Tips to Consider Before Buying an Engagement Ring
How many of you thought you’d have a quick look on Google and in no time at all, you’d have some excellent hints and tips on buying an engagement ring?! While there are lots of websites telling you about the 4 Cs, the different styles of engagement rings and how much you should spend, what many of these blogs fail to instruct you to do is to check if there’s a wedding ring that will happily sit on your partner’s ring finger alongside your selected engagement ring…Go back to Google, do a search and you’ll quickly realise that it’s not always as straightforward as you think.
From personal experience and from being a part of numerous online bridal chat groups, I can tell you that the top two questions that get asked time and time again are:
No 1 – What do you think of these dress options? (A, B or C)
No 2 – Which wedding band fits my engagement ring best? (A, B or C)
Choosing a band that pairs with the engagement ring, as well as a co-ordinating wedding ring for you (if you so desire), can throw up some unexpected issues and unplanned costs. We’ve done a bit of legwork and written this blog to help you ask the right questions when looking at engagement rings, so when the time comes for pairing your wedding bands, you don’t come unstuck (and hopefully you’ll impress your SO at the same time!)
I want a wedding band set!
By buying a paired engagement and wedding ring set from the same jeweller:
• You know the rings are going to fit together correctly and the wedding band will enhance the beauty of the engagement ring.
• You may get a better deal, and potentially a bigger diamond, by buying the two rings together.
• They’ll have a consistent design and appearance, and your guarantee will be with one vendor.
• The jeweller will have paired wedding bands for you in the same collection, so see if there’s something that incorporates your sense of style too.
• Sizing alterations for all your bands are usually done for you at no extra cost.
On the downside, you’re forking out more cash at the engagement stage. And your partner may feel left out if they’ve not been included in the purchase of the wedding bands. Couples often do pick their wedding bands together; but if you’re confident in your choice (particularly if the engagement ring is an unusual shape), and you want to show her you means business, why not present her with them both when you propose?
I’m just getting the engagement ring for now… what do I need to know?
You’ve got the cash to make a BIG impression with a beautiful diamond – when looking at engagement rings, always ask to see the pairing wedding bands to see how well they sit against each other – if the setting juts out a few millimetres or if the stone sits low in the setting, your band may need to be custom made to prevent ‘gapping’ (this is when there is a gap between the engagement ring and the wedding band caused by the stone setting). Do a google image search for ‘wedding band gapping’ and you’ll be surpised how common this problem is. These rings will be admired and worn for life so you want to ensure that they fit well together.
If you need to get a custom-made wedding band made after you’ve proposed, your partner is going to have to be without their engagement ring for 4-8 weeks – build that into your wedding timeline. Talk to the jeweller about this when you buy the engagement ring so you can tell your SO immediately that you have a plan and a schedule organised (more brownie points!). Then you and your SO can choose a wedding band that shares similar design elements with the engagement ring, e,g, diamonds of the same scale and clarity or other details such as ‘milgrain’, edging or engraving.
Classic simplicity is always a good option – just be aware of the heights and weights of the bands against the stoneset rings.
Fine Jewlers on Etsy
I’m sure you’ll want to keep your proposal a surprise but do you know your SO’s ring size? One final tip! Get an existing ring that is worn on their ring finger and use a bar of soap and press to secretly make an impression or draw around the inside of the ring using a pencil and peice of paper – this will help your jeweler to determine ring size. Take note of which hand the ring is worn and whether it is the dominant hand. If in doubt, always go bigger than you think – it’s much easier to to resize by taking away metal than adding it on.
The most important thing is finding an engagement ring that suits both your partner’s style and your budget; but regardless of which option you go for, we’d like to wish you all the best with your proposal plans!
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