You can't shop for an engagement ring like you shop for new jeans, trying on every option and then slapping down cash for your favorite in a matter of hours. You're likely looking at an investment piece—the average cost of an engagement ring is pushing $5,600, according to The Knot—so you need to shop smart. Here are the five most common engagement ring shopping mistakes rookies make, according to Josh Holland, Blue Nile's diamond guy, along with five gorgeous rings to get your search started on a pretty note.
1. Not Doing Your Homework. When your guy decides (or the two of you decide) it's time to go ring shopping, it can be tempting to rush out and buy the first sparkly thing that catches your eye. But given how much cash you're about to drop, you need to know what you're spending on—and what's not worth the price. Blue Nile's online Education space is good place to start your schooling.
2. Ignoring "Cut." Cut—as part of the Four C's—doesn't mean the shape of the diamond (round vs. princess vs. oval) instead, it's a measure of a diamond's "light performance," or, how much it sparkles. "Cut is the most critical of the Four C's because it determines a diamond's brilliance," says Josh. "Even if a diamond has perfect color and clarity, if it has a poor cut, it will appear dull."
3. Rounding Up. "Diamond prices increase disproportionately at the carat and half-carat marks," says Josh, "so buy just shy of these levels." For example, right now there's a round, Ideal cut, F color, VVS1 clarity 1-carat diamond on Blue Nile for $10,170, and a .96-carat diamond—also round, Ideal cut, F color, VVS1 clarity—for $7,102. "A slight size difference will never be noticed," says Josh, "especially if the diamond has a high-quality cut."
Hand Engraved Solitaire Engagement Ring, $660 (setting only).
4. __Worrying About Perfection.__Yes, Kanye sprang for a flawless, colorless diamond, but unless you're making Yeezy-level bank, you don't need to buy a diamond that's perfect. "At certain point the human eye cannot detect the difference in color and clarity," says Josh. "That makes paying for perfect color and clarity like paying someone to paint the bottom of your house. For the best value choose a near-colorless (graded G-H) instead of a colorless diamond (graded D-F), or an eye-clean VS2 clarity grade as opposed to a Flawless clarity grade diamond."
Robert Leser Petite Solitaire Engagement Ring, $490 (setting only).
5. Slacking on Certification. Any jeweler can give you a certification that they generated—wink, wink—promising that the diamond they're about to sell you is legit. That's all well and good, but what you need to see before you buy is an independent grading report from either the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) or American Gem Society (AGS). "Independent certification is important," says Josh.