Diamond Engagement Carat Size

[nkryptit]

So...Thinking about doing the damn thing and buying a ring sometime soon...And I know this might vary widely...But I'm looking for opinions on what a woman expects from a ring.  I'm thinking platinum, round cut.  Just don't know what size, and I know it all depends on budget...Just thought I would ask what all y'all decided on.  Any input appreciated!

[cdnrcr]

One to two months salary...... 

[ducpainter]

It doesn't matter what anyone but you and she think.

Seriously...

[TiNi]

the right woman wouldn't "expect" any particular size...

[the_Journeyman]

Yup.  I'm not wealthy, I can barely afford to pay attention.  I couldn've given my fiancée a ring out of a Cracker Jack box and she'd have still said yes and been excited about it ~

JM

[Popeye the Sailor]

Women expect a ring large enough to hold your junk in, which is convenient, as they will possess said junk upon the nuptials.


In more useful news, size (in regards to diamonds) is not the only thing to look at. There are plenty of large carat, low quality diamonds in existence. You want to keep in mind the four "C"s. Cut, Carat, Colour, and Clarity.

Cut-there are any various sort, but the typical one that is sought after is the "brilliant" cut, which has 58 facets. There are other, less popular styles and shapes, such as teardrop shapes, etc. It depends on the girl.

Carat-this is something to pay attention to-there is often a price break depending on which side of the borderline it falls on. IE .95 Carats would be far less expensive than 1.05 carats. While size is nice, it's useless if the other factors are substandard, as it will only illustrate the flaws better.

Colour-diamonds can come in all sorts of colours, blue, red, yellow (yellow is not desireable, ther others vary).

Clarity-is it cloudy? It shouldn't be. They have scales that rate this-see if you can find them online.


A setting can hide a lot-if trying to get a legitimately "nice" diamond, you should look at the stones out of their settings, pick one (or many) that you like, then have it set.

From my understanding, the typical markup is anywhere from 100-200%. Keep that in mine when you attempt to bargain, and bargain you should.


That's it on diamonds, personally-if you want the ladies thoughts, post up in the ladies forum. Here we'll just tell you not to do it 

[nkryptit]

make the beast with two backsing wow...You guys are a source of insight on any subject...AND FAST...I love this forum...Maybe I should be buying a ring your you all!

[ROBsS4R]

Diamonds are not even rare. It's an artificial market.

That being said I bought my fiancée a 1 Carat colorless Princess cut diamond.

I would focus on clarity, Brilliance and Color over size. I hate it when people flaunt there 3 carat diamond that has a yellow color to it.

This is a great site to learn about diamonds and play around with different bands and shapes.

http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds.asp

[DesmoDiva]

Yup.  I'm not wealthy, I can barely afford to pay attention.  I couldn've given my fiancée a ring out of a Cracker Jack box and she'd have still said yes and been excited about it ~

JM

But the ring you did give her is far cry from a cracker jack box.    



B and I went shopping together when we were ready.  Not terribly romantic, but he wanted to get me what I wanted.  Ended up with a 1+ carat cushion cut it a custom tension setting from Gelin Abaci. 

IMO, platinum is not worth the cost. 

[LMT]

This is a great site to learn about diamonds and play around with different bands and shapes.

http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds.asp

Bluenile is cool.  They are here in Seattle and I taught their CPR classes.  They care about the employees!  Lots of security to get past on my way it.

[Statler]

G wears a small, heart-cut diamond.

If I had to do it again I'd get her a ring with something different in it.

since then she's gotten earings of the same size that match....  and her engagement ring has been added to by rubies on the side (I was supposed ot be just getting the mount fixed).


It's about the two of you...not about us.
The more time that goes by the more that original stone means, and the less what that stone is in size and price that stone means.   make sense?
we'll never trade in that stone for something else...we may add to it, we may change its mounting...but that stone, even if it were a pebble found in a stream, has a meaning.


it's not about the rock.  it's about the thought behind the rock.

[Kopfjäger]

the right woman wouldn't "expect" any particular size...

So size doesn't matter.....

[nkryptit]

So size doesn't matter.....

That's what they all say....IT'S NOT TRUE..Oh wait...we're still talking about diamonds...

[laich528]

It doesn't matter what anyone but you and she think.

That's good advice. When my fiancee' (just got engaged 2 weeks ago) and I decided we were serious, I took her out to the jewelry stores. We ignored price and just looked at styles and settings. That way, when the time was right I already knew what I wanted, and just fit a stone and setting to my budget. (shopping around helps a lot. After some legwork, I found a place that had nicer stuff and beat everyone else by 1K)

I think the best thing to do is figure out what you want to spend, and strike a nice balance between size and quality. As someone said above, I chuckle when someone flaunts a big ass cloudy rock that could double as a broken window at an accident scene. That said, you don't want to give her a flawless little chip-ette either.

In the end it's more about the symbol more than the physical stone anyway. Good Luck!  

[jdubbs32584]

the right woman wouldn't "expect" any particular size...

+11ty billion