Posts Tagged ‘diamond engagement ring’

How to Find the Perfect Diamond Engagement Ring

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Proposing to the woman you love with a beautiful diamond engagement ring will be one of the most special moments in your life. With that being said, you want to make sure you are buying the best diamond ring you can. Even if you know nothing about jewelry, it pays to familiarize yourself with the basic characteristics of a diamond and how each affect the value of the stone. Armed with a basic understanding of diamonds, you can ensure the diamond engagement ring you present to your bride-to-be will be perfect.

Determine What She Likes

Choosing a diamond is only one step in the process of finding the perfect diamond engagement ring for your bride-to-be. Before you can purchase a ring, you need to determine what kind of jewelry she likes. If you intend on keeping the proposal a secret until the big day, enlist the help of her friends or mother (if they can keep a secret, that is!) or take a peek at the jewelry she already owns. Does she own more white gold pieces, or does she prefer yellow gold? Do her tastes tend to be classic and understated or bold and elaborate? Learn as much as you can about the style of jewelry she prefers so you are able to buy an engagment ring she’ll love.

Figure Out How Much You Can Afford

A diamond engagement ring can be very expensive or quite affordable depending on how much you can afford to spend. While you want to buy the best quality diamond you can for your bride-to-be, that doesn’t mean you have to spend thousands of dollars if you are unable to. The setting, metal choice and the stone will all affect the final cost of the ring, so figure out what you are looking for and how much you can expect to pay for the diamond and setting you are interested in.

Learn What To Look For In A Diamond

A diamond engagement ring is one of the most important and major purchases you will make, so you should take the time to understand what you are buying before you commit. A diamond’s worth is judged by the 4 C’s (cut, clarity, color and carat weight.) Take the time to familiarize yourself with these and use them to judge which qualities are most important in a diamond for you and your bride-to-be. Learning about the various diamond shapes and sizes will also help you narrow down your choice to find the perfect diamond engagement ring that your budget will allow. You should also settle on a setting and band for your ring. Different metals will affect the final cost of the engagement ring as some metals (such as platinum) are more expensive than others.

Finding the perfect diamond engagement ring for your bride-to-be can seem like a daunting task. If you take the time to learn about diamonds and ring styles, however, you can ensure the ring you end up buying will be cherished and loved for the rest of your lives together.

Tags: diamond engagement ring, diamond rings, Diamonds, Engagement Rings, The 4 C's
Posted in Buying Diamonds | Comments Off

Purchasing a Treated Diamond

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

Treated diamonds are surprisingly more common than you might think. While treated gems were often looked down upon in the beginning, it has become more acceptable over the years because of their ability to make purchasing a diamond engagement ring more economical for couples.

What are Treated Diamonds?

A treated diamond is one that has undergone a process to enhance the appearance of the stone. Treatments can be used to alter or enhance the color of a diamond or minimize the appearance of flaws, thereby enhancing the overall look.

Synthetic or imitation diamonds (stones that have been created in a lab) are made to look very close to the real thing. For most people, a synthetic diamond can substitute for a natural diamond with no one the wiser unless they have a trained eye.

Natural diamonds that have been treated usually undergo a treatment process to enhance the overall appearance of the stone, thereby (hopefully) increasing its value.

What Types of Treatments are There?

To enhance the quality of a diamond, there are several types of treatments that can be used. Certain processes are more popular than others, and specific treatments can be used to create “fancy” colored diamonds.

High Pressure/High Temperature (HPHT)

This process means exactly what it says – a treatment of high pressure combined with high temperature can be used to create a variety of colors. It can make a diamond less colorful or create pink, yellow, brown or blue diamonds.

Irradiation

It sounds scary, but using radiation to alter the color of a diamond is actually quite common. Irradiation treatments can create black, green or blue diamonds.

Heat

A different and less potentially dangerous method of creating black diamonds, heat treatment can produce black diamonds by exposing a lower-quality diamond to intense temperatures over a period of time.

Irradiation and Heat Treatment

When used together, diamonds can be altered to a variety of colors. First, a diamond is exposed to radiation followed by a period of intense heat treatment to form purple, blue, yellow, pink and brown diamonds.

Other treatment methods involve correcting inclusions and other flaws in a diamond to enhance the overall appearance of the stone.

