7 Steps To Select Your Engagement Ring
How To Find The Perfect Engagement Ring
Whether you're a guy who's about to propose to your girlfriend, or you're a lady who wants to select an engagement ring that you will forever love, you will find this ultimate guide very helpful.
As a guy, you really do not want to get your girlfriend something she would accept because she has no other choice. Same way, every lady wants to have an engagement ring they are proud to show to their friends.
We have listed below seven (7) basic steps that are pretty easy to follow and will make the decision process as smooth as possible for you and your partner.
1. Decide On Your Budget
Yep, that's right!
Even though the idea is to sweep her off her feet and get her all emotional, please decide how much you are willing to spend on an engagement ring first. After the budget is set, it becomes easier to find a ring that would wow her, but still stay within your means.
One thing to note while creating a budget is that you want to get her a ring that shows how much you value her. A lady might connect how much she's worth to you by the quality of the ring you give her.
Setting your budget very early on in the ring selection process also keeps you very decisive as there's always a vast range of options to select from.
You can get a quality engagement ring from prices as low as N30,000 (approx. $80) usually for sterling silver rings. You may be willing or able to spend more to get a solid gold engagement ring with moderate prices from N150,000 (approx $400). However, if you're looking towards the higher end of the spectrum for natural diamonds, then you'll be looking at prices in the range of N1,000,000 or higher.
It all depends on your choice of materials, and we will discuss that in the next few steps below.
2. Choose Your Jewelry Designer
Just like the choice of a life partner is important, you must choose your jeweler with utmost care because most likely, you will need to have a lasting relationship with them as well. It's not very far-fetched. You will be wearing your rings for the lifetime of your marriage, which we hope & pray, is forever & a day!
Your rings will need to be maintained regularly throughout this period, and you need to have a jeweler who will not give you the cold shoulder once the initial sale is over, but a jeweler who will be there for you to answer your every question and help you out with regular ring inspection & maintenance.
Besides ensuring that you choose a highly competent jeweler, as much as possible, you want to make sure that your jeweler meets the following criteria:
- Flexible return/exchange policy
- Customer-friendly warranty policy
- Great customer service
- Positive reviews from real customers
- Ring upgrade programs
You can be entirely certain that at Zavandi, we smash all these criteria back-to-back!
3. Choose A Metal
If there was no metal, where would the rock sit?
So, quick anatomy lesson - most rings are made up of the metal and then the stones (this is an over-simplified way to put it, but we hope this helps?) Basically, the metal forms the framework of the ring and holds the stones.
Here a few pointers to selecting the right metal:
Metal Options
There are different metal options, ranging from precious metals like Platinum, Solid Gold, Sterling Silver to contemporary metals like Tungsten, Titanium.
Precious metals cost significantly higher than contemporary metals with Platinum being the most expensive, and gold next. However, sterling silver engagement rings are very affordable as mentioned earlier.
Metal Colour
The metal alloys that are mixed with pure gold to make it more durable can also modify the resulting color to produce different shades, giving rise to: yellow, white, and rose gold.
Would she prefer a ring in White, Yellow, Rose Gold?
In terms of purity, none is superior or inferior to the other, it is just a matter of personal preference.
Just a few tips & tricks to help you confirm which metal she loves:
Take a peek into her accessories box, what are some of the prominent metal colours there? If most of her day-to-day jewelry are white metals, you've got a clue that she's a white metal lover. Think sterling silver, white gold, or the more expensive platinum
Stylishly bring up a conversation around rings and listen closely to get hints on her taste in rings. James Bond style!
4. Select A Centre Stone
As explained earlier, the centre stone is the stone that sits on the centre of the metal framework that makes up the ring. There are many factors to consider when selecting the centre stone:
Stone Material
Again, price is usually the separating factor. The good thing is you really can't tell the stone material with the naked eye. So, you can purchase a ring with CZ stones that could look just like a diamond ring, unless you tell someone.
- Diamonds
- Semi-precious Gemstones
- Moissanite
- Cubic Zirconia - CZ for short; commonly called "simulated diamonds" as a marketing gimmick.
Stone Shape
There are different shapes to choose from and it's usually a matter of personal preference.
Round shapes are most common because they reflect light well and are very sparkly. Marquise and oval shapes give the illusion of longer fingers and may be perfect for ladies with short fingers.
There really is no one size fits all. Most ladies are just smitten with a particular shape regardless.
You want to choose a stone that your partner will absolutely adore. You could either subtly ask her or have one of her friends find out for you.
Stone Colour
Will she prefer a clear stone or a coloured stone?
Is there a colour she's absolutely crazy about?
If you're not sure, might be best to stick with a clear stone.
Birthstones
A birthstone is a gemstone associated with the month of a person's birth.
Is she a sentimental person or deep into astrological signs? If yes, consider getting her corresponding birthstone. Here are the birthstones of each
month.
5. Determine Ring Size
Quite a number of men get it wrong in this aspect. Imagine the atmosphere is right, you go on one knee, she has said yes, only to realize that the ring does not fit! Oops, awkward!!!
There are different ways to get her ring size; you could ask her relative/ bestfriend for help (make sure they don’t spill).
Or talk to a professional jeweler to help you out.
We offer free ring sizers at Zavandi to make this process seamless for you.
Click here to find out more on how to find her ring size
6. Conclude On A Ring Design
Not all ladies love the same kind of ring; comparing her ideal ring with her best friend's is always not a good idea.
Does she like something simple or extremely flashy? Does she prefer eternity rings or would rather go for a center stone?
For example, if she works with her hands a lot, you might want to consider an eternity ring without a center stone, so she doesn't keep hitting the stone against work surfaces.
Click here to explore our carefully selected collection of engagement rings.
Here's something interesting to note: You can request to modify even our original designs to suit your taste or preference.
This means that any design you choose, you could decide to have it in either White Gold, Rose Gold, Yellow Gold, or even with a different gemstone.
7. Make The Purchase
At this point, we hope you're probably excited & nervous all at the same time. There's no need to get cold feet about proposing to the woman of your dreams. We actually share some tips on how to propose to your girlfriend here.
So far, you have been able to set a reasonable budget, choose a bad-ass jeweler like Zavandi, find her ring size, and figure out which design she's more likely to be happy with. Kudos to you!
All you need now is "Just Do It". And that's it, you're now on a beautiful journey to marrying the woman of your dreams.
Did you find this guide helpful? Feel free to share any other pointers you might have in the comment section below.