[QUOTE=Gentle Robot]
I know the ring is supposed to look a certain way and is categorized a certain way but I think that’s a load of hooey.
[/QUOTE]
Assuming you’re talking the diamond’s Four C’s, it’s (mostly) not hooey.
- Cut. For some women, it’s a huge deal that they get a round cut, or a princess. Or maybe she’d throttle you to death if you tried giving her a baguette or a heart. Having her hate the ring you gave is not hooey. Not to mention (far more importantly) that a ring cut too shallow will look like a mirror because it just reflects all the light, and a diamond cut too deep will look like a dull rock, because all the light falls through it, with no fire or brilliance. A reference.
- Clarity. Just for kicks, have a jeweler show you a VS1 (a good, mid-rated clarity) and an I1 (pretty poor) diamond in the same cut, same color, same carat. If you have a sharp eye, you’ll see the imperfections in the I1, the flecks of carbon that did not become diamond, with no magnification. If you use a loupe, it’s repulsive. The VS1 will be hard to see imperfections with the naked eye, but easy enough with the loupe. Something like an IF will be expensive, but quite clear, even with the loupe. A diamond with a poor clarity does cut down on the diamond’s fire, as there are obstructions to the light within the diamond. You don’t want a diamond looking dull, or it’s just a little chip of rock.
- Color. Now we start getting into the hooey. Anything between D and J is pretty indistinguishable if you don’t have a reference stone to see its color. Beyond J, you’ll probably notice the yellow, which makes the stone look dingy, and as such, not as brilliant (see a theme here? It’s all about making a lump of rock seem like it’s on fire from the inside.). I think I may have even bought an L or M, without much trouble to its color, for El Perro Fumando’s engagement ring. This is one you can cut corners on a bit.
- Carat. Here’s the hooey, and where stores can really make a killing under the pitch that bigger is better. This is where you should really go by the size of her fingers. If she has dainty little hands, a half carat will look quite nicely proportioned. If she has large hands, then a one or even a two carat may be what looks best. Personally, I think that too many guys get suckered in to buying, and most women look absurd and ostentatious, wearing a diamond too large for her hand.
From your links, it sounds like the both of you prefer the look of a diamond setting, as opposed to a solitaire. Find out what kind of look she wants, and use that as a guide.
Depending on whether she expects to be surprised or expects to get exactly what she wants, whether she’s anticipating a proposal or not, you have various courses of action.
If she’s not anticipating a ring any time soon, or she hasn’t explicitly stated what she wants, you’ll have to be a little sneaky. Look at the rings (and other jewelry) she already owns. Lots of solitaire pieces, or lots of multijewel settings? A predominance of understated (other diamond, white pearl, muted colors) or vibrant (brightly colored jemstones)?
If she is expecting a proposal soon, or you know exactly what she wants, make an event out of it. Take her to a jewelry store and let her play with settings and stones, talk to the jeweler, herself. Be there to guide (possibly to something that doesn’t entirely repulse you, possibly to a budget), but let her choose exactly what she’d want.
Ultimately, none of it is hooey (that really is a fun word), since this is ideally going to be a centerpiece jewelry item for the rest of her life, and she should have something that she will be happy with. The ring itself: yeah, hooey. Making her happy, and having something she’ll want to keep and wear for the rest of her life: not at all.
