How to Choose An Engagement Ring (Congrats, Joel)

 
"It's Only Lovely if She's Wearing It"

It's done, the secret is out, and Joel is now well on the way to be married, We've come a long way since graduation. From the bottom of my heart, congrats, pal.

When Joel asked me for some advice on ring buying, I was inspired to put up a how-to post on how to go about doing it. But as much as I would like to think that I'm some authority on rings, truth is, I'm only as knowledgeable as the salespeople allow me to be. Salesmen are that way: A few sales pitches, you feel like an expert, and you're just a card swipe away from getting your own rock on a ring.

So, here are a few sites that do better than me:

• About.Com's How-To Guide on Choosing Rings (Loads of Advice)
• Engagement Rings Guide
• Tidbitsnstuff's Guide
• Brilliant Rose (I love this)

Here's a few tips of my own, at least from my many conversations with men who've popped the question:

1. Think About Setting Up The Moment.   The ring is the main event, but you'll have to set the stage. Think about how you want to set the mood and the moment - this is important. Though she can show off that rock for a few seconds, she'll be remembering that moment for life. How it'll go is entirely dependent on you and your partner to be - just remember to make it special for the both of you.


2. Get a Bigger Size Rather than Smaller.   If you get the point about the moment, you'll want to make sure that ring slips in fully as you slide it down her left ring finger. If you're in doubt, you've either got to do some covert research, or you could play safe by buying a slightly bigger size than your first estimate.


3. Tell No One.   Keep it a surprise, make sure only trusted friends (as few as possible) know. Things like that have a knack of leaking.


4. Do It As Soon As Possible.  Why wait, really? Unless you're not sure - and if so, you've got to work some issues out.

Well, that's it for today. Best wishes to the engaged couple!

Technorati Tags: diamond, engagement, how-to, joel, proposal, rings

Comments

[LoanForWedding.com]

Another point... Look for quality, not quantity.. You want a stone with brilliance - something memorable, don't go for size if you don't want to spend the money - it will look poor when compared to her friend's rings.

[Suwei Ong]

Oui. You didn't catch this? "It's only lovely if SHE wearing it?" Quite beng leh.

Excuse me, may I ask, is the engagement ring a separate ring from the wedding ring? If so, no wonder you're finding ways to save money. :OP

Congrats, Joel. :O)

[Adrian Koh]

@Suwei:
Haha! Didn't see it. Pardon my grammar and spelling, I was in a rush to post that :) Well, typically, there's a proposal ring, then there's the wedding bands - I guess we could have saved money bucking the trend, but Miss Angela tends to not wear her proposal ring (she's afraid she'll lose it, and, she's afraid she'll cut one of her students). So we coughed up extra (deep cough) to get a pair of "everyday wear" rings. Not expensive :)

@LoanForWedding
I got a size that was really nice for her hands (Miss Angela's got tiny paws), but like you said, I went for a brilliant cut. Quality, indeed.

[Suwei Ong]

What trend? Who's trend? You mean that's the trend? We didn't have to wear engagment rings ten years ago..

And speaking of scratching her students, actually, I was about to say that rings with rocks sticking out will be bad for when the baby comes coz they'll scratch the baby. (I don't wear ear studs anymore even...)

Looks like that ring will be a "special occasions" ring when you bring her out for a dressy dinner or something. :O)

[Liangsong]

Hmm...our wedding rings actually cost a little less than the engagement ring. And we didn't plan to have it that way.