The choice for your engagement ring is always a personal decision, so at the end of the day the most important thing is your own preference.

Though when it comes to choosing the metal to use for your engagement ring setting, I can give some suggestions.

When I refer to the engagement ring setting, in this instance, I’m refer to the metal that is used to hold the diamond in place – the metal used for the prong or bezel around the diamond.

The overwhelming majority of yellow gold engagement rings are made with white gold prong or bezel settings.

So most yellow gold engagement rings actually have a combination of white and yellow gold – yellow gold for the band and white gold for the diamond setting.

The reasoning behind this is that the white gold setting is less noticeable around the diamond – making the diamond, rather than the metal setting, the prominent feature. Naturally most people want the diamond to be the focus of their engagement ring so the white gold setting helps to acheive that aim.

Yellow gold settings can also have the possibility of giving the appearance of a slightly yellow tinge to the diamond – even if the diamond is a very high quality diamond.

If you are choosing the top grade D diamond colour, the colour of the diamond is obviously important to you. So it would be a shame to have that beautiful colour affected in any way by the ring setting. So personally, I would choose a white gold setting for the diamond.

Though it’s still your decision, so whichever option you choose will be the right decision for you

See unique engagement rings at Gilletts.com.au.

Men’s engagement rings

It’s becoming increasingly common for men to wear engagement rings.

In the past men have generally only worn a wedding ring, though today, more men are choosing to wear an engagement ring also.

Men’s engagement ring designs

The distinction between the design of a men’s engagement ring and men’s wedding ring is far less obvious than it is for ladies rings.

However, one popular determining factor when considering the actual design of the rings is that men’s engagement rings will often feature a diamond.

Men’s engagement rings

Suited as a men’s engagement or wedding ring

Though naturally a diamond is optional, depending upon the taste of the groom-to-be.

Men’s engagement rings are also normally made in 18ct yellow gold or 18ct white gold (or two tone), or platinum.

Otherwise, there aren’t really any guidelines when it comes choosing the design of a men’s engagement ring.

Wearing 2 rings – a men’s engagement ring and men’s wedding ring

Generally, if a men’s engagement ring is worn, it will continue to be worn as an engagement ring after the wedding, in addition to a separate ring which is worn as the wedding ring from the wedding ceremony onwards.

Where to wear the men’s engagement ring and wedding ring – Same finger or different finger?

It is possible to wear both the men’s engagement and men’s wedding ring on the same finger (wedding ring finger on the left hand), though men’s rings are often quite wide, so wearing two rings on the same finger isn’t always practical or comfortable.

Most men choose to wear the men’s engagement ring on the wedding ring finger until the wedding ceremony. They then move the men’s engagement ring from the ‘wedding ring’ finger, to another finger on the other hand.

That way, after the ceremony, the wedding ring is worn on the wedding ring finger on the left hand, and the engagement ring is worn on the right hand. The right hand ‘ring finger’ is the most common, though, the finger that the engagement ring is worn on after the ceremony is entirely a matter of personal preference.

Using the same ring as a men’s engagement ring and men’s wedding ring

It’s possible to use the ‘one ring’ as both a men’s engagement and wedding ring – whereby the ring is initially worn as an engagement ring – as a symbol of the engagement and pending nuptials, and then after the wedding, the ring is worn as a wedding ring.

This ‘transitioning’ concept isn’t all that common, though, as you may have already noticed, when it comes to men’s engagement rings there aren’t any hard and fast rules – so at the end of the day, it really comes down to the couple’s wishes and preferences.

See men’s engagement rings here and men’s wedding rings here.

The value of a diamond is determined based on several factors, which are commonly referred to as the 4 Cs – which stands for colour, clarity, cut and carat. The combination of all four factors affects the value of the diamond.

If any one of the four factors is changed, the value will change.

When it comes to choosing a diamond, this is how I would personally approach the selection process.

Personally I feel that the colour and carat are the two most important factors to consider – however, that is provided a good standard is met for the other two factors – the cut and clarity. If the cut and clarity are not good, the whole diamond’s appearance and value will suffer.

