You know she's the one, but you're just not sure how to ask her to marry you. Do you take her engagement ring shopping? Do you ask her, or her friends, what type of diamond ring she wants? Do you really need to save two-months salary to pay for it? From learning the 4Cs - cost, carat, color and cut - to knowing when you should propose, The Everything Groom Book has everything you need to know about buying the perfect engagment ring and how to slip it on her (left ring) finger.

Ring Buying 101

Buying an engagement ring sounds like an easy enough task. After all, men do this every day, right? Of course they do. But just because the jewelry shops are full of customers doesn't necessarily mean that any of those customers know what they're doing. Sure, your buddy bought his girlfriend a beautiful ring -- but does he have any idea whether or not it's a quality diamond? Before you start your shopping, educate yourself a little and be prepared to do a lot of legwork. Yep, you'd better shop around.


The Basics

First things first: You can't walk into a jewelry store without knowing the first thing about the product you're looking for, or you may end up paying way too much for an inferior diamond. Be an informed consumer and know at least the ru-dimentary facts.

  • Carat vs. karat. One refers to the purity of a precious metal; the other refers to the weight of a diamond. Which is which? (Big hint: Carat refers to diamond weight, which is a huge factor in the price of the ring you're looking at.)
  • Diamond grading. When a diamond is appraised, it's put through a rigorous examination that includes an evaluation of the color and clarity of the stone -- these, in turn, affect its value.
  • The four C's of diamonds. Color, clarity, carat, and cut. Many jewelers will use this all-encompassing phrase when you're looking at their goods, so you should know what they're referring to.
  • Big stores vs. independent jewelers. Although the big stores advertise more, the smaller guys may be able to work out a bet-ter deal with you. After all, they're running their own business, they set their own prices, and they don't have the overhead that the bigger stores do.

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