Looking for the Perfect Engagement Ring?

Here are some things to consider

If you and your partner are ready for the next step in your relationship and you’ve sneakily spoken to your partner’s parents about what you intend to do, it’s time to locate that perfect engagement ring. If you’re not sure where to even start with such a mammoth task, then here are some things to consider:

Remember, they have to wear it forever more

This means avoiding buying a ring that will go out of fashion over time (yellow diamonds won’t be popular forever and don’t go with everything) and choosing something you know they’ll love. Take all your personal preferences out of your decision – it’s not you who will be wearing it!

Opt for something timeless and if you really can’t find anything that ticks all the boxes a jeweller such as 77diamonds offers you the opportunity to create your own ring, choosing everything from the metal used to the shape of the diamond.

Remember the 4 Cs

The four Cs are important to consider when picking out your ring; they stand for cut, colour, clarity and carat in terms of the stone you choose. They are especially important when choosing an engagement ring that has to last. The higher quality stone you choose the longer the ring will stay wearable and look good. Here’s a great guide on what to look out for.

Be prepared to stretch your budget

After snooping in their jewellery collection at what they already like you might discover that the budget you set aside might not stretch to pay for something that matches their tastes. Obviously don’t go overboard but simply expect to always pay a little more than you anticipated – you don’t get coupon deals for this sort of thing!

Think about your partner’s lifestyle

Are they active? Can they wear jewellery at work? This will impact on how they wear their engagement ring and your decision on what to purchase for them. If she works with food, ensure she has a ring that is easy to clean or if she works in a profession where she has to care for people, elevated diamonds and prongs should probably be avoided to remove any chance of injury. Jewellery wise offers some great insight into what to consider when it comes to your partner’s lifestyle.

Find out their ring size

There’s nothing more disappointing than being presented with an engagement ring that doesn’t fit correctly, whether it’s too big or too small (the latter is the most crushing). Sure, it’s relatively easy to have a ring re-sized but that means heading to where you purchased it and then handing it over to be adjusted for a potentially lengthy period of time when you just want to show it off to the world.

Use jewellery they already own to work out what size they require and press their ring into a piece of blu tac to take to the jewellers with you. However, if they don’t take their jewellery off try out these sneaky ways of discovering their ring size:

• If one of their friends is also recently engaged ask them to share their engagement ring round when the group is together and report back to you if it fits.
• Tie a knot around her finger with a piece of string, either carefully while she’s asleep or find some way of jokily doing it and use this to work out her ring size.
• Attend a festival market or craft fair and try rings on together and take note of which ones fit.

Finding the perfect engagement ring needn’t be stressful, keep these things in mind and you should be able to present a beautiful ring they will treasure forever.