October 4th, 2009 by Jan Rooss

A marriage proposal is a major event that will be remembered and talked about for the rest of your life. A lot of men have an elaborate plan for the time and place of the proposal and even rehearse lines to make sure everything goes smoothly. The same type of careful planning should go into ring selection and this article is going to give you some tips on how to buy the best diamond engagement ring.

Most people and especially sales people say you should spend at least two months salary on an engagement ring. Don’t listen to them. You should spend what you can comfortably afford and keep that budget in your mind as it will make it easier to stay within your price range when you go and buy an engagement ring.

To select a ring you should know about the four C’s. Color, clarity, cut, and carat size. All of these will have an effect on the price of the ring. Some rings have a noticeable color and if this is the case the diamond will be less valuable. Clarity refers to the number of flaws or inclusions in the diamond. The fewer inclusions there are the more valuable the diamond will be. The cut refers to the reflective quality of the diamond and ranges from ideal to fair and poor. A higher-quality cut will reflect more light and give the diamond its brilliance. Carat refers to the size of the diamond. Most engagement rings are one carat.

After you selected the diamond the next step is to choose the perfect setting. Some of the choices include, channel, prong, flush or cluster. You also need to select a metal for the setting and some popular choices are white gold, yellow gold, platinum and titanium.

If you know your girlfriend’s taste in jewelry then you already know half of how to buy the best diamond engagement ring for her. The ring is for her and you should buy something she would adore. Look at the type of jewelry she already wears. Is it flashy, white gold, silver or yellow gold maybe? This will give you an idea of the setting to choose. A sneaky trick is to make a comment about her friend’s engagement ring and hear what she has to say. Pay attention to what she says and you should be good.

There’s a lot to think about when shopping for the perfect engagement ring. To help make it a little easier, plan your budget ahead of time, keep the four C’s in mind, and keep your eyes and ears open for clues about the type of ring she likes. Follow those tips and you will surprise your future wife with a beautiful engagement ring that she will fall in love with.