Wedding | Get your bling on!
This week (tomorrow!!) we are heading back to South Africa to celebrate the wedding of two special people, Malcolm and Jess. Malcolm (aka "Bloggs") and Warren lived together for two years at university and he was there the night that Warren and I first met. He was also the best man at our wedding. Warren is best man at their wedding - so it's been all kinds of speech writing, bachelor planning and wedding talk around here lately.
With all of that and all the wedding guestbooks I've been creating lately, I feel like I'm still in super wedding-mode! With my recent bout of wedding-related posts, the guys over at Vashi contacted me to ask if my readers would be interested in hearing their tips for picking the perfect engagement ring.
Getting engaged is one of the most exciting times of your life and your engagement ring can play a big part in that moment! Each woman has her own unique style and taste and I love how an engagement ring can help express that! To this day, this pin still brings me a huge amount of blog traffic.
So for all you ladies who are on the brink of getting engaged - here are some tips from Vashi Dominguez -
Finding an engagement ring that suits your style, personality and one that you’ll be happy with from years to come is definitely not a light decision to make. Not only does it symbolise a unity of promise and love but if we’re honest a fashion accessory that makes many women gleam with joy and speculators green with envy. Whilst finding the right one may be overwhelming, feel rest assured with celebrity jeweller and founder of Vashi.com, Vashi Dominguez’s top tips on choosing the right engagement ring for you.
1. Diamond and Blue Sapphire Ring in 9k White Gold - £999
2. Princess Cut 0.35 Carat D/VVS1 18k White Gold Diamond Engagement Ring - £1,167
3. Round Cut 0.66 Carat Three Stone Engagement Ring in Platinum - £2,312
4. Bespoke Crossover Engagement Ring Setting in 18k Yellow Gold - £399
5. Round Cut 0.85 Carat Halo Engagement Ring with Side Stones in 18k White Gold - £3,442
1. STYLE
The amazing thing about style is that it’s open to perception and there is no wrong or right way to show off your personality in your engagement ring. Style tips to consider that may be a deciding factor in the choice of your engagement ring depends on whether you want a traditional or trend led ring. Themed and/or coloured stones are definitely trendy engagement rings sported by the likes of Heidi Klum, Jennifer Lopez and Kate Middleton. These styles make beautiful and sparkling pieces but if your personality suits a more traditional approach white diamonds are definitely for you.
2. COMFORT
There’s no denying that a huge sparkly rock will look fantastic, however when considering a ring for you, you must take into consideration your day to day activity. If you enjoy quite an active lifestyle or find that you have to use your hands a lot for manual work, you may want to opt for an engagement band that is robust, secure and doesn’t scratch easily. Rings that contain gemstones are at a higher risk of being damaged in scenarios that required excessive use of your hands. If you’re not comfortable with the idea of having to remove your ring on a regular basis, you may wish to opt for a plain band with a diamond setting.
3. BESPOKE DESIGN
If you haven’t spotted a style that sincerely meets your desires, why not create your own bespoke engagement ring. Using a bespoke service allows you to buy loose diamonds of your choice and work with your jeweller to create the perfect ring for you. Using the four Cs method for diamond grading (cut, clarity, colour and carat weight) is a seamless way to select the best diamond for you. There’s a breakdown on the four diamond elements to watch out for.
Cut
This is the brilliance of a diamond depending on its cut.
Clarity
Refers to the volume of small imperfections within the diamond that affect its sparkle. The clearer the diamond the better.
Colour
The whiter (colourless) the diamond the better the quality and sparkle.
4. SHAPE
With over 10 different diamond shapes to pick from, popular cuts for women have always been the Round and Emerald engagement ring. Have fun trying on a few different styles to decipher which shape suits you best.
5. SIZING
The trick to making a huge saving when buying a diamond engagement ring is to be knowledgeable on the magic carat weights. These are under-size diamonds that weigh just below a carat weight such as 1/2ct, 3/4ct, 1ct, 1.5ct, 2ct etc. Buying a 0.85 carat diamond instead of a 1 carat could save you up to 30% with little ‘visual’ difference between the two that even most jewellers wouldn’t be able to tell without a magnifying loop.
CARAT WEIGHT
Is the unit of weight in which the diamond is measured. The higher the carat weight, the bigger and therefore more valuable the diamond.
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There is a post up on Vashi at the moment with Britain's favourite Engagement Ring - so interesting to see the collective favourites of the UK! Also including some key celebrity engagement rings!
I hope for all the budding-brides out there that this gives you a bit of a better idea of the kind of engagement ring/style that you'd be after! Because I can tell you right now - once the moment happens - you'll need to conserve all your decision-making energy because
Happy Hump Day!
* This post is brought to you by Vashi - thoughts and opinions are my own.
