Finding an engagement ring for your sweetheart is one of the most important tasks amongst all your wedding preparations. But finding an affordable diamond engagement ring is quite difficult. You want the ring to look beautiful, but it also should fit your budget, and achieving both these aims is seemingly impossible. However, it is not so. Here are some tips to get your hands on an affordable engagement ring of your dreams.
Say “No” to Platinum
Platinum is a very expensive metal for the engagement ring, though it has some distinct benefits like durability and great looks. Instead, a 14-carat gold ring looks equally beautiful but comes at a fraction of the price. Actually cost of both these metals are same per gram; but platinum being heavier, comes in less volume than a gram of 14-carat gold, and therefore more of it is required. Even 18-carat gold is not recommendable if you are price-conscious, because it is not only pricier, but is also softer and hence more vulnerable to scratches than 14-carat gold. In such a scenario, either 14-carat white gold or palladium are the best options for your engagement ring.
Consider Sapphire or Moissanite
Although diamond is the most preferred stone for an engagement ring, other options can also be considered for making your engagement ring affordable, like sapphire or moissanite, as they look equally glorious as diamonds, but are much more affordable.
Sapphire: Sapphire is one of the most sought after center stones for engagement rings. Usually it is considered to be blue, but it is actually available in a variety of shades. Even the highest quality of sapphire is more economical than a diamond.
Moissanite: Moissanite being an extremely rare mineral is created exclusively in lab. Its major advantage is it looks pretty similar to a diamond, but costs much less.
Other precious stones like aquamarine, topaz and rubies are even less costly than sapphire or moissanite.
Don’t Go After the Highest Color and Clarity of a Diamond
If you decide to choose a diamond for the engagement ring, understand that a GIA-certified diamond is rated typically between D (colorless) and K (pale yellow), and if you want to stay within budget, you will have to stay away from the range D to F, which is the colorless range. There is a substantial price difference between a colorless diamond and an almost colorless diamond. If still, you want a colorless diamond and want it to be cheap, a G color diamond will be okay for you and if a slight yellow tinge is not a problem, an I color diamond is also great.
GIA grading for clarity is from FL (Flawless – absolutely clear) to I (included). It depends on the number of imperfections in the diamond and the FL diamond has no visible imperfections.
A VS2 diamond has very few flaws that are not visible to the naked eye, while SI1 diamond has flaws that can be seen to the naked eye, but laypeople cannot easily see them. So, for keeping the cost on a lower side, a diamond of the clarity range of SI1 or SI2 is good for you.
Here I would like to mention an excellent option of diamonds by Couplez.com – the diamonds every couple would want for their engagement rings! These diamonds sparkle like Vs-SI clarity graded diamonds of the same size but cost even less than half. These are clarity enhanced diamonds! This means that Couplez diamonds undergo an advanced technological process that makes them seemingly flawless, making the flaws invisible to the naked eye.
The process doesn’t pose any change to the size, color or brilliance of the diamond. So, this type of clarity enhanced diamonds can be the best option for you if you are seeking a great looking diamond for your engagement ring, but for a much lower price.
Couplez engagement rings are just the rings of your dreams. Couplez.com chooses each diamond with great care with its own Gemological certificate. Each piece is hand-cut and polished, and clarity enhanced to offer maximum sparkle to it to make it shine with all its beauty. After that the ring goes through a strict quality control assurance process; thus every care is taken to make the piece perfect.
They create all other types of jewelry too, like pendants, bracelets, earrings and more.