Other Things to Consider

All jewelers are required to disclose whether the diamond you purchase has been treated or not. If you are knowingly purchasing a treated diamond, make sure you ask the jeweler for information regarding the treatment; i.e., when it was done, what special care instructions there are, if any, and what type of guarantee the company offers if a treated stone ever needs repairs.

Purchasing a treated diamond can be a lot more economical for couples who are on a tight budget. Don’t let the fact that the stones have been treated scare you away – treated diamonds can still be used to make beautiful engagement rings.

Tags: diamond engagement ring, diamond ring, treated diamonds
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Engagement Rings: Many Choices

Monday, May 4th, 2009

When you make a big decision in your life that results in the need to make an expensive purchase, that is an exciting moment. Often times when people get excited about buying something, they go out and make the purchase too quickly without being patient and making sure that they are getting the best value on the individual item that is perfect for them. Engagement rings are no exception, and there are added factors that make the selection of an engagement ring not only one of the most important choices that you will ever make in your own behalf, but it is also a decision that affects the people that you cherish the most in this world.

So when you make a decision in life that involves a significant expenditure, and that decision affects you and only you, it is most certainly a very big deal and you have to do your research, be patient, and choose wisely. But if you were to become impetuous on a lazy and boring Saturday afternoon and buy yourself a convertible, and find some months later that perhaps you would have been better off with a four-wheel-drive truck, the decision that you made only affects you. But when you buy an engagement ring, as you can see, the decision impacts others as well, most immediately the woman who will be wearing it for the rest of her life: your fiancÃ©e-to-be.

The engagement ring that you choose will also be looked upon by your parents, and your future in-laws, as an expression of your love and commitment to marriage. And it will be a symbol of your new family and the love that is at its root to your children should you find yourself so blessed at some time in the future.

With this in mind, it is a good idea to try to get an idea of what types of engagement rings seem to catch her eye, and over the months leading up to the proposal one can talk casually about the subject as though you are discussing some sort of distant daydream without “spilling the beans.” You may want to page through a magazine together that has some engagement ring ads and see if she seems to prefer platinum engagement rings to gold engagement rings, or palladium engagement rings to silver engagement rings. You may find that she finds titanium engagement rings, or even tungsten engagement rings to be especially appealing. She is the person who is going to be wearing the ring, so when you are pretty certain that at some point down the line you are going to be making that ultimate proposal, it is time to start picking her brain in a very offhanded and subtle manner.

When the time comes to go shopping for the perfect engagement ring, you will find that there are many choices out there. The best strategy is to have some idea of what types of rings the love of your life seems to ooh and ah over, and use that information accordingly.

Tags: diamond engagement ring, engagement ring, gold engagement ring, platinum engagement ring, silver engagement ring, the perfect engagement ring, titanium engagement ring, tungsten engagement ring
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Titanium Engagement Rings

Monday, May 4th, 2009

I saw a woman wearing a titanium engagement ring the other day, and it was really lovely and seemed to suit her style and sense of self very well. It had a very unique tension setting, and it conveyed a combination of strength and permanence juxtaposed next to softness, vulnerability, and pure, vibrant beauty. The way that the diamond was cradled between the “arms” of the titanium ring made a profound statement, and I was very impressed.

I struck up a conversation with the woman and asked her how she liked her titanium engagement ring, and why she chose a titanium ring rather than a gold engagement ring, or even a silver engagement ring, because her titanium ring was the same color, more or less, than a silver engagement ring. She told me that frankly, the purchase of a titanium engagement ring was not her own choice. She was surprised by her fiancÃ© and she actually didn’t know much at all about titanium before she was presented with her titanium engagement ring. She had learned in school that it was a very hard and sturdy metal that is lightweight and used in the aerospace and automobile industries. She also said she owned a titanium tennis racket. She did mention that she had heard something about titanium being used to make jewelry, but not being a big jewelry person, she just hadn’t looked into it.

