Help me find an engagement ring please!

[binthere]

DP is taking me engagement ring shopping next week. I’ve tried a few on down our local high street jewellers and think I have a rough idea.

I’ve narrowed it down to a yellow gold band, solitaire, lab grown oval diamond preferably between 0.5 and 1 carat. I like the two toned look of the yellow gold band & white gold/platinum setting.

These are what I’ve found so far:

https://www.purelydiamonds.co.uk/engagement-ring-single-stone-oval-yellow-white-gold-pdl503yw

https://www.queensmith.co.uk/engagement-rings/bardot-18k-yellow-gold-oval

https://www.warrenjames.co.uk/jewellery/9ct-gold-real-diamond-lab-grown-oval-solitaire-1-00ct-9lry035

https://www.diamondsfactory.co.uk/design/floral-shank-engagement-rings-clrn0743601

Appreciate it’s not a very interesting ring but I love the simplicity.

Not entirely sure on budget, I’d rather he didn’t spend more than £1000 to be honest. Would you prioritise the carat weight, clarity, colour? Happy to have a smaller stone & not overly worried about inclusions etc. Is 18k better than 9k for everyday wear? Which of these, if any, would you be more inclined to purchase?

Also open to looking online if anyone has used Blue Nile etc.

Thank you!

They plare them with Rhodium or mix it with the gold. White gold is a very pale brown in its natural form

I’d go browsing and find the style you like and then find a local independent jeweller and get them to make your ring.

weve just celebrated a big anniversary and I got my engagement ring refurbed and added a few more diamonds to it and it was a local jeweller who made it at the fraction of a price it would have cost in a big retailers,

Check a wedding ring will fit with the engagement ring. I have a solitaire and my wedding ring had to be made with a wavy bit to go round the diamond setting.

Yes. Make an appointment at London Rocks (on Leather Lane, the street parallel to Hatton Garden). Carl at London Rocks is incredibly talented but also honest and very down to earth, Everything is handmade and he’ll give you honest advice on what your options are for your budget, show you different stones within your price range, explain about settings etc. I’ve been a customer of London Rocks for over a decade now and don’t buy from anywhere else. Carl is well regarded within the Hatton Garden jeweller community and was even featured on a ITV documentary about Hatton Garden quite a few years ago.

https://www.londonrocksjewellery.co.uk/

Do NOT buy from the high street. You’re paying for the brand name and will give poor quality and most of their jewellery is factory manufactured in China these days).

Number 4 has the diamond standing very proud of the ring - IME this is a pain in the butt as it catches on things and can even scratch babies/small children if not careful - I had to stop wearing my ring when we had babies due this this.

I would get one made for you by an independent jeweller. I can recommend someone if you PM
me. You can specify what you want and the design. They can source the diamond for you .

I personally wouldn’t buy a lab grown diamond.

They do not hold their value - I’d buy second hand natural 100%

Ring number 2 is absolutely beautiful 😍

@binthere Lab grown is a no for me. If going to Hatton Garden, you won’t find bargains. Have a look at Farringdonsjewellery.com and see if anything pre owned suits you. At least they will be the real thing.

Colour-wise stick to G or above - there’s is no need to get a D. I would go for VS2 at the very lowest clarity. A decent cut will give you lots of sparkle, remember to clean it regularly (lots of people don’t and it makes a huge difference).
Everyone should take their ring to be serviced annually to a local jeweller with an on-site workshop, they’ll give it a polish and a once over and should only charge about £25. If you look after your ring it will save you money in the long run.

Have you looked at Brilliant Earth for lab grown diamonds.

This.

For any diamond, cut is king to give you a beautiful sparkly stone, far more important than colour and clarity. You could have a GIA graded D colour VVS clarity stone and if it's cut badly/ cut to hit a magic weight such as 1 carat, it could be dull and not sparkle very much if the cut isn't there - cut quality doesn't mean shape which is where some get confused, the cut is down to the skill of the cutter. For an oval diamond, it's difficult to judge cut by measurements unlike a round stone, you really need to view in person or detailed images if online. Concerning bow ties, which many elongated fancy shapes have, it can be difficult to avoid them altogether but finding one with a minimal bow tie is the way to go to avoid the diamond looking dark across the middle at some angles, you want as much light to hit your eyes as possible.

