How to choose the perfect setting for your engagement ?

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One of the hardest decision you will have to face after buying a great diamond is to choose the style of your diamond ring setting. Even if the diamond value might represent 80-90%  of the total price, the setting style play a crucial effect on the appearance of the diamond. The question you might ask yourself now is “How can I decide which ring setting will work best for me?”

My first advice how to choose a semi mount (ring setting) is the one I give to all of my customers: Be sure to select an engagement ring setting you really like and do not make compromises for some capital reasons. Your diamond will be set in this wedding ring setting and will be holding on your finger for a long time, hence the importance of choosing one you love. Makes sense? Great, now here is my answer to help you decide which setting is the best for you: Solitaire Ring Setting.

Setting Head

Setting Head

Setting Shank

Setting Shank

What is a solitaire ring setting?

The Solitaire Setting was originally designed by Tiffany & Co in 1886. After many years in the market, it is still considered as the most classic and traditional design ever made. I would say that the answer, why over the years this design hardly received any changes at all, resides in its simplicity. The design is made of a round plain shank that comes together on the top of the finger. On the point of connection you will see a head for the diamond, most of the time with 4 or 6 prongs.

Four prongs setting

Four prongs setting

Six prong setting

Six prong setting

If a prong setting for your ring is not what you are looking for, you can also find solitaire mounts that accommodate different head or band style. Among them, bezel setting and channel setting may be of great interest. In addition to the style of the setting, you may also select the type of the metal for the ring setting where gold, white gold and platinum are some of the possibilities. The beauty of this design is that there is a solution for anyone.

Cathedral Setting

Cathedral
Setting

Basket Setting

Basket
Setting

Trellis Setting

Trellis
Setting

Bezel Setting

Bezel
Setting

If you wish to buy an engagement ring as a surprise but are not sure which ring setting to choose, don’t worry too much. The investment you will make in the ring setting is minimal and it will be very easy to switch to any other design that you might want in the future without losing (almost) any money.

For those who like simple and beautiful design, a solitaire setting makes the perfect choice to hold your diamond and will present it in all of its beauty. By choosing a solitaire ring you are sure to have a win-win situation.

If you wish to have more details or you have any question, we would be very happy to answer you.

Should I buy the diamond in one place and the ring in another?

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When you purchase a diamond and you wish to buy a ring, one of the first questions that come in mind is: Should I purchase the ring and diamond from the same seller? The answer can go either way, it is a matter of cost, it make sense to check the two items separately so you will know what is the best price as if you would purchase them separately and then you can check with the seller if there is a special discount to purchase them together.

Take in account that you can have a seller that is specialized in diamonds and another seller that is specialized in ring settings as not everyone is selling rings and diamonds together.

If you find a seller that sells both there is a good chance that you will get an extra discount. In case that you wish to design your own ring there are some sellers that you can send to them an image of the ring that you wish and they can duplicate the ring and make it for you as a special order.

When you purchase the diamond separately, you have to make sure that the diamond will fit the setting especially on square/rectangular diamonds as each is unique.

When you have a limited budget, it is good to purchase the diamond first as it is the part that will cost most of the ring.

Another good advice is in a case that you like a ring with micro pave diamonds, it is important not to resize the ring more than 1 size as it can compromise the structure of the setting. It is always a good idea to order the ring in your size.

All you want to know about Enhanced diamonds

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Many of my friends asked me about enhanced diamonds…they wanted to know first what enhanced diamonds are. Are they real diamonds? What is the deferent between enhanced diamonds and not enhanced? What is the advantage of buying enhanced diamonds? What are the prices compare to non enhanced diamonds? Is the enhancement coming with a warrantee? What about the certificate?  Basically they wanted to know everything that I know.

First of all enhanced diamonds are 100% natural diamonds that come out as rough than they are polished and as it says: they are getting enhanced….it is like my human body that is almost perfect and the only part that is not perfect is my nose that is a little too long for my taste…so what I am going to do? I will make a plastic surgery to enhance my nose so all will be perfect, the same is with diamonds the 100% natural diamond is nice and the clarity is graded let say I-2 that is relatively a low clarity grading…the diamond got a nice color but the clarity is low….what the enhancement process is doing is to convert heavy inclusions like black carbon inclusions to white or transparent inclusions, usually an enhancement will upgrade the diamond by 2 grades so if we had an I-2 diamond after enhancement it will become an SI-2 clarity (by GIA standard), the advantage that you will have is that you will pay for a diamond that will be an SI-2 clarity as it was a diamond priced as an I-2 as the cost that you will pay for can be up to 50% less than a non treated diamond.

