It's getting to that time of my life, and I plan to ask soon. Think she'll like it?

http://www.zales.com/product/index.j...=3834708&kpc=1

Originally Posted by BriankLizard93 It's getting to that time of my life, and I plan to ask soon. Think she'll like it? http://www.zales.com/product/index.j...=3834708&kpc=1

Having gone through this recently I would recommend shopping around. Learn everything you can about diamonds and what to look for. Check out at least 20 loose stones from various jewelers prior to taking the plunge. Finally, keep in mind that at the end of the day the only person who matters is her, not her mom, not her friends etc.

I would wait a bit, prices are probably going to be falling soon.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1891691.html

All jokes aside, yes, I know the diamond industry is basically a cartel that artificially keeps prices inflated.

I would take kill3r7's advice: learn more about diamonds (avoid any jewelry or industry sites) because not all diamonds are the same and shop around because the mark up on jewelry is insane. Don't just settle for one ring, take your time. It's not like you go wedding ring shopping everyday.

BTW, good luck man!

http://www.bluenile.com/

Not sure where you are, but if you're in/near NYC there's the diamond district as well.

Ask what the best price they will give you is. Don't be ashamed to ask....when I was looking for my wife's engagement ring 13 years ago, the sticker price was $749....after asking what kind of deal they could give me and talking them down from that too, I got it for $425. Heck I do that at Best Buy even when I buy TVs....and it almost ALWAYS works.

Congrats, OP!

It was a little more than a year ago that I popped the question to my fiancée. I did some research and what I found to be good advice was to avoid stores at the mall: their mark ups are way too high. If you have a jewelry district around you, go there! But look around! I started off by reading through review sites like yelp.

Once I narrowed it down to about five stores based on reviews, I went in person and finalized my decision on the best value as well as the best customer service. I got my fiancée a platinum ring with a .81 carat diamond. The closest thing I found at a mall cost in excess of $4K with discounts ! :o

I got min for less!

Non-conventionally I took my then girlfriend (now wife of 6 years) with me while shopping for her rings. I'm glad I did because I would have been way off on the style she wanted, also she picked a cheaper ring then I was going to go for...so it worked out for me. I basically just asked her about marriage (we had been dating for 7 years, so it was a tad different for me) and then before i knew it we were shopping for rings.

Although I think the ring is less important then the actual marriage, but I could be wrong (and probably am) So I think no matter what the ring is, as long as she wants to get married I believe that she will like it.

Anywho...Hopefully Congrats, Marriage is great in my opinion.

Like poopants, I actually was at a jewelry store with my wife and she specified the one she wanted but unlike him, I was going to get that one anyway. I wanted to make sure she liked it since she'll be wearing it the rest of her life. I told her I was thinking about proposing but wondered if she had a preference in rings (obviously she had been pestering me to propose for some time, that's what happens after a while - subtle hints turn into not so subtle demands as I'm sure you've experienced). After I bought it, it really bugged the shit out of her knowing that that I had it and hadn't yet proposed to her....

You might want to think about something along the lines of one of these, this style is becoming very popular. Also, I don't know about your finances, but the amount your spending on that ring you linked seems on the low side.

http://www.tiffany.com/Engagement/It...#f+0/0/0/0/0/0
http://www.tiffany.com/engagement/It...#f+0/0/0/0/0/0
http://www.heartsonfire.com/shop-jew...ireforhof.aspx
http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/x...FYVQOgod-isARg

You don't necessarily have to go through these companies online. You should be able to find a similar style locally. Also, if you get a ring with diamond chips surrounding it, it makes the diamond look larger.

edit:
I should mention, the ring you linked is 10K gold, that's the lowest quality. If you can swing high quality (18 or 24K) then you might as well go with that or even better if she's willing to go with a silver color, switch to platinum. Platinum is much rarer than gold but oddly enough, the value of gold has gone through the roof from $800 an ounce in maybe 2006 to nearly 1800 an ounce now while the price of platinum has moved up slower. Gold is now a little more expensive than platinum. Given those options, I'd go platinum since it's rarer and IMO it's irrational for it to be cheaper than gold. Eventually (if the world ever returns to sanity), your rings would be worth more if they're platinum than as gold.


