According to the CDC, almost 1.7 million couples get married in the U.S. every year. Are you ready to join them?
If you are, you should start shopping around for an engagement ring ASAP. You’ll need to work your way through the process of choosing an engagement ring before you’re able to get engaged and eventually get married.
This is sometimes easier said than done. There are so many ring options that you can pick from these days, which can make ring shopping a real challenge for some people.
We’re going to try to make choosing an engagement ring a little bit easier on you by talking to you about the factors that you should consider when buying one today. It’ll put you in a much better position to pick out an engagement ring that your significant other is sure to love.
Here are the top ten factors you should keep in mind when choosing an engagement ring.
1. Jeweler
At the moment, there are well over 50,000 jewelry stores scattered throughout the country. This should provide you with plenty of options when you’re in the market for an engagement ring.
You should put some serious thought into which jeweler you’re going to choose to provide you with a ring. You should look high and low in your area for a reputable jeweler that you know you can trust to provide you with a great ring.
You’ll be so much better off going with a trusted name like Flawless Moissanite when buying a ring as opposed to a jeweler that isn’t one of the best options in the business.
2. Stone
When you picture an engagement ring in your head, there is a pretty good chance that you imagine it having a diamond stone. That’s because diamonds have become the most popular option among those choosing an engagement ring.
But you should know that you don’t have to buy an engagement ring with a diamond in it. There are also plenty of other ring options for those looking to get engaged soon.
Some of the other stones that you can put into engagement rings will include:
- Moissanite
- Sapphire
- Onyx
- Morganite
- Emerald
- Ruby
- Opal
There is obviously nothing wrong with going with a diamond engagement ring. But you should also consider some of the other options that you’ll have. You should also think long and hard about what type of engagement ring you think your significant other might like.
3. Style
Once you know which type of stone you want to put into an engagement ring, you should start looking around at the different ring styles you can pick from. A solitaire engagement ring is probably the most popular style, but there are also many other ring styles that you should give some consideration to.
Take a look at some of the other engagement ring styles that you will be able to choose from:
- Cluster
- Pavé
- Halo
- Cathedral
- Shank
- Bezel
It’s very easy to get overwhelmed by all your ring options when you’re shopping for an engagement ring. So you should attempt to learn about each of these ring styles prior to heading down to a jewelry store to see what they have to offer.
4. Setting
No matter which style of engagement ring you pick out, you’re going to need to make sure that you include the right setting in it. The setting that you pick is going to be what holds the main stone in place in an engagement ring.
Most people will go with the single-stone claw for their setting when choosing an engagement ring. It’s the kind of setting that will really allow a stone to stand out within the context of an engagement ring.
But you might also want to check out some of the other settings that are available for engagement rings. The style of the ring that you’re buying should play a big part in which setting you ultimately decide to go with in the end.
5. Band
When your significant other shows off their engagement ring once you give it to them, most people are going to focus on the stone or stones that are used in it. But that doesn’t mean that you should discount the importance of the band that will be used to tie the whole ring together.
If you go with the wrong band for an engagement ring, it might affect the way that the rest of the ring looks. It might also cause an engagement ring to be a little bit uncomfortable in some cases.
You might be surprised to see how many different types of metal are utilized to make engagement ring bands these days. Here are some of the metals that you can pick from:
- Yellow gold
- White gold
- Rose gold
- Green gold
- Platinum
The band that you select for an engagement ring should complement the stone that is used in it. It should also work well with your budget since some band metals will be a little bit pricier than others.
6. Size
When you slip an engagement ring onto your significant other’s ring finger, you want it to fit like a glove. Otherwise, they’re going to have to take their ring back to a jeweler almost immediately to have it resized. It’ll stop them from being able to show it off as much as they might like.
The good news is that it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to figure out what your significant other’s ring size is. You can swipe one of the rings that they already wear on a regular basis and bring it to a jeweler so that they can figure out which size engagement ring you should buy.
