Boston T-Parties

The rule of thumb for diamond engagement rings was that it should be 10 points for each year of the lady’s age. That might have worked well in the olden times, but in this day and age you’d find that many engaged women would be wearing rings made for 5 year olds, and some older women getting remarried would need a forklift to carry their engagement rings around! Fortunately the new standard is to buy what you can reasonably afford, and there are lots of very beautiful solitaire diamond rings to choose from online that will make any woman happy while not breaking the future hubby’s bank account.

First of all, you have to know what you’re doing when shopping for engagement rings as there are lots of little corners you can cut that won’t show at all to anyone but the most meticulous jeweler with the biggest magnifying lens. To get the most impressive vintage engagement rings or pre-set engagement rings without spending way too much money, you have to consider every aspect of the purchase, element by element.

Yellow gold mountings tend to yellow-out the diamond solitaire, so you’re better off to go with white gold. Skip platinum as the mounting looks pretty well the same as a white gold, and platinum is much more expensive as a material for engagement rings.

Look carefully at the cut. Today’s Premium Cuts are almost indistinguishable from Ideal Cuts, and there are some Very Good Cuts that can make the grade as well. The difference in the price of engagement rings between a VGC and an Ideal can be staggering.

Yes, the lady is definitely flawless so she deserves flawless, but then your ring is going to cost more than a new SUV. A high VS2 to low VS1 is probably the best place to come in at in the clarity range since that will give the impression of flawlessness even under a basic magnification, and will save you many thousands of dollars.

If there is anywhere to splurge and come off the baseline a bit it is definitely in the color. There are a few Hs out there in the land of online engagement rings that are acceptable, but generally you are better off to stick to a nice middle range G. It will be as colorless as almost anyone will ever be able to tell, and you will save a huge amount over a comparable F color.

Another great trick is to seek out the 1.85 to 1.99 carat diamonds. These can cost far less than a 2.00 carat diamond and again, they will be very hard to tell apart. You would be surprised to find a 1.97 carat diamond priced 15% below a 2.00 carat one, but that is not unusual. Anything that starts with a 2 in the diamond world has an increased cachet, so the prices reflect that. I would challenge the most experienced jeweler without a scale to be able to tell the difference between a 1.97 and a 2.00 carat stone!

Everyone has their own preferences, but a simple prong mounting of a lovely round 58 facet diamond has to be the ultimate classic in engagement rings. When you go shopping online you will be bombarded with all sorts of variants, from old cushion cuts to brilliants, emeralds, pears, ovals, princesses, marquises and even hearts and ballerinas. The only cut that I’ve ever seen that can even come close to the fire and brilliance of a good 58 facet round is the radiant, but I just can’t seem to get behind a square tabled stone. As a traditionalist, there is nothing like a perfect round when it comes to choosing the stone for engagement rings.

When you’re shopping online for engagement rings you have to keep in mind the particular characteristics of the lady whose finger it will soon adorn. If she is a very cutting-edge trendy woman, she might be happy with a fancy, modern or unusual setting. If she is a sporting woman, she might not want to have a prong mounted diamond sticking way out there where it can be caught in things during her active lifestyle. Tradition doesn’t work for everyone when it comes to engagement rings, but that can be a shame because there is much to be said for the classic perfection of the round solitaire.

When you are starting a new life with your bride-to-be, you don’t want to overspend on the wedding ring so that you will be broke for the next 10 years. There are other special occasions that will come along, such as anniversaries, where you will want to buy your wife other jewelry, such as diamond bracelets, diamond stud earrings or even pearl necklaces. If you are still paying off the wedding ring on your 8th anniversary, chances are you paid too much for your budget!