More Tips From the Experts in Jewelry Stores
Perhaps you’re talking about getting engaged. Maybe you are celebrating your tenth (or more) wedding anniversary. Or maybe you have a special occasion coming up. Either way, it’s always helpful to get some inside tips before you venture out to the jewelry stores. Continue reading to find out some lesser known tips our jewelry experts are sharing today.
Jewelry Stores: Tips Continued
1. Beware of sizing too much. A jeweler will do their best to size any ring, but if you go up or down more than two sizes, you risk destabilizing the ring. Most jewelers won’t go beyond three sizes apart. The standard woman’s ring size in jewelry stores is size seven. If you need it to be a four or below – or a ten and above – don’t even consider it. Special order the ring in the appropriate size.
2. Don’t finance without a plan. Most jewelry stores have outrageous interest rates in their credit cards. If they have a promotion going – 12 months no interest or something to that effect – make sure you can pay it off in time. You don’t want to see your statement after the interest has kicked in.
3. Know her favorite C. Carat, color, clarity, cut. A lot of women will say carat at first, but only a few stick with it after seeing large diamonds with obvious inclusions. Color, as you may have guessed, is how colored the diamond is. (Typically diamonds in engagement rings turn yellow the further from clear you go). Clarity is how many inclusions are in the diamonds (and less than 2% of all diamonds in the world have no inclusions, so you’re probably going to have to settle with some). Cut is the man-made aspect – it’s how well the diamond was cut by a jeweler, which directly affects its brilliance and shimmer.
4. If you’re going in blind … be conservative. If she’s not expecting a proposal at all and you have idea what she will like, go for a white gold round solitaire. White gold is the most popular color in today’s culture and round is a traditional shape that everyone likes. While not everyone prefers a solitaire, if she doesn’t like it, there are wraps (used as wedding bands) that she can add to it that makes it appear as though diamonds are down the side of the ring as well. A solitaire diamond ring is incredibly versatile and looks great with any number of wedding bands.
5. Let her choose. It’s something she’ll be looking at it every day for the rest of her life. Allow her to pick out the ring she loves, and if that means returning the one you purchased. It’ll make both parties happier in the long run. We’ve seen too many men buying rings on sale hoping their girlfriend will like it (or learn to like it). An engagement ring should suit her personal style. Besides, you can both have fun shopping together. Make the proposal a surprise and you’ll come out ahead.
I didn’t realize that when it comes to resizing you needed to be careful about the stability of the ring. I can see how this can not only help you have a ring that would last for a long time but also one that would look good as you wear it. I understand that resizing a ring too much could make it so that it would be easy to break as well as losing important features.