You usually have no idea what to buy, or for how much. And when you buy it, you have little knowledge about whether or not it was what it was supposed to be. You see advertised a "1/2 carat diamond for the normal price of $1,200 but this weekend only
it is ....Just $199.99."
What do you believe? And who do you trust? Is it all hype?
Why the problem?
What to buy?
There are so many choices out there. Solitaire mounts? Side stones? Princess or Round? Gold or Platinum?
Different shapes, sizes, colors and clarity, metal choices and ring types...what is a person to do?
We can help with some of these questions. Go to Diamond Grading for information on much of this, however as to picking out the actual stone, we can offer the following advice. If you are buying for yourself, you know what you like and want. If you are making a purchase for someone you know and it is not a surprise, then you either know what they like or you can ask them
If you begin to look by yourself, with no prior information, you will be confronted with choices in Diamonds and of metal types, (see Karat Gold Jewelry or Platinum vs. Gold ) and you will see styles of rings you never dreamed existed!
If you are attempting the "big surprise" then you should read on.
Selecting
If you are not sure what to purchase, you can not go wrong with any Diamond, most certainly not with a round brilliant one.
But if you really want to get her what she wants here are some tips!
1.) PAY ATTENTION TO HER! Certainly she has looked at someone's ring and commented. Perhaps she was in a store and saw a ring in the case that she tried on "just for fun." She may have told you but you were not listening.
2.) Perhaps she told someone else. Ask her girlfriends, her mom, your mom, a person who works with her. It is almost a certainty that rings have been discussed.
3.) Get a sister, or a friend to go shopping for "their" perfect ring. She will get caught up in the moment when the trying on takes place...and she will make note of what she likes. If the accomplice is paying attention, you are home free!
4.) Lacking an answer from doing any of the above, pretend to look for a jewelry item for a mom, a sister, and aunt or someone and get her to a case in a store where she can stand by and make suggestions. She will probably comment on an item she likes.
If you are not attempting to surprise her, then take her along and shop together. It will be an experience that you can look back on for the rest of your lives together.
Other
Options
If you still are not sure what to purchase, you can select a diamond and present it to her in a temporary tension mount, as you kneel down on the knee or invent some unique method of giving. Then, later, you can both shop for a mounting to hold your purchase.
Almost everything has been tried for surprises, but new ideas keep coming up. Last week a customer told us how he got a fortune cookie from their favorite Chinese place, opened the package, steamed the cookie and opened it to insert the ring, then re-shaped it and put it all back together. At the restaurant, he palmed it for the one on the table and sat back to watch. Oh how excited she was when she thought she had "won a ring" as a prize. Oh, how much more excited she was when she fully realized what had just happened.
Good Luck with your purchase and with your surprise.
But if you really do your homework, you will get her just what she wants.
Other than a new car, very few things present as much of a challenge to buy as a Diamond!
