It’s that time of year when the mantelpiece gives itself over to wedding invitations. The traditional stiff cards with embossed italic script now sit happily along side the increasingly popular more contemporary and personal invitations.
It’s the same with engagement rings. While traditional settings remain popular, contemporary designs are becoming increasingly fashionable.
But in this modern world of Beckhams and Bling where does a man start? You don’t need to be on a footballer’s salary to afford a beautiful engagement ring. £2,000 - £4,000 spent wisely at auction could buy you an early 20th century ring with enough bling to keep most girls happy.
Diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds are the four main precious stones that are likely to make up an engagement ring. The value of each is determined by the four Cs – colour, clarity, carat and cut. And there’s no doubt about it, diamonds are a girl’s best friend!
Diamonds are naturally colourless, but by heat-treating them you can add colour. Coloured diamonds are known as ‘fancy diamonds’ and are not as valuable as untreated stones.
The chances are the lady in your life would like flawless diamonds. Uncrystallised specks of carbon and tiny cracks known as inclusions will produce imperfections. These flaws effect clarity and hence value.
The weight of a diamond is measured in carats. 1 carat = 200mg. A diamond does not need to be removed from it’s setting to be weighed; it can be calculated by measuring the largest flat surface using a diamond gauge. But bigger is not always better. A flawless 1-carat stone will be more valuable than a flawed 2-carat stone.
Diamonds are pretty unimpressive in their natural state and it is only by precision cutting and polishing they attain their brilliance and sparkle. The most popular types of cut are: brilliant, baguette, old and rose. The most valuable of these is the brilliant cut since it shows the stone off to its best advantage.
To avoid any unfortunate style disasters many couples now tend to choose the ring together. Yes, the element of surprise is somewhat quashed, but at least it fits and she likes it.
Young couples in their twenties frequently opt for modern rings with contemporary settings - single stones and cast platinum bands. Bare in mind contemporary rings will not hold their value as well as antique and period rings. The 30-somethings are more likely to choose a traditional ring from the late 19th or 20th century. Cluster rings from this period are ever popular – a single stone surrounded by a border of small stones. Clusters reach the height of popularity when the Prince of Wales gave Princess Diana a cluster as her engagement ring.
The tradition of wearing an engagement ring on the third finger of the left hand goes back to Roman times when this finger was believed to contain the vena amoris – vein of love. However the large majority of rings pre-dating the Victorian era are far too fragile to wear on a regular basis. 18th century Georgian rings were frequently set with pearls and foil-backed to add sparkle. They tended to be highly decorative and only worn on special occasions.
If you’re feeling brave then sneak one of your girlfriend’s rings down to your local jeweller to measure the size. If you don’t fancy pinching any of her jewellery for the morning then make a mental note of her height and weight and a ring size can be calculated from that. The standard sizes are M and N.
Where should you go to buy an engagement ring? There tends to be a hefty mark-up on jewellery sold by dealers so buying at auction is recommended. A good jewellery expert should offer sound bidding advice and view todays buyers as tomorrows sellers – especially in the fragile world of engagements and marriages.
Whatever you do, take expert advice. Precious stones have been faked for centuries and good fakes are frighteningly hard to spot. Don’t believe the old wives tale that only a real diamond can score the surface of a piece of glass – another piece of glass will do the job perfectly well!
With that information to hand, a fair idea of her taste and a months salary in your pocket, you’re ready to do what most girls would give their eye teeth to do – go buy some diamonds!