Most of the major companies that produce enhanced diamonds will give you a lifetime guarantee; we at Diamond Traces will give you a lifetime guarantee as well.

The enhancement process started in 1980 and in the last couple of years the enhancement process become very popular among large parts of the population as top rated companies that certify diamonds like GIA, AGI and EGL are certifying enhanced diamonds as well.

Diamond Certificates

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Many customers asked me what is the deferent between GIA, EGL, AGI, IGI or any other certificate?

Well, I feel the confusion of you the customer when you want to buy a diamond online or at your local store, when you want to buy let say a diamond 2 carat with H color and SI-1 clarity and you notice deferent prices for deferent certificates….. You start to be confused and instate of a simple decision it become a hard to understand decision….why is it so confusing?

First you have to understand the mechanism of how diamonds are grated, The company that invented the grading system that we are using today was GIA and the majority of the other companies that are grading diamonds (like EGL that is the biggest certificate issuer) are using the same system, the question remaining is for example: Why diamonds graded by GIA are more expensive than diamonds graded by anyone else?

First we have to agree that any diamond came out from a diamond mine did not come out with any certificate…..When the diamond came out as a rough the diamond was send to a manufacturing for cutting and polishing, when this process was done the diamond was sold to a diamond dealer, this diamond dealer is the one that decide to send the diamond for certification (some decide to sell the diamond as it is without certificate), now imagine that this diamond is 2.00 carat in weight was send first to GIA for certification and then the same diamond was send to EGL for certification (this happen in reality as well).

When the diamond came back from GIA the color grading was H color and SI-1 in clarity.

The same diamond was send to EGL and the diamond came back with a grading of G in color and VS-2 in clarity…. (EGL will grade diamonds 1-2 grade higher than GIA).

When you the customer look on the grading it look like the G color and VS-2 clarity(EGL) is a better deal (grading) compare to the H in color and SI-1 in clarity(GIA)…..The facts are that it is the same diamond with deferent grading . This is a summary of the grading by deferent companies that can explain why H color GIA is the same as G color VS-2 EGL…..

If you have more to ask please email me.

Hello to all,

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My name is Jake ,  For the last 15 years I am an executive in some of the top companies in  the diamond industry, I act now as the executive manager for Diamond Traces, I like to make knowledge available to all as more we know better we will function as a whole, I would like to share my knowledge in the diamond industry with many people as possible, yes it is true that this blog and the articles are connected to Diamond Traces but I promise to all of you that my view is honest and represent my true thinking, I would write about topics that are concerning the jewelry and diamond industry and that I think are important to everyone, I would love to receive question from the general public and I will do my best to answer everyone.

Before you propose to your love…the do and not to do….

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Hi my friends,

To propose to your love will be one of the most imported things you ever will do, for some man it is plain and simple and for others it is a nerve racking process, no matter how you feel the goal is the same to get together with someone you love and I am sure that all of us see a nice family picture down the road.

As one that is breezing the diamonds for many years I observed 2 main types of situations that man face…

The first one is when the man is working with the girl together to purchase the diamond ring….in this case my advice for the man is : Be low profile and make sure that you listen to the girl on what she want…than make sure that the budget that you have will fit in the cost of the ring, basically you stay passive while your only job is to listen and making sure that your girl is getting what she want….also make sure that you as the one that pays the bill will not be ripped off as with today’s internet you can find deals that were not available a couple of years back.

The second situation is when the man will buy the diamond ring without the knowledge of the girl…it will be a total surprise to her…

This will be a little harder than when both are working together but it still can be very successful.

The first rule is to investigate what is the like and the don’t like of the girl like shape of the diamond, the metal that she want (white gold or yellow gold, platinum)….after you have figured this part you have to figure out the finger size that she got, after you have this two elements your way to success is open and the only thing that is left is to figure how much is your real budget.

When the man is using the second way it can be with fun and surprise as long as he learns the no no of the future wife and the man must make sure not to push his likes….as it is the girl’s time.

One last advice: never bring your future mother in law to shop for the ring…..