I’ll start with the clarity and cut, and then outline the colour and carat.

Diamond Clarity

I would start with choosing a diamond with a clarity of a minimum of Si. So that means a diamond with a clarity between Vvs to Si . The reason for this clarity range is that Vvs, Vs and Si clarity diamonds have small inclusions in them, though none of those inclusions can be seen by the naked eye (Vvs stands for ‘very very slight inclusions’, Vs stands for ‘very slight inclusions’, Si stands for ’slight inclusions’). So VVS, Vs and Si clarities are of good quality.

In practical terms, outside of the diamond selection process, most couples do not spend much time looking at their diamond through a magnifying glass or microscope, so in my opinion, flawless to the naked eye is good enough for me. Provided that the clarity is either Vvs, Vs or Si, I would focus more attention on the other diamond factors.

Naturally, this is a personal preference, for some couples having a diamond as close to perfection as they can is important, so those couples will place a higher importance on the clarity and prefer the Vvs or Vs clarities, or even the exceptionally rare flawless diamond.

Diamond Cut

When it comes to the cut of the diamond, the diamond has to be well cut so that it has the maximum amount of brilliance and life and fire.

It’s hard to explain that in words without seeing real life examples, though it does make a difference in terms of the overall appearance of the diamond.

A well cut diamond will sparkle and dazzle. A diamond that is cut to good proportions will allow light to pass into the diamond and reflect back out the top of the diamond.

A poorly cut diamond will look dull and lifeless.
A diamond that has been cut too shallow or too deep will have the light pass straight through the diamond and not reflect back -the light will instead go out the sides of the diamond.Those poorly cut diamonds will look dull and not as shiny. The reason why a diamond would be cut too deep or too shallow is because the diamond cutter tried to cut the diamond as large as possible from the natural diamond crystal.

We place a high importance on the diamond cut when sourcing our diamonds, and we only supply well cut diamonds in our engagement rings and loose diamonds.

Okay, so provided that you have a Vvs, Vs or Si clarity and a well cut diamond you can move on to the colour and carat.

This is where the trade off happens and this is where the personal preference comes into play. So I’ll give you some personal opinions, based on many years of experience with helping couples choose their diamond. Though remembering that at the end of the day, the decision does come down to your personal preferences.

Diamond Colour

The diamond colours are grouped into ranges. The top range is referred to as the ‘collection colour’ range – which is the D, E and F colour diamonds. Then there’s the colour range that is called ‘fine white’ in the older terminology, which is the G colour. For all of these colours – D to G – the diamond has a white appearance and the diamonds have the look of high quality.

In terms of ‘whiteness’ the H colour personally is borderline for me – it’s just were the colour starts to have a very faint hint of yellow to it.

The difference between the colour grades is unfortunately not proportional, in that the difference between some colours is very small, whereas the difference between other colours is a much larger jump.

There is not a significant difference of colour between D to E to F colour diamonds. The difference can be detected in a diamond laboratory or by a highly skilled diamond expert, though for the common person, it’s not really possible to visibly see the difference in colour between D, E or F.

So the reason why you would choose a D or E colour over an F colour is because having the best is important to you – and you have a great sense of pride in having the absolute best. That’s important to the a large proportion of our customers, so we do sell a large number of D, E and F colour diamonds.

Having a ‘collection colour’ diamond also has a special sophistication to it.

The high quality D, E and F colour diamonds are also not available at most other jewellery stores in Australia or internationally, so a D, E or F colour sets the engagement ring apart from most other engagement rings (and gives a lot of bragging points amongst friends – which is an important point for most couples that come to us – even if they don’t admit that ).

Having a G colour diamond is the colour that we recommend for our customers (naturally customers who wish to have a D, E or F collection colour diamond are welcome to do so). The G colour looks great, has white colour and is well priced.

