On Buying an Engagement Ring
Overview
Buying an engagement ring is a commitment. Between the selection process, the money, and the promise of marriage, buying an engagement ring can be a stressful and exciting experience. Because I found it to be both, I thought it’d be useful to share my experience. In this post, I’ll walk you through my approach to buying an engagement ring, I will also share the results of my approach.
Prerequisite: Life Partners
At some point I realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Brianna. Soon after, I starting thinking about an engagement ring. While this post is essentially about the purchase of an engagement ring, I must point that a worthy partner and the desire for lifelong commitment are true prerequisites.
Details, details, details…
The diamond industry is highly precise, and I soon found myself immersed in all of its details. I spent months researching the Four C’s of Diamonds, the various types of verification and certification to insure authenticity, band materials, styles… I even compared thousands of diamonds, considering each obscure characteristic in the hopes of deducing which proportions and styles truly equated to value. So after months of research, what did I learn?
Forget the Four C’s
It seemed like everywhere I turned, whether my source be a jeweler or web article, I received the same curious advice. Everyone was telling me to learn about the “Four C’s of Diamonds,” Cut, Clarity, Color, Carat weight. I was really getting the impression that if I studied these 4 variables enough, I could derive a fool proof formula that could identify the perfect diamond.
Then I simply hit a wall with the research. Burying myself in the details began to feel silly when I realized that no one else cares. Does a 5% difference in table depth or girdle thickness mean that one diamond is better than another? Does a 5% miscalculation mean that I love my girlfriend less? No.
New Approach: Empiricism over Rationalism
So after I realized that the Four C’s are a guide and not the end all be all, I began working with a new approach. My new approach relied on empiricism, rather than rationalism. In other words, I wanted to judge diamonds based on how they actually looked, not how they were graded.
My jeweler, Calvin Campany, was great in helping me find the right diamond. Calvin runs Adornment Fine Jewelry in Wakefield, Rhode Island, and I recommend him for all of your jewelry needs.
Through a series of trips to Rhode Island, Calvin showed me many different diamonds that fit within my quality/budget guidelines. I examined each diamond close up, at arms length, across the room, and with a 10x loupe. I made it a point to inspect the stones independent of their specifications – I actually had Calvin hide the labels from me. This exercise allowed me to know in advance that each stone had a “good enough” grade, while also freeing me from the sway of the specifics.
Bottom line
A diamond’s purpose is to look pretty at arms length. Nobody buys diamonds to be judged in terms of the four C’s. I mean, can you imagine getting out your 10x loupe at a party and criticizing your friend’s stone for faint inclusions or a tinge of yellow? In other words, the beauty of a diamond isn’t rationally derived from a specific criterion, it’s experienced empirically (by looking at it).
1.01c Princess cut in platinum.
The Real Bottom Line
The real bottom line goes beyond diamond selection – You want to make your fiancé happy. And as long as she is, all the specifics and processes wither in comparison. The real bottom line is a smiling fiancé, and I’m incredibly thankful to have one.
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