If you go for a reliably graded stone such as one with a lab report such as GIA, you can consider lower colour and clarity and still have a white clean stone, FG and H colour are still very white and SI clarity grades usually eye clean but check carefully with the seller and or your own eyes.

Blue Nile are good and have images of the diamonds on the site to view. With fancy shapes such as ovals, it can also depend on your taste concerning the length to width ratio of the stone, some prefer a shorter fatter oval, some more elongated, so this sort of shape is a very personal choice, you'll probably fall in love with one. Fancy shapes can sometimes look large for the weight too so more bang for the buck again depending on the cut quality.

Hope this helps a bit and you find your dream stone.

Have a look at 77 diamonds, DH got my ring from there, you can choose every detail. He purchased mine online but the customer service from the sales associate was second to none, even after he'd bought it and we decided to look there for wedding rings they were more than helpful.

I much prefer old cut diamonds, so tend to buy from auction/antique shops, but I did see some lovely lab growns in Montpellier Jewellers, Harrogate.
if you were interested in antiques, I highly recommend Friarhouse, Cavendish, & Carole Franks.

if you proceed with lab grown, there’s very little difference to the eye between D-F colour and vvs/vs/si1.

Happy shopping and congratulations

I have a friend who is a jeweller who said she was sceptical about lab diamonds to begin with however she has done lots of research on them now and has no issue with using them and but she says even under a microscope unless you know what you are looking for you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a mined diamond or a lab diamond.

i know if I were to get engaged now I would definitely be looking for a lab diamond over a mined diamond. Much more ethical .

I was quite sure that I wanted a very delicate gold band but having tried a few on, I much preferred the standard width. I was also surprised by how much I liked the white gold too.

Thank you x

I’ve had lots of good advice on here, thank you :) Had an appointment in Hatton Garden on Saturday and tried on about 25 different oval solitaires DP definitely thought they were all pretty much the same and the jeweller recommended we went away and came back too

They didn’t actually have any mock ups in store of the carat, metal, band & setting I liked but I felt I had a good idea after trying lots on individually. We’ve placed an order and should hopefully be ready in a couple of weeks.

Here’s an example ring of the setting I liked. It’s CZ (1.2 or 1.5 I believe) and the band is silver. We decided on a 1 carat lab grown, 9k yellow gold (I preferred the colour). Clarity is VVS1 and colour D.

We had a play around with ratios on the online catalogue but I’m yet to see the actual diamond so feeling a little nervous!!

DP hasn’t actually proposed properly yet so may be a little while before I’m able to see it, I’ll be sure to update you once it’s on my finger

Out of curiosity, could anyone hazard a guess at the band width of the example ring please? I thought it was around 2mm but according to the website the setting I’ve gone with is 1.5mm My ring size is a K if it makes any difference :) They recommended to size down to a K, I’d usually buy an L.

Really nice @binthere , it does make such a difference if you actually try a few on doesn't it?

its stunning.

I’d say it’s between 1.5 and 2mm

Beautiful!!

thank you.

I’ve just asked DP if he could remember the width I’d chosen and he reckoned 2mm. Said he’ll check the confirmation email because it’s definitely saying 1.5mm online.

That’s beautiful! I think the band is nearer 1.5mm

FWIW the band on mine was so much narrower than expected when I picked it up, I almost didn’t like it! But years down the line, it just means I can have more rings on that finger 😁

Were you, or DP, able to select and see your diamond online?

Were you happy with the finished product? I did have a look online & at Etsy but felt a little out of my depth.

What is the width of your band Platinum? They had bands of three different thicknesses in store and I decided on the middle. Looking at this comparison chart, by a different company, the 1.5mm looks very delicate!

I’ve just tried to measure it! Just over 1mm with my ancient ruler and eyes. Maybe 1.25? Way too thin, but it’s worked out.