Engagement Rings
When you’re ready to purchase an engagement ring, establish your budget, determine which ring style she’ll love, and learn how to select a diamond. Conventional wisdom tells you to spend about two months of salary on a diamond engagement ring. Remember, your fiancée will wear her engagement ring every day. Couples traditionally choose a diamond engagement ring because diamonds represent purity and strength, but you can also choose a unique engagement ring that has sapphires, rubies, or other gemstones. By shopping on eBay, you’ll be able to search through thousands of engagement ring styles and seek out great deals. You can even purchase a new engagement ring setting and design your own ring with a diamond or gemstone from a family heirloom.
Discover Her Favorite Engagement Ring Style
In order to discover which engagement ring style your future fiancée will love and cherish most, you’ll need to do some sleuthing. If you’ve never discussed ring preferences, asking her friends or sisters for advice is a wise thing to do. Taking a look in your beloved’s jewelry box can also help lead you in the right direction. If your fiancée only owns yellow gold jewelry, a yellow gold engagement ring and wedding band may be in order. If she prefers the look of silver, white gold, or platinum, she’ll likely prefer a platinum engagement ring or white gold engagement ring.
Modern brides seeking a simple, classic look may also want one of the most popular diamond engagement ring styles:
* Diamond solitaire rings: Diamond solitaire engagement rings have a single diamond set alone on a band. This style makes a good option when you’re unsure of style. Your love can even choose a final setting later.
* Diamond solitaire rings with accents: Diamond solitaire engagement rings with accent stones feature a main stone, such as a diamond, and use smaller gemstones, such as diamonds, emeralds, and rubies, as decorative accents. Carat weight on accent rings includes the weight of all the stones on the ring, not just the main stone.
* Diamond three-stone rings: Diamond three-stone engagement rings, also called trilogy rings or past-present-future rings, have three brilliant cut round diamonds that represent the past, present, and future of your relationship.
You can also buy a wedding band to match your honey’s engagement ring right away, with a bridal ring set. Featuring limitless combinations of stones and styles, bridal sets include a matching engagement ring and wedding ring that fit together. If your betrothed prefers antique or vintage jewels, consider a vintage engagement ring and wedding ring combination.
Select a Diamond She’ll Love
When you buy a diamond engagement ring, consider choosing quality over size and choose the nicest engagement ring you can afford. The jewelry industry uses the four Cs to evaluate diamond quality: cut, carat, clarity, and color.
Look at diamond cut and shape
The cut of a diamond determines how well a diamond reflects light to show its brilliance. A standard grading report describes cut by the shape or outline of the diamond and the facet arrangement pattern, also known as cutting style. Shapes range from traditional round to hearts, pears, emerald, and more. Choose a shape that reflects the tastes of the person who will wear the stone.
Choose diamond carat weight
Diamond size is measured by weight in carats. Prices rise quickly as carat weight increases. Choosing a slightly smaller carat weight, even 0.05 less, can save you money and still allows you to present your future spouse with a dazzling stone.
Seek diamond clarity
Most diamonds have tiny flaws called inclusions, often invisible to the naked eye. eBay sellers often describe diamond clarity using the industry letter grading scale, from “flawless” (FI) all the way to “imperfect, flaws visible to naked eye” (I1, I2, I3).
Determine what color diamond you want
While most diamonds appear white, all include trace amounts of yellow. Colorless diamonds rated D, E, and F typically hold the most value, with nearly colorless diamonds (rated G, H, I, J) following suit. However, deeply colored “fancy diamonds,” also called Z+ diamonds, can sometimes cost more than colorless diamonds of the same carat weight. Fancy diamonds, popular in many celebrity engagement rings, come in a variety of colors, including deep yellow, pink, green, blue, and black.
Spot certified diamonds
Certain gemological laboratories issue grading certificates that describe the qualities of a particular diamond, including cut, carat, clarity, and color. Before you make a purchase, make sure a reputable gemologist or gemological lab issued the grading certificate. Popular labs that certify diamonds and gemstones include:
* Gemological Institute of America (GIA): Many in the industry consider GIA the gold standard of diamond graders. Established in 1931, the not-for-profit GIA has its headquarters in Carlsbad, California, and has a presence in a number of locations worldwide.
* International Gemological Institute (IGI): IGI grades diamonds and gemstones from its headquarters in New York and several other U.S. locations.
* American Gem Society Laboratories (AGSL): Founded in 1978, the AGSL is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
* European Gemological Laboratory USA (EGL-US): There are a few independently owned grading labs that carry the EGL name. EGL-US certificates, however, are the only EGL certificates permitted in the United States. EGL-US has been independently owned since 1986 and is based in New York.
When you read item listings describing a certified diamond, make sure it includes a photograph of the grading certificate and its serial number as well as a picture of the engagement ring.
Avoid conflict diamonds
Conflict diamonds, diamonds sold to fund wars, originate in countries such as Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ask sellers how they confirm the origin of their diamonds so you can avoid buying a conflict diamond, if you choose.
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