The ring that she was wearing was simple in a way, but creatively elegant and as I say it really got my attention, so much so that I was compelled to approach her about it. I asked her about the comfort of the ring when you are wearing it all the time, and she said that her ring was designed with what was called a “semi-comfort fit.” The inner edges of the titanium engagement ring that she had were rounded like the full fledged “comfort fit,” but not as extremely, so the ring fit very comfortably, but it slipped onto her finger firmly. She said that in terms of fit, her titanium engagement ring was the perfect marriage of comfort and the secure feeling that her ring would not fall off of her finger, or be easily removed by the adept hands of a surprise thief.

She also added that even though she was not very familiar with titanium engagement rings before she got hers, she was absolutely stunned when she saw it for the first time. She confided that her fiancÃ© had been struggling with the tough economy when he was shopping for her engagement ring, and he was just blown away when the jeweler introduced him to titanium engagement rings. He was concerned that a gold engagement ring or a platinum engagement ring might set him back even further and drive him deeper into debt just when he was preparing to get married. But he honestly loved the titanium engagement ring that he would up buying and felt in the end that he really wasn’t compromising at all.

There are many engagement ring choices out there, and though the traditional gold, silver, and platinum or palladium engagement rings will never go out of style, this couple’s experience demonstrates the fact that a titanium engagement ring is a viable alternative as well.

Tags: diamond engagement ring, engagement ring, gold engagement ring, platinum engagement ring, silver engagement ring, titanium engagement ring
Posted in Alternatative Metals, Engagement Rings, Ring Musings | Comments Off

Engagement Ring Research

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

When someone has decided that they have found the person that they would like to spend the rest of their life with, they have truly been blessed. Finding the ideal life partner is an elusive task, and when it finally happens, it is something that mere words cannot adequately describe. This is one of the reasons that a diamond engagement ring is such a wonderful thing, because when you ask that special someone to marry you, there is so much to it that only a symbol can truly explain the way that you feel. The precious metals involved, of the earth but so transcendentally beautiful, formed and etched to artistic perfection, coupled with the effervescent purity and permanence of the diamond center say more than language can possibly convey.

It is a pleasure to be involved in a business that is so integral to the tradition of engagement. Buying diamonds can be difficult for a number or reasons, but one of the many nice things about the Internet is the way it makes diamond engagement ring research so simple and convenient.

For instance, if you want to learn about the different characteristics of diamond quality, all you have to do is search for the “4Cs of diamonds” (which are, incidentally, cut, carat, color, and clarity). If you are wondering how you can make sure that your diamond engagement ring is authentic, you can explore certification laboratories like the Gemological Institute of America online and gain an understanding of the diamond certification process.

Precious metals are something that few of us are very familiar with until we embark on the search for the perfect engagement ring. People generally think about gold engagement rings or perhaps platinum engagement rings first, but what types of gold engagement rings are out there? What is the difference between 24k and 14k or 18k gold? How much should I be paying for a platinum ring? Is a silver engagement ring a good choice? Many people are asking about tungsten engagement rings and titanium engagement rings. Years ago, you had to depend on what the jeweler told you, or research them at the library. These days, it is a snap to arm yourself with the information that you need to shop for an engagement ring intelligently.

You need to know the lay of the land when you are buying an engagement ring, and the comparison shopping opportunities that are available online are very useful resources. You can look at engagement rings with similar features side by side, being offered by many different sources, and get a good idea of the correct price to pay. They say that knowledge is power, and the more knowledge you bring to the table when you are shopping for an engagement ring, the better.

Love is grand, and the day that a couple gets engaged is one of the happiest and most memorable days of their lives. With a little bit of research and a discerning eye, you can be certain that you are presenting your beau with the perfect engagement ring that she will cherish for a lifetime.

Tags: diamond engagement ring, engagement ring, gold engagement ring, platinum engagement ring, silver engagement ring, titanium engagement ring, tungsten engagement ring
Posted in Buying Diamonds, Engagement Rings, The 4 C's | Comments Off

Classic Engagement Ring Moments

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

Giving an engagement ring to the love of your life is an emotional experience for both the giver and the receiver, and the circumstances surrounding a wedding proposal can make the experience all the more memorable. I heard an interesting diamond engagement ring story the other day from a friend of mine who lives right outside of Philadelphia.

Anyone who is a big fan of baseball would know that the Philadelphia Phillies are the “losingest” franchise in the history of sports, indeed, the only American professional sports team that has lost 10,000 games. Prior to last season they had gotten to wear World Series rings just once in their history. But Phillies fans, long suffering as they may be, are among the most loyal and rabid fans in all of sports.

