Five Things to Keep in Mind When Shopping for the Perfect Engagement Ring
Finally finding the person you want to spend the rest of your life with is such an exciting time and you want to find the perfect ring to reflect the love you have for each other. This experience should be a fun, exciting, even magical if you will time, but keep these five things in mind while you shop!
After years of working with soon to be brides and their significant others, I've devised this list of things to keep in mind! Maybe some don't apply to you or maybe they all do, but all are worth giving a little thought to!
#1 Style...is it Just IN Style and You Love it, or Will You Love it Forever?
Ask yourself "is this style something I will love forever (or at least a few years) or am I going to fall out of love with it when it falls out of style?" I’ve asked this question to a lot of brides-to-be and most haven’t thought of this before. It’s important to stop and think what will I like, not what will everyone else like. Getting married isn’t about fitting in, it’s about love and commitment, your ring in a sense resembles this. Just because your best friend or sister-in-law has a beautiful ring with a halo doesn't mean you have to get that too. So really sit and think about what you think you will love for a LONG time.
With that being said, there is always upgrading down the road, but you don’t want to have to change your ring within three years of having it because styles have changed.
#2 Is the Style I'm Looking at Going to be Durable for My Lifestyle?
This isn’t something a lot of people think about, high five to the ones who keep this in mind! This is especially an issue right now with all the extremely dainty styles out there. While super skinny rings and very light prongs are cute, if you lead an active lifestyle this style of ring will cause you nothing but problems whether it's from the get go or later on down the road. The reason for this is there isn't enough metal to hold its shape, think about it, if you take a very thin wire and bend it, it bends very easily, the thicker the wire the harder it is to bend. We use our hands constantly and hit them on things without even knowing it! The more pressure you're putting on one of these rings, the easier it's going to get misshapen. Aside from your ring bending, if the prongs that hold your stones are too thin they're going to wear faster and you'll have to maintain constant upkeep so you don't lose any stones (and we don't want that). Another point to add here for those dainty rings that have accent stones going down them: when you bend a ring you're most likely going to be loosening these stones as well.
If you’re dead set on this style, talk to a jeweler and see if they can obtain the style you’re looking for without neglecting durability. You can achieve dainty styles without compromising durability and the ring won't look bulky.
Final question to ask yourself about this topic…"do I want to loose my stones or bend my ring on a regular basis or would I rather go a little bit heavier with the metal and not have so many issues?"
#3 What Kind of Center Stone Do You Want?
The center stone is a big part of your engagement ring if not the most important part…what do you want? Do you want a diamond, a lab grown diamond, moissanite, a colored stone?
If you want a colored stone, you NEED to think about durability. Most colored stones will either need to be re-polished, re-cut, or replaced at some point. Usually this is YEARS down the road depending on what kind of stone you choose, but it is something you need to be aware of. Re-cutting/polishing isn’t going to break the bank so to speak, but it is something to keep in mind. Are you going to be heart broken when you have to replace the stone you got married with or will it not be that big of a deal to you? These questions are important to ask yourself when you're ring shopping.
#4 Your Ring Needs Maintenance Just Like Your Car
Unfortunately, jewelry isn't invincible and it won't last forever if you don't take care of it and yes rings need to be maintained just like your car. All rings will eventually need a little face-lift throughout their life and again this isn’t something that will necessarily break the bank, but something to think about.
Re-tipping (building up the prongs, the little pieces of metal that hold your stones in) is a very common repair that rings need and the more diamonds/stones you have, the more costly it will be. Bezels also need to be built up along the way. Some insurance companies will pay for this, but most of the time it’s up to the owner of the ring, just like your oil change is your responsibility. As with putting off an oil change, if you put off repairs that are needed, you will eventually start losing stones/diamonds and no one wants to spend more money than they have to.
# 5 Budget...
This is a big one and very important. Sometimes we can get exactly what we want, and others we need to make some adjustments to get what we want and still be happy. Your budget is a personal thing, however when the jeweler/sales person asks you what your budget is, please be honest with them. I don’t want to show you a two carat diamond worth $20,000.00 when your budget is $1,500.00, it’s never going to happen and then I've just made you sad and I don't want to do that. However, if you tell me your budget is $1,500.00 then maybe we can find you something that will give you the look of a 2ct and stick within that budget. Anything is doable, but some give and take is necessary sometimes. Check out my post on Diamond Alternatives to learn about some really awesome choices to use instead of a diamond!
_JPG.jpg)
Comments