Engagement Ring Guide

Possibly one of the most important and hardest decisions you will ever have to make, a sign of everlasting love and devotion to your partner. It is a statement of your love, passion, knowledge and desire to be with the one you love. A decision no one wants to get wrong and everyone wants to get right! The gesture of finding your partner the perfect engagement ring.

We understand how hard this decision can be and that is why we have made this simple and quick guide in an effort to help you make the right decision when choosing the right engagement ring for your partner. We pride ourselves at Stanley Hunt Jewellers on being the best support and guiding help you can find when making this all important decision.

Once every step has been taken our staff member will begin sourcing the perfect ring for you either from an extensive stock range, covering many different styles from our artisan collection which is unrivalled, some of which bearing the coveted SHJ branded hallmark or from one of our master jeweller partners who are all certified members of the company of master jewellers (CMJ).

Our first piece of advice would be to come into our store! Our focus is on helping you make the right decisions and our trained-friendly members of staff are the perfect guides. When you come into store you’ll be invited to our wedding lounge area where one of our staff members will guide you through each step of the way, making sure the engagement ring is not only adored by your partner but the essence of perfection and a symbol of your love devotion.

Before we move onto the guide, have you heard of a promise ring?

A Promise Ring
A promise ring is a sign of commitment between two people, often the first token of love starting a serious relationship, but exchanging ‘promise rings’ can equally be a symbol of joint commitment. The extensive ranges through many brand names can offer a fantastic choice on this early token of togetherness.

For more information on promise rings please visit our page with suggestions.

Step 1 – Understanding & Choice
Traditional the engagement ring is bought and presented as a surprise to the partner, a token of your true love. Picking the perfect engagement ring for your partner, you will need to know certain things, such as size, style of ring, budget and personal preference. Some of these factors can be altered later on such as the size which can be resized if the fit is not correct. We know the world of jewellery and rings can quite a mine field and at first glance it can appear very daunting! This is why we highly recommend you come into store where our staff can guide you through each factor that will make the perfect choice. Coming into store with a few of your partners favourites rings is also a great way for us to get a further understanding on what your future partner likes, enjoys and currently wears. If you are still truly unsure bring your partner into the store to make a wonderful choice together! This can often be the best decision if you’re unsure.

Step 2 – Styles & Size
When it comes to selection a ring style there are traditionally four to choice from; solitaire, solitaire with side stones, trilogy and vintage. Each ring offers its own unique style and sometimes can be loved or hated! We’ll quickly cover each style of ring listed above, starting with the most popular solitaire. Solitaire is the most popular style of engagement ring, with a single diamond held in a traditional tiffany setting with metal of your choice, presenting the diamonds as a solitary symbol of your love. Solitaire with side stones are another poplar design of engagement rings, similar to the solitaire they will have a single large diamond mounted in claws in the middle of the ring but accompanied by a row of diamonds to the central stone. Trilogy rings are three diamond stones mounted alongside each other. With one larger stone in the centre with two smaller diamonds mounted either side. The diamonds in this style are said to represent the past, present and future of a couple. Vintage is the final style of engagement ring, often taken from the Art Deco period of 1920’s with many multi-stone cluster style rings. All these styles we have on display at our stores and if you’re unsure on any we would advice coming into store and taking a look, perhaps bring one of your partners favourite rings (without them knowing of course!) so we can see their style and also know their ring size which will be useful later on.

Step 3 – Diamonds
Diamonds are not simple! They can come in many, many different styles; we have written a guide about the 4C’s of diamonds we would advise reading. We will also cover diamonds quickly in this guide to give you some quick knowledge you will be able to use straight away! First the cut and shape of the diamond, a diamond that is cut too shallow will not reflect the light in a pleasing manner; the same is said for a diamond that is cut too deep! For this you want a diamond that is well cut, only experts can tell the cut of a diamond but a well cut diamond will sparkly and give of the ‘heart of the diamond’ glimmer and sparkle. There are several common shape cuts of a diamond too; brilliant, princess, marquise, pear, oval, emerald, baguette and heart. We’ve put together a little visual guide below for the diamond cut shapes. Generally the most popular diamond shape for an engagement ring is round brilliant cut.

Step 4 – Colour
There are two colours you need to consider when picking an engagement ring, the colour of the metal itself which is related to the metal type chosen, platinum or gold. Both 9ct and 18ct offer a white metal appearance or yellow gold finish, with Platinum the alternative being a white metal. Secondly the colour of the diamond can vary giving a wide choice of price. We use a universal accepted method which is the most common grading for diamond colour, ranking at the highest being D which is exceptional white, down to Z which is the lowest and tinted in colour. The end price of a ring will reflect both the metal chosen and also the quality of the diamond chosen, diamond colour, cut, clarity and carat weight.

Step 5 – Carat & Cost
Carat is the final step to creating the perfect engagement ring. Carat refers to the both metal of the ring if it’s gold and the size of the diamond. The bigger the diamond the more expensive the ring usually is! It’s often thought that the bigger the diamond the better but it simply is not true! Consider that most people like to wear their engagement rings daily; a large diamond can be impractical and cause issues. So take into consideration if your partner will be wearing it every day and if they even like big flashy diamonds! With all these choices taken into consideration you will end up with the final cost of the ring. But remember price is not the determining factor for the perfect ring that your partner and soon to be spouse loves! Below we’ve broken down a quick guide on gold purity levels, diamond weight and sizes to give you an idea on what it all means!

Gold metal quality standards set by the UK Assay office, (per 1000)

Carat taken from ancient Egyptian weight ‘carob’ which equals .2grams

Rough calculations on diamond sizes