Engagement Ring Budget

Setting A Budget
An Engagement Ring spending guideline as De Beers addresses on their website is 2-3 months' salary. That would sum up to an excellent cut 1.00 ct diamond.

In the general market, people will generally go for G - H in color, and VS - SI1 in clarity, and from there they will then adjust the size depending on their budget. Higher color (D to F) and clarity (Flawless to VVS) is nice, but it's not always obvious to the eye, and it makes the price go up drastically. This can also happen with cut.

A human eye cannot see the difference between good, very good and excellent ratings for polish and symmetry, but one can, however, recognize "fair" or "poor" polish and symmetry. Prioritize your budget, and simply write out the diamond properties. Carat, Cut, Clarity, Color. The setting and band , that can be made of Platinum, White gold, or Yellow gold, (at a variety of carats is also an important factor in price.

Although most people want a BIG (carat) diamond and there's nothing wrong with that, they may tend to sacrifice one or more of the C's in order to get that, but end up with a lower quality diamond with less brilliance. My suggestion is to value and pay more attention to the Cut of the diamond first before looking into Carat size. Of course you will have to sacrifice the larger stone for something a little smaller pending on your outlined budget. As an important reminder though, you'll definitely treasure this stone for eternities to come. Marveling over the brilliance it radiates even under low light. One of the most common Diamond purchases is in the form of an Engagement Ring.

Please Note: When you are comparing prices you need to be sure you're comparing the same C's in clarity, color, cut and carat size. Once again if you like, print out of the Diamond Shoppers Checklist from our website.