FYI: I thought something seemed off about the ring you linked. I asked my wife about it and she told me that the ring with three stones in a row is normally an anniversary ring.

http://www.helzberg.com/category/eng...stone+rings.do
From the site linked above:
"Celebrate your love with three-stone rings from Helzberg Diamonds. The perfect way to honor your special relationship, our stunning diamond anniversary rings are expertly handcrafted to last a lifetime. From timeless to modern three-stone diamond rings, you’re sure to find the right ring to symbolize your eternal bond. Serving happy couples since 1915, turn to Helzberg’s three-stone anniversary rings when you want to give her the absolute best."


Since you're looking at Zales, here's a link to Zales' engagement rings:
http://engagementring.theprestigedia...ing/ERing.aspx
When I showed my wife the ring you picked out, she told me that you should take a woman that's already married, a sister (yours or her's), her mother, or someone like that with you to help you find a ring. If you've already asked her father to marry her (assuming you're going the traditional route) then ask her mom to go with you to find a ring for her. Assuming they talk a lot to one another then she should have a good idea about it. Plus you can ask your future mother-in-law her ring size and if she doesn't know it, she can "let it slip" to your girlfriend that you're going to propose and when you go shopping with her, she will just so happen to know her ring size (or you could take your girlfriend ring shopping with you like poopants in the post above and I did). When she knows the ring size, you'll know that she's told your girlfriend but that's okay IMO, it's pretty common and will get her excited that every time you go out MIGHT be the night.

Those engagement rings from Zales' don't include the stone in the price.

Congratulations and good luck! Come back and update us later I'm curious how the ring shopping worked out now.

thanks for all of your advice guys. The link i posted was the closest thing online to the style she seemed to like. i have yet to actually purchase a ring. also, @blaster man, i plan on getting a better metal than that, don't worry. XD

^Plenty of places label and sell 3 stone diamond rings as engagement rings, it isn't something worth bolding and coloring IMO. If someone chooses that style of ring there's nothing abnormal about it.

Not to mention, an engagement ring doesn't have to be reflective of traditions (ie a solitaire), but rather should be something your partner would be happy to wear for the rest of their life whether it contains 20 stones or none. Doesn't even have to be diamond IMO if that isn't reflective of the person who will be wearing it.

she seems to like multi diamond rings that are NOT square cut. she emphasized against square cut. XD

Originally Posted by pjb16 ^Plenty of places label and sell 3 stone diamond rings as engagement rings, it isn't something worth bolding and coloring IMO. If someone chooses that style of ring there's nothing abnormal about it. Not to mention, an engagement ring doesn't have to be reflective of traditions (ie a solitaire), but rather should be something your partner would be happy to wear for the rest of their life whether it contains 20 stones or none. Doesn't even have to be diamond IMO if that isn't reflective of the person who will be wearing it.

Obviously it's what she likes that matters, I agree. I just wanted to make sure he knew that MOST people consider that an anniversary ring for either 1, 5, or 10 years. My mother-in-law has one of those for her engagement ring but most modern rings like that are not considered engagement rings so his girlfriend might not think of it as one that she wants as an engagement ring. I apologize if the bolding offended you but I'd hate for his girlfriend to be disappointed at the ring...

Originally Posted by BriankLizard93 she seems to like multi diamond rings that are NOT square cut. she emphasized against square cut. XD

Then I'd go for something like the ones I listed above that have a large diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds with the chips on the band. If you look around going through your daily life, you should seem some on women's fingers. They look really nice. Plus as mentioned, the stone can be smaller but look absolutely huge because of the stones surrounding it. You can probably get 3/4 karat and it will look like a full karat. That would allow you to get one with better clarity for the same price as a bigger one without as good of clarity. Or if you really want to go 1 full karat you can do that too. Just make sure you go to a trustworthy jeweler. Like others implied but didn't say explicitly, jewelers can pull all kinds of shenanigans with the stone since they're experts at it and you aren't. You'll never know as much as they do so even after you've educated yourself on them, you're still going to have to have trust with them. If you live in an area with large diamond purchasers (most metro areas will have this) then go to one of them for the stone itself (if not the ring as well) as they won't have as much incentive to rip you off as an individual that owns a storefront.

It's personal preference. I find it to be too gawdy and don't like band color. For me, less is more.

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Originally Posted by DcupsOfJustice It's personal preference. I find it to be too gawdy and don't like band color. For me, less is more.

So not a fan of the halo style? It's very popular right now.



THere's some that women posted on this site:
http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/o...ngagement-ring

So, did you buy a ring?