Choosing an H colour diamond is normally something that we recommend if a couple’s preference is towards the size of the diamond rather than the colour. By choosing an H colour diamond, a customer may be able to have a slightly larger size diamond for the comparable price of a smaller diamond with a higher diamond colour.

Most jewellery stores only offer H colour , I colour and J colour diamonds to their customers.

An H colour diamond is still of good quality, and that’s the reason why we offer it to our customers.

We offer only a small number of I or J colour diamonds for diamonds of larger sizes – these diamonds are offered for couples with more modest budgets who are more interested in the look of a larger diamond and the colour of the diamond is not as important to them.

General Guideline

Without knowing any of your personal preferences or budget, my general guideline would be towards a G colour, Vs clarity well cut diamond – with the size determined by your price range.

Customer question example – What should I place greater importance on – the colour or carat? – for example, .30ct E colour, compared to a .50ct H colour diamond

Your decision comes down to what is most important to you – having an exceptional quality colour for your diamond, or a diamond of a bit more size.

The E colour is very high quality, so if taking pride in having a very high quality diamond is important to you – the E colour .30ct is the the diamond that I would suggest for you.

If however, you are happy with a good quality colour and the appearance of a larger diamond is more important for you, I would suggest the .50ct H colour diamond. (These suggestions are naturally on the basis that the diamonds have Si clarity or above and are of a good cut – for Gillett’s diamonds that will be the case).

Comparing apples with apples – Diamond Laboratory Certificates

It’s also important to ensure that you are comparing apples with apples when it comes to diamonds. That’s where independent diamond laboratory certificates become important. We offer independent DCLA diamond certificates with many of our diamonds and diamond engagement rings. Those diamonds have been independently graded using the highest standards of diamond testing. We offer those diamond certificates for our customers piece of mind in knowing that they are receiving exactly the quality that we have stated and that they are receiving exactly what they paid for.

We have noticed that unfortunately not all jewellery stores offer the same high standard of accuracy when it comes to the grading of their diamonds. For that reason, we highly recommend that customers compare diamond prices from jewellery stores that offer independent diamond laboratory certificates from recognised and accredited laboratories (The DCLA diamond laboratory in Sydney is such a laboratory).

Hopefully this information will give you a better understanding of the diamond selection process.

Now that you know what to look for, search for a diamond engagement ring.

Platinum engagement ring

The earliest known use of platinum dates back to 7^th Century BC, when it was used to craft caskets in Egypt. Its use for this purpose shows that even the earliest civilizations valued platinum as an important and precious metal. Today, platinum is one of the most demanded metals in the bridal market. It’s popularity is beginning to surpass white and yellow gold in engagement rings, and is growing increasingly favoured as the metal for both men’s and lady’s wedding bands.

But what is it about platinum that makes it so popular, and also so expensive?

Platinum is very popular because of its many advantages. Unlike white gold, which has to be rhodium plated to achieve its brilliant white shine, platinum is a naturally white metal that will never require re-plating. Platinum is also a little harder wearing than gold, making it less susceptible to, though not completely impervious to, the signs of everyday wear and tear.

There are three reasons why platinum jewelry is relatively expensive as compared to gold or white gold jewelry.

Platinum wedding ring

The metal platinum is a more expensive metal than gold as it’s a more rare metal and there are difficulties involved with mining it, which also adds to its price. Platinum is also used in a much higher concentrations in jewelry than the proportion of gold used in jewelry. The platinum alloy used in jewelry consists of 85% to 95% platinum, that’s 850 to 950 parts platinum for every thousand parts. Gold jewelry conversely generally uses a maximum of 75% or 750 parts gold per thousand parts for 18ct jewelry, or less gold for 14ct, 10ct or 9ct jewelry.

Whilst traditionally platinum was mixed with an alloy of gold, it is now combined with another member of the platinum family such as palladium or iridium which helps to retain its whiteness. Palladium is also more expensive than gold and it has a metal price more comparable with platinum than gold. This change in alloy mix has also contributed to raising the price of platinum.

