Please explain jewellery to me

edwardcasbon1

edwardcasbon1

edwardcasbon1

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593
Location
Cambs, UK
Hi all,

I'm looking into purchasing an engagement ring soon, and I've had a quick look on the internet to get some ideas.

I've never been interested or knowledgeable with jewellery so I was wondering if someone could help me out and explain to me the differences between the different metals and carrats (sp) etc?

I know that my girlfriend likes 'white gold' and 'platinum', so I know it needs to be either of those. Also, I think she wants a diamond stone (one big one rather than the small 4 that I've seen, (think it's called a princess stone or something?)). Are there different types of diamonds?

Could someone explain to me what a 'carrat' is please? Is higher or lower better? What is the norm? I don't want to get anything cheap and nasty. I was thinking of spending around £2000 on the engagement ring.

For the women (and maybe men) out there, how do you know what your ring size is? And how do you men find out without asking your girlfriend?

Also, could anyone recommend any jewellers? I'd rather go in to see some rings rather than purchase over the internet.

Many thanks for all your help.

Edward
 
Can't help with most of that, but I do know that carats are used as a measurement of the purity of gold. 24-carats means its basically pure gold. Anything less shows how much gold it is. 12 carat is 50% gold, 18 carat is 75% and so on. Obviously the more carats, the purer the gold is and the more expensive.
 
Im sorry, but HOW MUCH? My lass would have went ballistic if I had spent anywhere near that much.

As she herself said, its not about the ring, its about the asking and the commitment. Hers cost £100, she chose it herself. I would have spent more, but she wasn't having any of it.

The different names for the diamonds are differenet 'cuts' or shapes. Carat is the measure of how much diamond is there.
This explains it:
 
It is a Carat and the higher the better (and more expensive) you also have the cut, which from your OP she prefers the Princess Cut, which is the shape of the diamond.

You can get a ring sizer from any jeweller, and compare it to a ring she has floating about.

Ideally you should spend around 3 times your monthly salary on an engagement ring or so convention goes. (nods at Vonhelmet)
 
Find out her ring size first.
Carat is the purity of the gold, higher number the better.
Try and find somewhere that you can have a custom ring made, it's a lot more personal.

MW
 
i think this is the purest carrot ring you can get

carrotring.jpg
 
I kinda feel bad i only spent £400 on my wifes engagement ring now :p

But my advice is just go out to town and look in shop windows with her to see what she likes and dislikes then go from there, if you fancy keeping it a surprise there are plenty f ways to subtle find out what ring types she prefers or ask one of her close friends for help picking one out.
 
Carat is used to measure the size of the diamond or the purity of the metal, however, this is not the only thing you should look at from a diamond, you also have to like at the clarity, cut and color, for example:

Clarity, look at the diamond when you buy it, if you can see any inclusions (black carbon) inside, don't buy it because it is a cheap diamond and it won't sparkle very much since the carbon prevents the light from going through.

The cut, most women say "Oh i want a princess diamond" just because they think it's associated with princesses, most of them don't even have a clue what the cut is, it's just a simple square cut, nothing special, an Asscher diamond or emerald are much better and it will sparkle much more, of course these are more expensive but if you want to spend 2k...

Then the color, the most common colors seen in diamonds are H to O, colorless being the best obviously for your choice, a yellow or pink diamond isn't in your price range so try to find the most colorless one you can get.

Finally, between white gold and platinum, platinum is more expensive obviously but it will support the diamond better and it's very heavy compared to gold. You won't find a diamond on a white gold ring higher then 18ct because the gold is not sturdy enough to support the stone so it needs to be mixed with other metals, I personally would go for platinum if I was spending 2k.


One piece of advice I can offer you is , check pawnbrokers and local jewellers for the ring, don't be tempted to go to Ernest Jones or Goldsmiths because those places seriously rip you off, those 2k rings you see there are barely worth £500, and in the end of the day ,a ring is a ring, it's not like a car or a piece of clothing, nothing wrong with paying half the price for the same thing from a pawnbroker or local jewellers, if you have any friends who are good with jewellery then just take one with you so you know you won't get ripped off, but if you go to jones or goldsmiths then I guarantee you will be ripped off no matter what.

I would personally aim for a diamond half a carat, .50ct, and then worry about if you can afford platinum or white gold, if you go for white gold it will definitely be 18ct, diamonds that size aren't usually wasted on 14ct gold and 22ct gold is not strong enough to hold the stone. Just telling you these little things to watch out for so you don't get ripped off!

Good luck finding that perfect ring, a lot of people here seem pretty cheap, don't forget, if you get a good price you might make your money back in 10 years or so anyway since precious metals and diamond prices seem to always go back. You might pay £1000 for a ring now that's only worth 500 but in 10 years time it could be worth that £1000 again, heck with the way gold is going, your grand kids can make a fortune with it! haha
 
I got my wife a platinum engagement ring with a .5 carat diamond. I read up on diamonds at the time and settled for a really nice stone in the end (can't remember off the top of my head). I paid £1700 from http://www.77diamonds.com/ the same ring was close to £3,000 on the high street for the high quality diamond.

This is the ring.

228831_10150293901783609_511578608_7581212_4113734_n.jpg


Edit:

Found the info.

A platinum 1477 Delicacy ring, set with a GIA certificated, round
brilliant cut, 0.5 carat, F colour and VS1 clarity diamond.
 
Last edited:
Castiel said:
Ideally you should spend around 3 times your monthly salary on an engagement ring or so convention goes. (nods at Vonhelmet)
Click to expand...

Meh. DeBeers made that up, and they can hardly be said to be unbiased. It started out as a month's salary and seems to have increased of late.
 
jamief said:
On something she's going to wear for the rest of her life?

If she's happy with an Elizabeth Duke engagement ring then fair play....
Click to expand...

Yes it's fact that the more you pay the longer you will be married.
If a woman wants you spending that much on her to make the bond true then she can't be much of a woman.
When you've been married for 31 years come back with your insult.
 
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