There are few moments in life more personal or memorable than receiving a marriage proposal from the one you love. From the chosen time and environment to the beautiful diamond ring that seals your promise, there are many elements to planning the perfect engagement. There is one very important way to make your proposal and engagement experiences unique to your one-of-a-kind love story, and that is to design your own engagement ring.
Adiamor.com’s Build Your Own Engagement Ring feature allows you to start with a certified diamond via our diamond search, or with one of our many elegant settings. If you’re sure of the diamond quality and shape that your partner might want for the center stone, begin with a custom search of our GIA certified loose diamonds. If there’s a setting style that the intended wearer has fallen in love with, it’s best to start there and then find a center stone that pairs well with the aesthetic, color, and size of the setting.
Starting With a Diamond
On the left side of the page for Adiamor.com’s ring-building application, you’re offered the option to start with a diamond, giving you access to our inventory of more than 150,000 GIA and AGS certified stones. Click the “Search Diamonds” to open our interactive diamond search and adjust the settings of each category to reveal a selection of diamonds chosen to your specifications.
Choosing a Shape
Couples with marriage on their minds have usually had at least passing conversations about engagement ring preferences, and even if that’s not the case, you most likely know your beloved’s esthetic preferences in general. For wearers with trendy or vintage tastes, fancy diamond shapes like the pear, cushion, and emerald cut look wonderful in retro settings like our diamond-accented halos. For the more traditionally minded, it’s hard to go wrong with a classic round or princess cut diamond. If you’re truly not sure which shape is right, you may want to go back and start with a setting first, which will help you narrow down the choices for diamond shapes.
Which Slider Should I Focus On First?
Most customers using the “Start With a Diamond” design option choose to adjust the price first, before concentrating on other features of the diamond, as most consumers have a clearly-defined budget they must follow. That’s why it is the first option to appear in the list of sliders, just below the options for diamond shapes. This is a good strategy narrow down the options because, with tens of thousands of diamonds to choose from, the task can be overwhelming. The budget that is often limiting in other ways can be a great asset in your search for the perfect diamond because it helps you clarify what to realistically expect immediately and helps keep you from being overwhelmed by so many choices. The price sliders can be adjusted on both the high and low ends, so if there’s also a minimum you’d like to spend or even a specific, meaningful number, you can refine your search that way as well.
I’ve Set My Budget; What’s Next?
The easiest way to proceed once you’ve set a monetary limit is to simply move the sliders to the ideal quality grade for each of the Four C’s and see what comes up, adjusting each one until the desired selection of diamonds appears. However, equally prioritizing each measure of a diamond’s quality can cause you to miss out on a great stone. So, what should you focus on?
Most jewelers agree that cut is the most critical of the Four C’s; a good precision cut with the right angles and facets can vastly improve the appearance of an imperfect stone, while a flawless diamond can be ruined by poor cut technique. The shape of the diamond determines how inclusions and other flaws are to the stone’s overall beauty as well; the precise facets of a round or cushion cut gem can be positioned to mask flaws and make the stone appear eye-clean but loses light if there are too many, while an emerald cut stone’s large, wide table means that you can budge a bit on color but flaws like pitting or inclusions will be very apparent.
After cut, it’s wise to consider stones that may be lacking in carat weight but make up for it in color and clarity or vice versa. This is particularly important if you find your budget more limiting than expected. Representatives of each camp will offer many opinions on why one is more important than the other, but in truth it simply comes down to personal preference; some want the largest, most eye catching center stone available and are willing to sacrifice a small amount of quality, while others want the best, most perfect diamond and are willing to downsize the carat weight in order to cover the cost.
Starting with an Engagement Ring Setting
The “Start With a Setting” button leads to the same tab that you will eventually click to if you’ve opted to choose your diamond first, so these recommendations apply in both cases. Picking a setting first is a smart choice if you know less about diamonds and more about the wearer’s personal style and tastes. This function lets you preview any setting in any available metal with the center stone of your choice, so you’ll know how each completed ring would look.
Styles
The simplest way to find the right setting is to determine if you need a piece that is more simple and traditional, or something very intricate or modern. An unadorned solitaire band in a high-quality metal or a dazzling diamond accented band incorporating different shapes and details paint very clear pictures of who the women wearing them are, but there’s a lot of crossover too. With styles like plain split shank bands and traditional yet trendy pave halo settings, Adiamor’s selection offers the best parts of both the old and the new. If the different names of the settings are new or confusing to you, just select the boxes next to each setting styles one at a time to get acquainted with each category.
Metals
Adiamor offers engagement ring settings in rose gold, 14k and 18k white or yellow gold and platinum. Most of the metal options can be applied to any setting in this section, but if there’s a metal that’s a must-have for your setting, it’s a good idea to make sure it’s selected in your search to avoid confusion or disappointment. Custom manufacturing is usually possible even if a particular metal option isn’t listed for the setting you want; contact us to learn more.)
Now you have all the information you need to create your own engagement ring and enjoy a wonderful proposal and engagement . . . not to mention a beautiful ring to wear for the rest of your life! If you’re having trouble choosing the right setting or stone, Adiamor’s team is here to guide you with expert knowledge and personalized advice. Contact us anytime for assistance in creating the engagement ring of your dreams.