Platinum is also a denser heavier metal than gold, making a ring design made in platinum heavier than the same ring design made in 18ct gold. As the metal price is calculated based on gram weight, this density or heaviness, also contributes to making platinum more expensive than 18ct gold.

Diamond ring

Diamonds are the hardest known natural material in the world.

The scale used to measure the hardness of natural materials is called the Mohs scale. Diamonds are measured as a hardness level of 10 on Mohs scale of mineral hardness. That’s the hardest there is and the top of the Mohs scale!

Diamonds are very precious, not only for their beauty, but also because of their practicality.

Diamonds are popular for jewelry pieces worn daily such as engagement rings, wedding rings, earrings and pendants.

Diamonds are the best suited gemstone for these types of jewelry as diamonds are so very hard, which means that they can stand up to everyday wear better than any other gemstone.

The only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond. This makes diamonds such a fantastic choice, especially for engagement rings and wedding rings. As the diamonds do not scratch, diamond jewelry shines, magically disperses light and looks stunning over long periods of time.

The high quality diamonds, know as the gem quality standard of diamonds are used in jewelry.

The lower quality small diamonds, known as industrial grade diamonds, are used for industrial purposes. Because of the strength of diamonds, the industrial grade diamonds have been used for cutting and grinding industrial tools. The industrial diamonds can wear away any other materials, including other diamonds!

Diamond engagement ring on the ring finger

Engagement rings are traditionally worn on the left hand, on the 4th finger, the on the finger, next to the pinkie finger.

It was the ancient Romans who began placing the engagement ring on the left ring finger. They believed the left ring finger contained the vein of love which connects directly to the heart.

The tradition of presenting a diamond engagement ring is believed to have been started in 1477 when Archduke Maximillian gave one to Mary of Burgandy.

Before that, engagement rings were plain metal bands. Gold and silver where used among the wealthy and iron among the commoners.

Wide diamond engagement ring

The Tiffany style isn’t for every bride-to-be.

And that’s hardly surprising is it.

After all, if we all had the same taste in design, we’d all be driving the same model of car and wearing the same shoe design.

Although the traditional diamond solitaire engagement ring is still popular, the classic design doesn’t suit the desires of every lady.

The solitaire isn’t always practical for all lifestyles either.

When looking for alternatives, it’s not always an easy process to find different designs.

Baguette cut diamond engagement ring

Low set diamond engagement ring

Unique diamond engagement ring

Pink sapphire engagement ring

Sapphire engagement ring

Good options can include choosing a sapphire or ruby engagement ring or, if you’re still after a diamond, but would like something different, an alternative design may be in order.

Pink sapphire, blue sapphire and red ruby rings are the gemstone alternatives that you can choose to diamond engagement rings. Sapphires and rubies are hard gemstones – this makes them an excellent choice for engagement rings.

Some ladies are also opting to choose one ring in place of the engagement ring and wedding ring. Wearing one ring to represent the two rings is also a practical option for some ladies.

Wide ring designs are also a fantastic option.

So what should you be aware of when choosing an alternate engagement ring design?

Provided some basic guidelines are followed, the options are endless.

When choosing your alternative engagement ring design keep the following in mind:

1. Choose a diamond, sapphire or ruby design. These gemstones are hard gemstones suitable for everyday wear.

2. Choose a ring that sets the gemstones safely and securely.

3. Choose a ring design that suits your lifestyle. For example, teachers often choose low set or bezel ring designs. Chefs choose low set designs.

To get the design ideas flowing, have a look at the hundreds of designs available in the Gillett’s Jewellers Engagement Ring Gallery.

Emerald cut diamond engagement ring

The round diamond is the traditional choice for engagement rings, though today a range of beautiful diamond cuts are available.

Emerald cut diamonds are now becoming one of the more popular choices for engagement rings.

Emerald cut diamonds have a rectangular diamond shape.

The glow of an emerald cut diamond is different to that of a round brilliant cut diamond. The emerald cut diamond has a shine that can be described as elegant.

