Ready to Buy an Engagement Ring? 7 Things to Consider Before Making a Purchase
You’ve found the one, and you’re ready to buy the ring. We love to hear it! We’re gonna go out on a limb and assume you’re at least moderately a ball of anxiety. Luckily, we’re here to make your life just a little bit easier. As you’re going through all your engagement ring options, consider these factors to help narrow things down a bit.
What to Consider Before Buying an Engagement Ring
1.Price
While the average engagement ring cost is actually down pretty significantly compared to 2019, it’s still not cheap. The average guy spends a bit over $5,000 on an engagement ring. That’s still a good chunk of change for a ring. Look, if you have the money to spend and that’s how you want to spend it, cool.
If you’re stretching yourself thin trying to make money magically appear, there’s really no reason you have to spend the money. It’s more about the sentiment, anyway. Plenty of affordable alternatives will still give you the same look as the oval engagement rings you’re currently eyeing.
2. Which Styles Will Complement You
We mean both in terms of color and shape. Sure, classics like gold engagement rings are usually winners. Like aviator sunglasses, they basically look good on everyone. However, you still want to consider a few factors like hand size and shape, skin tone and lifestyle.
You want to consider an appropriately sized ring. Just like buying a larger watch for a larger wrist, you want to buy rings that are similarly sized to your fiancé’s (we’re assuming you get a “yes”) hand. Smaller hands require smaller rings — and vice versa. Similarly, wider fingers benefit from slimming styles, and narrow fingers may benefit from styles that visually widen them a bit.
3. Alternative Stones
There’s nothing wrong with a classic. They’re classics for a reason, right? However, in the same way that singers don’t just play their hits over and over, sometimes you wanna branch out. Sure, Don’t Stop Believing is great, but if you went to a Journey concert and that was the only song played, it’d get tired.
There are so many alternative stones out there, especially in terms of gemstones and lab-grown materials, that there’s something for everyone. There’s nothing wrong with playing the hits, but at least give the alternative stones a quick once-over before you make your final decision.
4. Long-Term Style
Trends come and go. That’s sort of the only thing they’re guaranteed to do. Now, of course, some trends become style staples. Every rule has exceptions. The point here, though, is that for every trend that sticks, there are a whole lot of trends we’ve forgotten about. If you don’t mind the idea of your ring potentially going out of style, feel free to hop on a trend. However, if that’s a concern to you, consider more subdued, classic stylings.
5. Size
This is two parts, really. The first part goes hand in hand (pun intended) with the complementary styling of the ring that we talked about earlier. You want a ring that’s going to be complementary to the size of the hand it’s on. Ever seen some guy wearing a watch that’s way too big for his wrist? Yeah, he looks ridiculous. You don’t want that.
The second part is more of a lifestyle choice. Larger rings are heavier and a bit more cumbersome. Now, some people are cool with that trade-off, so don’t immediately cross a large ring off your list. However, people who live more active lifestyles aren’t necessarily going to want a large ring that’s going to get in the way or get damaged.
6. Ethics
Look, no one is going to bat and saying the diamond industry has historically been filled with nice guys who just want the world to look pretty. While the whole wedding industry is a lot more ethical than it used to be, there are still some real concerns you may have. If that’s the case, you can look for certified conflict-free rings. Rings with lab-grown or simulated stones are often the best bet for those wanting to be sure, but non-lab, conflict-free options are also out there.
7. Setting
There are a whole lot of settings out there, so you want to familiarize yourself with at least the basics before making a purchase. They all have pros and cons, but much like considering the size, more ornate settings will be a bit more in the way than simpler ones. Some people are totally fine with that trade-off, but some prefer settings that are a little easier to deal with in daily life.
Source: Ground Picture/Shutterstock.com
This may seem like a lot of information, but we promise that it’ll make more sense once you get started looking. This is one of those things you may just wanna dive into and learn as you go. Just make sure you know what you’re doing before you finalize a purchase.
