Do you see a potential engagement in your future?
Have you thought about what style of ring you want?
If not, do not panic! There are a variety of styles and cuts of diamonds that may strike your interest. Each of these styles and cuts look particularly different while placed on the ring finger. How exciting does that sound? "Placed on the ring finger!" Picking out this ring or hinting to your hubby about what you like is extremely important. An engagement leads to a wedding, a wedding leads to marriage, and a marriage, with any luck, is for life. This ring is a symbol to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, and forever. So what type of ring should you choose?
First be thinking about his budget. The average amount spent on an engagement ring is about two months of your man's salary!! Good thing we're the ladies and we wear the bigger diamonds ;). Seems to me guys are not as picky with their rings.
Since we've already covered cost, next, consider the 4 C's. These include cut, color, clarity, and carat. The perfect cut of a diamond makes it sparkle like no other. Depending on how it is cut, the light makes the diamond look lighter or darker. The cut is known to be either shallow or deep. One that is just right is what makes diamonds so unique and rare. The second 'C' is known as color. A diamonds color has significant impact on it's value. Three different colors can be noted, colorless to near colorless, faint to very light yellow, and light yellow to fancy. Usually the colorless to near colorless has more value and will most likely be more expensive. However, it may be worth the price, not many women strive for a yellow diamond engagement ring. The third 'C'is clarity. Clarity is pretty self explanatory. The clearer the diamond, the more clarity it has. Adiamor suggests to look under a 10X magnification in order to detect any blemishes. Lastly, the fourth 'C' stands for carat. The carat of a diamond is essentially its weight. Be careful with this one! Two diamonds that weigh the exact same could have completely different values depending upon the other three C's. Generally, however, the heavier the diamond, the greater it's cost will be.
The different shapes of diamonds available include:
I apologize if you cannot read every shape available above. The different shapes/cuts include round, princess, radiant, emerald, oval, pear, asscher, flanders, heart, cushion, marquise, old minder, and trillion.
Now to find out which shape will look best on your finger.
Long Fingers: Round rings are often the most flattering. Marquise, pear, and oval shapes make make the finger look longer, which may not be what a woman is looking for. Therefore, long fingered women, I suggest sticking with the round ring. Lucky for you, the round diamond is the most classic diamond out there. It is known to never go out of style.
Short Fingers: Pear or teardrop shapes may be the most flattering for your fingers. A round shape may make your fingers look even shorter, and big rectangular rings tend to overwhelm short fingers.
Narrow Fingers:Thicker bands with possibly a smaller stone may help make your fingers look a little wider. However, avoid heart-shaped stones and quite possibly a round stone.
Wide Fingers: Marquise shape may be the most flattering style for short, wide fingers. Also, a round stone placed in a larger setting is also flattering for wide fingers. The idea with this type of finger is not to have too much skin showing on each side of the ring or fingers may look even wider.
Large Hands: Lucky you! You are the ones that can pull of the massive stones! Those small stones out there may just look lost on your finger. Larger rings with a bigger band and stone are perfect for your hand.
Small Hands: Small heart-shaped, oval, round, or square stones are all flattering for small hands. Keep the proportion of the ring small.
As you can see, not every shape is mentioned above. Therefore, one major thing to keep in mind is that these are just guidelines. Do not get upset if your favorite shape of ring is not listed under your style of finger/hand. A person with large hands and short fingers may need to find different styles than small hands and short fingers. Overall, it is really your preference as to what ring style you are most comfortable with wearing every day for the rest of your life. Personally, I suggest trying each style on your finger to see it for yourself. You may actually fall in love with a style you never thought you liked. If you already have your heart set on a particular cut, clarity, carat, and color...well, you're way ahead of me!
As for me, I have fallen in love with the pictures of the heirloom halo design
and the princess cut design
Now I'll turn to you for answers! What is your dream engagement ring? Or if you are already engaged, first congratulations, and second, tell me about your ring! Did you and your hubby go pick it out together or was it a complete surprise?
Also, what do you think is the most popular engagement ring shape? (round, heart-shaped, princess, marquise, etc.)
