So the title says it all. I'm looking for an engagement ring and I'm having trouble finding exactly what I'm looking for. I've seen stuff online that I've liked, but that was probably about a year ago and I can't find any of it anymore. I'll probably be looking mostly online for now, till I find what I want then I might just take that to a jeweler, don't know yet.

Anyways, if anyone has any advice, recommendations, sites.. anything that would most likely help. Thanks folks

congrats dude, no experience here though

Congrats, I just proposed last month, so I can tell you a bit about the process.

The main thing you have to keep in mind is your budget. This pretty much determines everything you want to choose about the ring, especially the stone.

Is the engagement supposed to be a complete surprise or does she know? If she knows it's coming, you might want to get some slight input from her. Go to some jewelry stores together to get a feel for what she likes and doesn't like. If it's a surprise, then I can guess I could tell you a few things too. Most of this I heard from the jeweler that made my fiancee's ring.

White gold seems to be more popular right now than yellow gold.
Princess cut diamonds seem to be more popular right now, but round cut will probably never go out of style.
If you are getting a solitare (as in only one stone), you can probably choose a stone that is a little yellower on the scale. But if you have other diamonds around it, you'd probably want to choose a stone that has very similar color to the rest of them.

If I can think of anything else I'll add more. Good luck!

Norman's Jewelery in Lebanon.

it's not a surprise that we're going to get married, and she knows the general time frame of when I'm going to propose, but she doesn't know exactly. I think I'm going to try and have us go look at rings together sometime next week. we know what kind of wedding bands we're getting, just something real simple and smooth, and silver in color. I'm thinking the limiting factor for the ring will be the width, which will then limit the size of the stone. She's going to wear both her wedding ring and engagement ring so I don't want them both to take up her whole finger.

The absolute best thing you can do is get an idea of what the girl wants. She's going to have to wear it, after all. Get a really good idea, the more specific the better. Size isn't nearly as important as color and cut--some girls have real specific wants for good reasons, some don't really care and it's all up to you. Figure out what she wants as far as cut, color, style, that sort of stuff, and take that as gospel above all else. (But if she really really really really jsut gotsta have 2 carats,..man, ...I don't even know. Tell her she's wrong and play the man card...Yeah. I'll stick with that.)

A month or two ahead of time, make a date to the mall and during the course of said date, take her by the jewelry store. Don't worry too much about tipping her off, girls love diamonds and she'll appreciate the interest. Watch what she gravitates to. If she starts gushing over something in particular, well, ..hey hey there you go. Ask her what she thinks is pretty, and let her tell you about the cuts and stuff. This way you can gather her general level of interest in the stuff, and probably get some likes and dislikes. It's a good time to get her sized, too.

If she's comfortable with the idea of being engaged she probably won't be too shifty at the jewelry store. Before you make a big investment (like this) you really need to figure out where you sit with her. IMHO, the proposal should be a surprise but the idea of being engaged shouldn't--or you may find yourself returning that shiny new ring.

If you've got all that under control, then the next step is to set yourself a budget..and stick to it. Jewelry store salesmen are all about the upsell. Nuff said.

If you're not finding what you want already put together, then do something custom and really memorable. If you can just get something in mind that you like, especially if you can find a picture of what you want, then you'll really have something to go for. You can take your picture to a jeweler and a lot of times, they can custom-build you a ring. When I got engaged, I knew specifically that I wanted a three-stone ring in white gold with one diamond and sapphire accents. Nobody had that. I went to Kay in Columbia, and they got a picture of what I wanted, sent it to their shop, and I had a ring in three days. It's a little harder to do that on a small budget, but it can be done.

If you do a custom ring thing though, make SURE that every specification you make to the jeweler actually gets written down and passed on to the shop. Ask to see the order and if you don't like it, don't sign it until you get everything hammered out like you want it. Mine didn't turn out quite like I had planned, but I took it anyway because I ran out of time--last minute shopper. Luckily, the lady likes it even better the way it is. Oh, and see if you can get it sized correctly before it ever comes to you. If you don't specify a size, it'll usually ship as a 7--which is great..if she's a 7.

Anyways, yeah. Hope that helps.

Wow, hot topic.

Oh, and don't forget, "Diamonds are just glorified pieces of coal" Thermodynamically atleast.

yeah, that definitely helps. I've got a picture of what I want in my head, but I can't find it online or at the shops I've been two (the 2 shops that is). Her ring size is a 7. I'm on a Co-op so my budget is a bit bigger than when I'm going to school and working for min. wage, so that helps. Thanks for all the tips. excellent advice.

I'll keep that in mind. Hmm... maybe I can just get her a regular piece of coal.... a nice piece of coal.... Good Idea or Bad Idea?

Diamonds are horrible. I understand why people like them, but I think Debeers is one of the worst companies around. Up there with Sony and Saudia Arabian Oil Company. But I have already told you that. If she does know, try to take her to the jewlery store and get some hints. If she doesnt know, have a gay friend help you out. If you buy at a store, ask if they will change the size of the ring when she receives it just in case.

Also, nothing says "i love you" like a choclate fish.

The other thing I forgot to mention. Don't get her a carat right off the bat just because you can (assuming you can). There's such a thing as a 5- or 10-year anniversary ring, and you want to leave yourself somewhere to go if you want to get her one of those.

Yeah, that's all.

I personally went with a nice quality diamond versus size. Small rings look nicer to me, and fit my wife's hand wonderfully.

Color and Clarity were what I thought was important, especially because if you buy a 1/2 carot or less solitare then you can buy a wrap for the ring which will act as the wedding ring more easily.

Also you may consider looking for a solitare wrap combination which will allow for giving the solitare as an engagement and you're set for the wedding on her end.

That's my two cents.

Cheers

If you are in Kansas City, check out Eskew's Jewelers, they have two locations around Independence, but work with them, and be nice, and he may be able to hook you up.
I got a very good diamond and white gold setting with lots of baggets or whatever, (she picked it out).
But long story short, originally $5000, spent about $3000, and it appraised later for like $6000 from an independent. We also got both our wedding bands for $245 from him, got him to mark them down from about $500 for both. Came with free dips for life too, to keep it white.
Just remember that markups on Jewelry, especially rings are EXCESSIVE. Most of the time there is a lot of wiggling room they can do and still make a good profit.
Im not sure you will be able to see this, cause its off her myspace, but here's a pic.
**removed, unable to access private picture from myspace unless you are her friend**

I have a family friend who was a jeweler, and when I was looking, she said to stay away from the big chains, and stay away from the single store nobodies, but if you can find a small chain, just a few stores but not big enough yet to not care about customers, those are your best bets.[/img]

I has to bes hers friend to see hers privates....