Or if you’re feeling stealthy, you can also wait until your significant other is sleeping one night and find out what size ring they wear on your own. It’s simple enough to measure someone’s ring finger so that you can buy the right size ring for them.
If you aren’t able to find out what size ring your significant other wears for one reason or another, it won’t be the end of the world. Resizing a ring later won’t take all that long. But if possible, it would be worth looking into trying to determine their ring size in advance.
7. Cost
According to a recent survey, the average person spends almost $6,000 on an engagement ring. But at the same time, about 10% of people admit to spending under $1,000 on an engagement ring.
What does this mean for you? Well, it means that you’re going to have to put some thought into how much you want to spend on an engagement ring based on your own personal finances. Despite what you may have heard in the past, there is no definitive price that you should pay for an engagement ring.
It would, however, be worth remembering that the average wedding is costing people almost $30,000 nowadays. So you should be careful about not breaking the bank on an engagement ring. It could prevent you from being able to plan out the wedding of your dreams with your partner later on.
You should look through your own personal budget and decide what you can afford to pay for an engagement ring without putting yourself into debt. It’ll allow you to calculate an engagement ring buying budget that will keep you on the right track.
8. Insurance
When your significant other starts walking around with an engagement ring on their finger, it’s probably going to be safe to say that this will be the most expensive thing they have on. For this reason, you should definitely look into purchasing an insurance policy for the ring just in case it ever gets damaged, lost, stolen, etc.
When you’re going through the process of choosing an engagement ring, you might not spend too much time thinking about this insurance policy. But you should know that the price you’ll pay for engagement ring insurance will be determined by the type of ring that you choose.
If you pick out a very modest engagement ring that comes in at under $1,000, you won’t have to pay much at all to insure it. But if you pick out a bright and shiny ring that costs $5,000 or more, it might be a different story.
You shouldn’t necessarily let the cost to insure an engagement ring dictate which ring you decide to buy. But at the same time, you shouldn’t let engagement ring insurance be an afterthought that you don’t consider at all. You might be making a very expensive mistake if you decide to do this.
9. Customization
If you’re on a very tight budget and need to stick to it, customizing an engagement ring for your significant other might not be in the cards for you. You might have to walk into a jewelry store and pick out something that they already have in stock.
But if you have some wiggle room in your budget, you might want to look into the possibility of customizing an engagement ring for your significant other. You can literally build an engagement ring from scratch and make it extra special for them.
Outside of the fact that customizing an engagement ring is going to cost a little more money than usual, you’re also going to have to wait longer than usual to get your hands on it. A jeweler is going to need to take the ideas you have for a ring and work to bring them to life.
But ideally, you’re only going to be getting down on one knee and popping the question one time. So you should think about making it that much more special by going the customization route when choosing an engagement ring.
10. Delivery
Are you going to be asking your significant other to marry you this weekend? Or are you going to be setting up an engagement that will take place in a couple of months?
This is one more thing that you’ll need to consider when choosing an engagement ring. The sooner you’ll need to secure an engagement ring, the more flexible you’ll need to be as far as which engagement ring you go with.
You should speak with your jeweler about how long it’ll take them to deliver your engagement ring to you. In some cases, you might be able to buy a ring on the spot and take possession of it. But in others, it’s going to take a jeweler at least a few weeks to pull together the plans for an engagement ring and execute them so that they can deliver it to you.
You shouldn’t be shy about trying to get the inside scoop on this particular aspect of things from your jeweler. It’ll help you avoid finding yourself in a situation where you don’t have an engagement ring when you really need it.
Consider Each of These Things When Choosing an Engagement Ring
Engagement ring shopping can be a very stressful experience for some people. They don’t know where to turn when they want to buy an engagement ring. They also don’t know which engagement ring styles would be their best options.
Keep each of the tips found here in mind when you’re making your way through the process of choosing an engagement ring. They’ll allow you to enjoy a more pleasant experience overall as you seek to find the perfect engagement ring for your significant other.
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