When you reach one of those life milestones such as proposing to your girlfriend, it is best to cement the proposal with a diamond engagement ring. To be sure, there are other ways to make the occasion memorable. May be you could book a seat (or two) on a Zero G flight or go on an adventure trip but diamond engagement rings are the most popular and conventional choices for a reason.

Things to Avoid

As you go shopping for your diamond engagement ring in Singapore, you will be bombarded with a lot of upselling. So, be savvy about not falling for them nor to stick to any ‘rules’ such as those about buying an engagement ring that is about as expensive as you earn in two or three months.

Finding Your Diamond

As a novice diamond purchaser – which you most likely will be – you might probably feel a little lost and might be looking for the best guidance. So, how are diamonds judged and priced? Well, it’s all about the 4 C’s – Cut, Color, Clarity, and Carat.

Let us explain.

·       Cut

The cut determines the diamond’s brilliance. So, choose the right cut – neither too deep nor too shallow.

·       Color

A diamond is most expensive when it’s most without color. So, a diamond that is rated a ‘D’ is the most expensive. But you could easily opt for a diamond in the G – I range which will let you save a lot of money.

·       Clarity

Clarity grading is about how many visible flaws are there in a piece of diamond. Again, you could opt for a diamond with some blemishes which would only be visible to trained diamond experts and thereby save hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

·       Carat

Perhaps every novice knows that carat refers to the size of a diamond. Keep your target diamond size in the 0.3 to 0.5 carat range. Even better, go for a diamond that is 0.28 or 0.48 carats – ‘imperfect’ carat numbers make for cheaper diamons.

All things considered, you should know that the value of a diamond ring depreciates by as much as 50 percent once you purchase it and leave the store.

Shapes of Diamonds

While round shapes are popular and princess shapes are quite traditional, there are many other options: cushion, emerald, heart, marquise, oval, pear, radiant and others.

Ring Settings

How are the stones and the diamond held in place inside the ring? That is what ‘setting’ refers to and there are many different setting options available to choose from: prong/solitaire, trellis, tiffany, twist, antique, bar, channel, bezel, cathedral, cluster, halo, etc.

Ring Metals

What metal you choose for your diamond engagement ring depends on what your girlfriend’s preferences are in terms of jewelry. Your metal options are: platinum and white gold or yellow gold and rose gold.

Last Things

You should usually purchase your ring in a store on Orchard road. On the first visit, you decide the size and the diamond and make a deposit of $300 to $500 depending on the total value of the ring. You purchase it on a second visit by paying the full price which would be in the neighborhood of $3,000.

One additional benefit of purchasing your diamond ring from reputed physical stores is that you need not worry about buying authentic and certified products. These days, reputed sellers will have the usual GIA and AGS certifications.

Finally, remember while you pursue your perfect diamond ring that expenses aren’t going to decline from here on. There will be kids’ trips to Disneyland to pay for and other assorted expenses.