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The Premier Guide to Buying the Perfect Engagement Ring

You’ve found your soulmate. The person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Congratulations! That’s the hard part. Now that the hard part is out of the way, all you need to do is find an engagement ring that she’ll wear forever. With our help, it won’t be as challenging as you’ve been led to believe.

This is the day she’s been dreaming about since she was a little girl, the “yes” leading to the day of the dress. She’s been playing it over and over in her head since then. Finding, let alone creating, the perfect engagement ring that symbolizes what she means to you can seem like an extremely daunting task and overwhelming experience – it shouldn’t be. With the world at your fingertips, Google will do its best to point you in the right direction – as noble as the search begins, going through dozens of pages of literature can further frustrate you. You’ll need more information beyond the 4Cs and certificates. Most guys aren’t interested in becoming novice gemologists or learning about the differences between feathers and clouds under a microscope, but they want to have an understanding and confidence in the decision they make.

This is likely the most meaningful item she’s ever been given. It is a visible symbol, for all to see, of your commitment to her for marriage. You want something that reflects your love for and devotion to her. Something that she’ll love and something that will most definitely leave her speechless!

You already know that there is a lot of information available to you and it’s difficult to know what really matters and what is simply just a sales spiel. Most of the information is generic and not tailored specifically for you. We’re here to personally advise you through this exciting process with an individualized experience reinforcing what is important to you.

We know you want to give her the moon, the sun and a whole constellation of stars to place on her finger, but you also want to think about your budget and how that may affect your daily lives. If you’ve made it this far, we’re sure you already have a budget in mind and want to make sure your funds go as far as they can. We are here to guide you to the right ring at the right price.

We want you to be sure that we’ll recommend you get the stone we’d buy if it were our money being spent.

Take a deep breath; we’re here to help and if need be, we’ll hold your hand every step of the way.

For simplicity’s sake, we’ve broken this whole process down into two categories: The Stone and The Ring.

 

THE STONE

While there are hundreds of varieties of stones available for your engagement ring, the simplest way to break it down is whether it is going to be a white diamond or a coloured gemstone? She probably would have hinted to one, which will make your decision easier.

Diamonds are the choice of approximately 75% of all engagement rings for a reason – their brilliance and vividness are attention grabbing and their unique combination of beauty and resilience is a fantastic metaphor for marriage and commitment.

Each diamond is like a snowflake or a fingerprint, distinctly unique. Just like its distinct uniqueness, trying to describe what to look for in a couple of paragraphs wouldn’t be honest. We’ve compiled a great guide for choosing a diamond in the Diamond Basics section and provide you with even more information in the Advanced Diamonds section.

If you don’t have the time to read through each section right now, please use the below as somewhat of a diamond basics buying ‘cheat sheet’:
                Cut: Ideal, Triple-Excellent (Polish, Symmetry & Cut)
                Colour: D, E, F, G
                Clarity: IF-SI2
                Fluorescence: None
                Carat Weight: Proportional to your budget

We’ve all heard the saying, “A Diamond is Forever” or “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”, while these marketing campaigns have made diamonds an engagement ring norm, plenty of couples (approximately 25% of them) express their love for one another with other various coloured gemstones. Please see our section on Coloured Gemstones for a rainbow of other colourful choices.

Whether you choose a diamond or a coloured gemstone, remember that your choice should be the focal point of the engagement ring. Traditionally when choosing a coloured gemstone as the centre stone, many people will have it centering two smaller diamonds (traditional 3-stone) or surrounded by a halo of much smaller diamonds. These accenting designs serve two purposes: they draw more attention to the centre stone and they make the centre stone look optically larger. (We’ll discuss this more below)

Once you’ve narrowed down the centre stone, the next step is the ring itself.


THE RING

As we mentioned at the beginning of this guide, this is likely the most meaningful item she’s ever been given, so you’re going to have to spend at least as much time on the design of the ring as on picking the perfect diamond (or gemstone). It’s okay to primarily focus on the diamond, that’s what the industry has taught you.

Designing the ring should be far less about cost and more about choosing the ring that looks best on your fiancé-to-be’s finger. It’s important to know that it’s the ring that reflects her taste and expresses her style.

Between the choices of metals, designs, and settings - it’s easy to get overwhelmed or frustrated again. Don’t panic. We make everything on site by hand so you’ll never be limited to a specific design set like other stores may offer you. Your bespoke ring will be one of a kind, just like her. There is truly nothing ‘custom’ about taking the time to pick a stone and then popping it into one of a thousand pre-fabricated settings. This is a very emotionally investing process and we’re here to help reflect her style and grace in the engagement ring we make by hand for you, to present to her!

Look at it this way, your girlfriend has almost certainly spent years looking at hundreds, if not thousands, of engagement rings on her friend’s fingers, in magazines, in movies or in jewellery stores. She’s likely dreamed about the perfect guy (that’s you!), this ring and this day since she was a teenager. If you thought she didn’t like it when someone else had the same heels or dress on as her, just imagine if she was to wear the same engagement ring as one of her co-workers?! She decided a long time ago what she likes and she would want, but more importantly, what she doesn’t want – and that’s what everybody else has.

At this juncture, you have two real choices: guess or involve her.

By guessing, we don’t mean you’re completely oblivious to what she wants, we’re hoping that you know her well enough to design something she’ll absolutely adore (don’t overthink it - she will love anything you design for her regardless – because you made it). Don’t forget, you have our whole team in your corner and she’ll be completely surprised when you pop the question.

By involving her in the design process you can unequivocally guarantee that she gets the ring she’s dreamed of. This removes a small portion of the element of surprise, but we’re fairly sure you have brought up the subject of marriage already or at least hinted about it, so this shouldn’t be a total surprise to her. The surprise of when and how you pop the question is still in your court.

In both selecting the perfect stone and designing the ring that reflects your love and relationship, we are here to assist you, and even hold your hand, every step of the way. And because we make everything we sell, there is truly no limitation in what we’re able to make for you.