Quick and Easy Buying Guide

Carat weight: 1 carat = 200 milligrams = 6.5 mm diameter. Doubling weight doesn't double diameter.

Diamond clarity: FL/IF/VVS/VS = super expensive, near perfect. SI = best value if you can check a photo for obvious inclusions (defects).

 

Color: D-G = colorless, expensive, only if you have money to burn. H-J = best value. Can go lower in gold metal settings than white metal.

Cut: Better cut ratings let more light into a diamond, making it sparkle more. Very important property, don't skimp here.

Set a budget and minimum cut (Premium). Go J color for gold and I/H for white metals. Go searching for SI1/SI2 clarity diamonds at James Allen. Pick a diamond with small/no inclusions. Choose a ring setting and buy it risk-free (60-day returns).

Engagement Rings On Your Wedding Day

It's your special day coming up in a few days and you're wondering what you should do with your engagement ring. While your wedding ring is symbolic of the wedding itself, your engagement ring represents the moment when you made the commitment to marry each other. So it is important to have it on display on your wedding day.

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First and foremost, make sure the ring is clean and undamaged for your wedding day. Do this a week or two before the wedding so there is time to get minor fixes done as well is cleaning.

If you are going on your honeymoon immediately after the wedding, there is also an administrative tasks to carry out like getting your ring insured so you are covered for damage, loss or theft on your honeymoon.

During the actual ceremony you will probably need to have your engagement ring moved to a different finger on your other hand. This is so it does not interfere with the ring ceremony when the wedding ring is placed on your finger. However, you do want the engagement ring to be next to your wedding ring when it comes time for the photos. What you can do is quietly move the engagement ring onto your wedding ring finger just after the ceremony has finished but before the photos have been taken. If you have a soldered bridal set, then you don't have to worry about this.

Wearing gloves can complicate what you do with your engagement ring during the ceremony. You may be able to fit the ring underneath the glove but make sure that it is not going to be damaged by doing so. If the gloves are very thin you may be able to wear the ring over the glove.

At some stage during the photos, you may remove both your wedding and engagement ring for some classical photos. Often the photographer will pose the rings on your registry book, or on a wedding invitation or just on the white tablecloth. There will also be close up photos of the couple's hands clasped together showing off the rings.