, and expectation of an engagement ring. That’s always been true, but in our current age of social media, the engagement ring you give your significant other will be seen in pictures by everyone they know.
I’m not suggesting you live your life based on what other people think, but when it comes to a diamond ring, you’re not buying something that will be replaced down the road or go out of style in a few years like a car or TV.
Diamonds are timeless, and your investment in a ring can become a family heirloom for your children and their grandchildren to pass on. But even in the short term, you want to get on one knee, open that box, and blow them away. You’ll never forget that moment.
So here’s what I suggest: figure out what you can afford to spend and when the time is right, make a responsible purchase that won’t derail your financial plans for the future. Just don’t be cheap.
3) Don’t be afraid to get fancy
Most engagement rings are a beautiful, clear diamond, but did you know diamonds come in every color of the rainbow? Called fancy diamonds, these colorful gems are actually more rare and valuable than most of their clear counterparts. The rarest and most valuable colors are pinks, blues, and greens, and more affordable and common colors are brown and canary yellow.
4) Make sure they’re certified
Would you buy an autographed piece of sports memorabilia without a certificate of authenticity? When it comes to buying an engagement ring, you need to make sure your diamond is certified and graded by the GIA. If you find a ring you like in a store and they can’t provide you with GIA certification, walk out the door immediately.
Every Diamond Grading Report from the GIA documents the specific characteristics of a diamond, including an assessment of the 4Cs — Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat Weight — along with a plotted diagram of its clarity characteristics and a graphic representation of the diamond’s proportions.
Beyond their official grading and certification, you should also look for diamonds that adhere to the standards established by the Kimberley Process and Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC). These are governing bodies created by the United Nations that ensure each diamond is from a conflict-free source and handled with the highest, most ethical and humane standards throughout the entire chain of custody, from mine to finger.
At Golkonda, we only sell diamonds certified by the GIA that adhere to the standards established by the Kimberley Process and originate from channels certified by the RJC.
5) Ask your friends
If you aren’t the first person you know to get engaged, talk to people you trust who have already gone through this process. Their first-hand experience will give anecdotal insight into what it’s like and could make things even easier for you.
6) Explore in person, buy online
I can only speak for myself, but I can’t be the only person who will go to a store to see a product in person, test it out, do some research, and then go on Amazon and buy it online at a lower price. In the past, brand name retail jewelry stores with a physical presence were the only way to buy an engagement ring, but that’s no longer the case, and online options often come with more competitive pricing without compromising on quality.
Online jewelry stores often come with a lifetime warranty and flexible return policies for additional piece of mind. Put in the time to see what you like first-hand, then invest a little more time to find the best price from a boutique online retailer.
7) Plan accordingly
According to The Knot, most grooms spend three months researching and shopping for a ring, visiting four different stores and looking at 27 different rings before making a decision. While researching in person is a given, I also suggest checking the #diamondring and #engagementring hashtags on Instagram and browsing Pinterest for inspiration and ideas. Buy a wedding magazine, read it on a bench one afternoon, and throw it away before you get home. This is a big decision and one that will be with you for the rest of your life, so do your homework. No matter how much planning you do, diamonds can possess a certain attraction and magnetism that often leads to them finding you, not the other way around.
It’s also important that the ring fits, so if you have the opportunity to snag a ring of hers and bring it to a jeweler to have her size measured without getting caught, take it.
8) Make it one of a kind
While the “5th C” isn’t exactly an industry term, I think that customization is an option that isn’t discussed often enough. Listen, you’re marrying her because she’s unlike anyone else you’ve ever met before, right? You can buy a beautiful ring off the shelf that dozens of others brides may be wearing around the country and she’ll be happy, but customizing a ring and creating something that’s one of a kind, just like her, adds another level of romanticism and thoughtfulness to the gesture.
Every diamond is unique. There’s no reason your engagement ring shouldn’t be too.
9) Don’t include her
I don’t mean to judge, so don’t take this last piece of advice the wrong way, but a little piece of my heart dies every time I see a couple shopping for their engagement ring together. There are so few opportunities in life to make a grand romantic gesture and do something truly beautiful for someone you love. In my opinion, proposing should be one of them. If your relationship is heading in this direction, there’s a strong chance your significant other has some idea it’s coming at some point, but browsing for a ring together seems so calculated and, for lack of a better word, lame.
Once you are married, every decision you make for the rest of your life will be a decision you make together. Buying an engagement ring and proposing is one of the last things you’ll ever have the opportunity to do independently of your significant other.
Embrace it. Trust yourself. The answer will be yes.