Bezel set emerald cut diamond engagement ring

Emerald cut diamond engagement ring with multiple diamonds

Emerald cut diamond engagement ring with multiple diamonds

The emerald cut diamond engagement ring has an old world elegant appeal that speaks of individuality and style.

Emerald cut diamonds are often featured in a prong set solitaire design.

Bezel settings are now a modern spin on the idea of an emerald cut design.

White gold is the most popular metal for emerald cut engagement rings, though yellow gold is also a wonderful choice.

The emerald cut diamond engagement ring is most often designed with the diamond aligned vertically along the finger. This design can also give the ring a slimming look on the finger.

If you’re looking for a unique design, having your emerald cut diamond set horizontally across the finger is an option, though this design will not be seen as often.

Having multiple diamonds is also a unique choice. Multiple emerald cut diamonds in a row is also another option that you may like to consider.

No matter which design you choose, you will be sure to have a unique design that will stand out from the crowd if you choose an emerald cut diamond engagement ring.

For additional inspiration when choosing your engagement ring design, browse through the engagement ring gallery.

Men’s engagement ring with diamonds in white gold

Should a man wear an engagement ring?

This is a common question that grooms-to-be ask.

A man traditionally gives an engagement ring to his bride-to-be once the marriage proposal is accepted. Should the lady give the man an engagement ring too?

Traditionally men did not wear an engagement ring.

However, this has changed over the years and it is now common for men to wear an engagement ring too!

There’s no right or wrong answer to this question.

Diamond yellow gold men’s engagement ring

Diamond men’s engagement ring

Platinum and titanium men’s engagement ring

Choosing to wear an engagement ring is now a matter of personal preference.

At the end of the day, it’s up to you. If you wish to give or wear a men’s engagement ring you can. If you don’t wish to do so, then don’t!

If an engagement ring is worn, it is most often worn on the left hand on the 4th finger (the finger next to the pinkie finger). Once married, the engagement ring is then often worn on the right hand instead.

Some men choose to wear both the engagement and wedding ring on the same hand, though wearing too rings on the one finger can be uncomfortable or not practical for some men.

It’s also possible to wear the one ring as both an engagement and wedding ring. That means that you can choose a ring that you like and wear it before the wedding as an engagement ring, and after the wedding as the wedding ring.

When choosing a men’s engagement ring design, diamond rings are very popular as are two tone rings.

Men’s diamond engagement rings are unlike ladies diamond engagement rings. Men’s diamond engagement rings often feature one or a few diamonds that are set low in the band.

Princess cut diamond men’s engagement rings are a particularly popular choice. In terms of metals, platinum and titanium are growing in popularity among men.

If you are not comfortable wearing a men’s engagement ring, another option is to give a pair of cuff links or watch that symbolizes your engagement.

Ruby and diamond wedding ring

Red rubies are the preferred choice of many ladies for their engagement rings and wedding rings today.

Red rubies are stunning, so it’s not surprising that they’re popular, though there’s a highly practical reason for choosing a red ruby for your rings.

Red rubies are particularly well suited to engagement and wedding rings.

Ruby wedding ring

Red rubies are durable enough to stand up to the everyday wear that wedding and engagement rings receive.

Rubies are a very hard gemstone. Rubies (like sapphires), have a hardness of 9.0 on the Mohs scale. (The Mohs scale is the scale used to measure the hardness of gemstones).

Of all the gemstones and all the natural substances in the world, rubies and sapphires are the second hardest substance, second only to diamonds!

This special hardness property of rubies makes them especially suited to jewelry, especially for everyday wear, making them a fantastic choice for wedding rings and engagement rings!

From a design and appeal point of view, the red color of rubies makes a wonderful alternative to the traditional white diamond ring.

A combination of rubies and diamonds is a desirable option. The red of rubies looks fantastic with the white color of diamonds. The contrasting red and white gemstones are especially enhanced by white gold settings.

Of all of the alternate gemstones for engagement and wedding rings, rubies and sapphires are the number one choice!