The information to know to choose a diamond ring

Choosing a diamond ring is often a great moment of happiness charged with emotion and sometimes a little pressure, nothing more normal: the price of a diamond is high and the stakes are always high!

For a man, preparing the surprise of offering an engagement ring to the woman of his dreams, often goes hand in hand with the stress of choosing the model that will please her.  For a couple, choosing together the wedding rings of the future marriage, it is to find a harmony of style in the two models. And when a woman gives herself a diamond ring to enrich her jewelry collection, it is almost never an impulse purchase but a thoughtful one.

The diamond symbolizes timelessness. It is important not to make a mistake either on the style or on the quality, so that the ring can be worn with the same pleasure throughout a lifetime. So how to buy a diamond and a ring with peace of mind?

In the article below, we want this choice to be as pleasant as possible by giving you the keys to the methodology to adopt when buying a diamond ring.

When choosing an engagement diamond ring, the first important step is to choose the center diamond for 2 main reasons:

    This one gives the brilliance to the jewel. The size and the fire of the stone are thus essential parameters.
    It often represents around 80% of the price of the setting. Giving it a great importance goes without saying.

So how do you buy a diamond? Most diamond quality classification tables refer to the famous 4Cs (Carat, Cut, Clarity, Colour). These 4 criteria determine the quality and the price of a diamond. But what quality to choose? How important is each of these four criteria?

Below we have established the classification of the 4 main criteria of diamond quality by degree of importance. This sorting is arbitrary, some may question the order chosen, but according to our experience, it is the most relevant and effective to facilitate your choice.

For a diamond, choose a noble metal: gold or platinum. The latter is the noblest of the precious metals. A platinum ring will be more expensive than a gold ring. Gold is the most commonly used for diamond settings. The natural color of gold is yellow, but through different alloys, gold can have different hues. The choice of the shade of this precious metal remains a matter of taste and fashion. For a long time yellow gold prevailed, but in recent years, white gold diamond rings have dominated the market by far. More modern, white gold has conquered the heart of the ladies. More recently, the rose gold diamond ring has become very trendy. Fresh and feminine, rose gold is very suitable for ring designs with a more fanciful look. Finally, black gold, although rarer, is also becoming fashionable. Some black diamond/white diamond and black gold/white gold checkerboard settings can be very pretty.

Choosing the style of your diamond ring is very personal. There are many different types of settings. The most classic and timeless is the solitaire ring with claws. Mostly made in our time with 4 claws, you can also find this model in 5 claws, for a more modern and offbeat style, and 6 claws, for a more ancient and traditional style. The great advantage of the classic solitaire with claws is that it highlights the diamond at its best. With the presence of metal reduced to a minimum, the diamond catches the light on all its facets and shines with a thousand lights. Another great classic, the diamond ring with a closed setting, certainly highlights the stone less but gives an interesting volume effect for those who seek to maximize the visual effect.

The opportunity to buy a diamond ring

There are many opportunities to offer or to offer a diamond ring. Reserved for a long time for engagements and weddings, diamond rings are diversifying and crowning more and more of our great moments in life.

Wedding Ring

Since ancient Rome, the ring has symbolized eternity through its simple geometric shape with no beginning or end. This shape quickly became ideal for sealing weddings, but it was only in the 18th century that wedding rings began to be set with fine and/or precious stones. The diamond, symbol par excellence of the rarity and the purity, imposes itself very quickly as the stone of reference to decorate the wedding rings. According to the tastes of each couple, wedding rings are adorned with diamonds of different shapes: round brilliant cut diamonds in majority, but also diamonds of princess shape, emerald, oval, heart, baguette...

Engagement Ring

Considered the tears of God in ancient times, diamonds have long been worn by kings as a symbol of supreme power. The word "diamond" comes from the Greek word Adamas which means "invincible". It was not until 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave a diamond ring to Mary of Burgundy, that the tradition of engagement rings began. Since then, giving a diamond ring has become the symbol of excellence of engagement. Commonly, a solitaire diamond ring is given to mark the uniqueness and rarity of love. One love, one shine. But more and more the center diamond is also accompanied by surrounding diamonds and/or pave diamonds to give even more sparkle to the ring. Worn on the ring finger of the left hand, the ring is, according to a belief inherited from the Egyptians, directly linked to the heart via the vein of love.

Rings for Valentine's Day

More recent, Valentine's Day celebrates love and therefore the proofs of love! As the poet Pierre Reverdy said, "There is no love, there are only proofs of love. "And the diamond is the most brilliant one. What a surprise and wonder for a woman to discover on the evening of Valentine's Day, during a candlelit dinner for lovers, a jewel box and slowly open it, to see inside, sparkling with a thousand lights, an engagement ring. This evening will remain forever engraved in her memory as the most beautiful Valentine's Day of her life! And for all the couples already married, Valentine's Day is the occasion to offer a sparkling surprise of light and happiness, with a diamond ring or pendant.

Birthday Ring

Wedding anniversaries are the most frequent occasion to offer a new diamond ring. Often the husband decides for the 10 years of marriage, to transform the first wedding ring into a new ring with larger diamonds. Or the engagement ring, which used to be set with a 0.30 carat diamond, and which the husband, more advanced professionally, now wants to transform into a ring set with a 0.50 carat diamond for example. The 18th birthday is also the occasion for a father to buy his daughter her first diamond, which he will have set on a ring or also frequently on a pendant.

Diamond ring to wear daily / during an evening

Having become financially independent and emancipated from men, more and more women today are buying diamond rings for themselves, preferring more fancy styles than a solitary claw ring usually already given by the man on the day of the engagement. Customs have evolved, and the diamond still symbolizes eternal love, but its symbolism has broadened. Today a woman wants diamond jewelry because this material, the most noble of all, represents luxury and beauty par excellence. Moreover, the great advantage of diamond is that it can be worn with all outfits, making even the most casual outfits chic. Whether worn daily or for an evening event, diamonds bring magic to every outfit and always light up the eyes of those who wear them and those who admire them.

The setting of a ring is a very important step in the manufacturing process that requires a great deal of know-how. The quality of the setting ensures first of all the security of the good maintenance of each stone. But the fineness of the setting work also gives all the brilliance to the stones, especially for the pavements and small diamond surrounds on the rings. There are different types of settings: the center diamond is usually in a claw setting or a closed setting. The pave and surround diamonds can be grain set, micro-set, drop set, rail set... The important thing is to choose the type of setting according to the ring's aesthetic. Depending on the shape and style of the ring, the setter determines how to set the ring to give the diamonds maximum brilliance and magnify the curves of the ring.

Set the budget you want to spend on the diamond ring

The budget of a diamond ring is very variable and depends on four main parameters:

• the price of the main diamond in the setting, which is calculated according to weight, cut, color and clarity.
•  the number and weight of the pave and/or surround diamonds.
• the weight of gold or platinum in the setting. 
• the cost of the work, which depends on the time required and the complexity of the model.

If you have a small budget, prefer solitaire rings with a single diamond, without settings or pavings, light in metal, and of a simple style.

The advantage of buying your diamond ring at i-diamants is to benefit from the competitive prices of online sales and direct access to diamond dealers. Established in Antwerp since 1888 (four generations) and in France since 1999, we have always given priority to customer service. The purchase of a diamond ring online, a high value, requires in return an irreproachable service, information and explanations at all stages, from the first contact to the follow-up of the delivery and the good reception. We do everything possible to ensure that you can find a unique ring to show your love, whatever your budget.