My friend was telling me that his brother is a lifetime fan of the Phillies, and the woman he’s been with for the last five years is also a big Phillies fan. She had been half jokingly asking him when she was going to get her engagement ring for a couple of years. My friend’s brother knew that she really wanted a platinum engagement ring with a rather large, certified diamond, so he was dutifully saving up his money and waiting for the right moment.

As you might imagine, they were both extremely excited when the Phillies made another late season surge and made it into the playoffs. The Phillies were swept out of the postseason the previous year by the Rockies in three straight, so that made the 27th straight season that a Phillies team would go home without a World Series ring. However, in 2008, they beat the Brewers to get to the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers, and they won that too to get to the World Series for the first time since 1993.

The Phillies won the last game of that Dodgers series on the very same day that my friend’s brother purchased the platinum engagement ring. He has been saving up for two years.

The Phillies got ahead by three games to one in the World Series, and Game 5 was in Philadelphia, but it was delayed by rain with the score tied. My friend’s brother couldn’t get a ticket, but he was given two tickets to go the game when it resumed a couple of days later. It was perfect timing.

The Phillies won the World Series for just the second time in their history that night. My friend’s brother and his girlfriend weren’t even born yet when the Phillies had won that lone World Series back in 1980. They were jubilant.

But then, in the middle of perhaps the largest celebration the City of Brotherly Love has ever seen, my friend got close to his girlfriend’s ear and said, through the din, “Will you marry me?” Then he took the engagement ring out of his pocket and showed it to her. To hear my friend tell it, they said that time seemed to stand still and that it felt like they had somehow found themselves in some sort of perfect dream.

It is said that getting engaged is a magical experience, and this couple certainly had a taste of it. They will never forget that their surreal engagement ring moment, and this is the way that such things are meant to be.

Tags: diamond engagement ring, Engagement Rings, platinum engagement ring
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Engagement Rings: “You Just Know”

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

I can remember talking with my mother when I was very young and just beginning to notice members of the opposite sex in “that way,” and the conversation turned serious. The enormity of deciding who would be the special girl that that I was going to buy an engagement ring for at some time in the future really struck me. Even as a youngster I knew that buying the love of your life a diamond engagement ring and getting married was a beautiful event that was very meaningful. I also felt the strong sense that it was very important to do everything right, from selecting the perfect platinum or gold engagement ring down to every detail of the wedding.

My mother told me something that sticks in my head until this day. When I asked her how you know if the girl that you think you are going to propose to and present with an engagement ring is truly the right person for you, she said, very simply, “You’ll just know.” I somehow understood what she was getting at, though as a youth I was usually only satisfied by very concrete answers to my questions. There is that certain feeling, an inner sense of certainty that cannot be adequately explained with words, that lets you know when you have found “the one.”

If you have been fortunate enough to experience the feeling that my mother was trying to explain to me, it is then time to go shopping in earnest for the perfect engagement ring for that ideal woman that you want to spend the rest of your life with. There are many choices out there when you are shopping for an engagement ring, and it can be hard to find something that suits your tastes and looks like a ring that your significant other will like as well. Should you buy a gold engagement ring, a platinum engagement ring, a silver engagement rings, or a palladium engagement ring? How about those titanium engagement rings, or tungsten engagement rings, are they a good choice?

Questions abound when you are going to propose and it is time to decide which engagement ring you should buy. Doing research online to understand what is out there and about how much the various choices cost is a good idea. You want to have some engagement ring knowledge so that you can get a value on whatever ring you decide to buy. You can also read some articles on the ins and outs of buying an engagement ring to help you along. Then it is time to do a lot of comparison shopping and look at a lot of rings until you find the diamond engagement ring that you feel is right for you and your girlfriend.

It can be a little bit time consuming to find your engagement ring, or you may find one that you like right away, but one thing is certain: you will find the perfect engagement ring, and when you do, you will “just know” that it is the right one for you.

Tags: diamond engagement ring, engagement ring, gold engagement ring, palladium engagement ring, platinum engagement ring, silver engagement ring, the perfect engagement ring, titanium engagement ring, tungsten engagement ring
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