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The time has come to buy an engagement ring! If you’ve had enough of being ripped off, throwing your money away, or if you’re just overwhelmed by the huge amount of choice out there, here’s some advice to guide you around the process of finding the best diamond for your needs.
Online or real world?
The sheer volume of diamonds that are available, especially online, can be overwhelming even to the trained eye. Whether you choose to buy online or from an actual jewellery store with a smaller selection of diamonds, the key is to go in with a strategy. Approaching the buying process systematically will be enormously beneficial in helping you to stick to your buying strategy.
In the search for a cheap but beautiful engagement ring, many consumers have no idea whether they are getting a good deal or if they’re being swindled. Attempting this search on your own can be time-consuming and may lead you to doubt yourself. For this reason, I would strongly encourage you to always ask your jeweller for advice. They are trained to help you find the best stone for your budget, and if you go in having done your homework upfront, you will be able to ask the right questions without seeming uneducated on the topic.
What’s your shape?
As with any personal item, many people have their own preferences when it comes to picking the shape of their diamond. While the budget lies in the hands of the purchaser, the shape is something that should match the likes of the receiver.
The search for the perfect diamond comes down to identifying what shape you like, and then selecting high-quality options, which still fall in your budget. Believe it or not, a cheap diamond engagement ring exists, and if you do your homework properly, it is within your reach!
If the person for whom the ring is intended has not expressed a love for a certain shape, it is hard to go wrong with a round diamond, as these tend to have greater brilliance and sparkle than other shapes. The design is timeless, and the cut suits most settings.
Sizes, ratios and weight
The ratio of length to width determines the shape of a complex diamond. If you don’t know what your ratio preferences are, don’t panic – just search for a shape you like, and from there, proceed to looking at diamonds of various length to width ratios within that shape until you find what you like.
The carat weight of the diamond is largely what determines the size of it. Bear in mind that the price of a diamond increases as the carat weight goes up. The standard range into which most engagement diamonds falls, is between one and two carats. Top tip: cheat the look of a smaller diamond (under .75 carats) by using a marquise cut, which makes the diamond appear larger than it is, thanks to the elongated shape of the cut.