Engagement Ring Guide

SHOW YOUR STYLE

When you're looking to choose an engagement ring, whether it's traditional and classic or modern and contemporary, we hold in stock a wide selection of styles to suit your personality and your price point, so you can be sure you'll find the perfect engagement ring for you or your partner.

Solitaire:

A timeless design that will never age, the Solitaire style of engagement ring is the most traditional style and focuses purely on the single centred diamond.

Solitaire with Set Shoulders:

An updated design of the classic Solitaire, this style of engagement ring features a single centred diamond, with the addition of smaller diamonds set into the band.

Halo:

A modern and contemporary look, the Halo style of engagement ring features a centre stone with a halo surround of smaller diamonds.

Three Stone:

Featuring three stones that symbolise your past, present and future love for one another, the Three Stone style of an engagement ring can feature purely diamonds or a combination of diamonds with a coloured centre stone.

Coloured Stone:

For something a little different, the central diamond can be replaced in certain style rings, for example; a cluster & three stone with 2 coloured stones.

PRECIOUS METAL OPTIONS

The table below provides information relating to our more popular precious metals: 9ct, 14ct, 18ct, 22ct, Platinum, Palladium and their appearance, durability and price range.

Yellow Gold:

Yellow Gold boasts the rich yellow hue for which the metal is famous and suitable for everyday wear. Yellow gold available in 9 and 18ct Gold.

White Gold:

White Gold appears a silvery white on the outside, but underneath is a yellow gold alloy as White Gold does not exist naturally. Featuring a rhodium-plating to give the metal its shine and colour, White Gold requires regular replating in order to maintain its colour.

Rose Gold:

With a lustrous blush pink tone, Rose Gold is an alloy of copper and gold. With added strength thanks to are copper alloy, Rose Gold is a durable choice which does not require additional maintenance.

Platinum:

With its hypoallergenic status making it a sought-after metal for jewellery, Platinum is naturally a lustrous silvery-white in colour. Platinum requires very little maintenance and does not tarnish due to its superior durability.

Palladium:

Palladium looks very similar in colour to Platinum but is much less dense - this means it is a great choice if you want the steely white colour of Platinum but not the weight on your finger. It is relatively hardwearing and low maintenance as it does not require plating.

YOUR PERFECT DIAMOND

When it comes to choosing your perfect diamond, you should take into consideration 'The Five C's'. Determining Cut, Carat, Colour, Clarity and Confidence these specifications all contribute to the overall value of a diamond and will ensure you are purchasing the best diamond for your budget.

CUT

Diamonds are available in a variety of different shapes or 'cuts'. From the classic round brilliant to the modern marquise cut, each cut of stone includes a number of facets to allow light to pass from one to another, maximising the brilliance or overall 'sparkle' of the stone.

The cut quality of a diamond is the factor that fuels a diamonds sparkle, fire and brilliance. The beauty of a diamond depends more on cut quality than any of the other 5 C’s.

The diamond is given a cut grade on a relative scale from Excellent to Poor, which represents a range of proportion sets and face-up appearances.

CARAT

Referring to the weight of a diamond, and not the size, the term carat comes from the Mediterranean carob. The seeds of the tree were observed to be uniform in size and weight and used to balance scales when weighing precious gemstones for traders.

Just as £1 is divided into 100p, one carat is divided into 100 points. For example, a 50 point diamond weighs 0.50ct. But two diamonds of equal weight can have very different values depending on the other members of the 5C’s: clarity, colour, cut and confidence.

Precision is crucial when it comes to a diamond's weight as even a fraction of a carat can make a considerable difference in the cost.

COLOUR

Diamond colour is all about what you can’t see. Valued by how closely they approach colourlessness – the less colour a diamond has, the higher its value – with most commercial diamonds being from colourless to near-colourless, with slight hints of yellow or brown. The exception to this is fancy coloured diamonds, such as pinks and blues, which lie outside this colour range.

The scale for grading colour with the letter D (colourless) and continues with the increasing presence of colour to the letter Z (light yellow or brown). Many of these colour distinctions are so subtle that they are invisible to the untrained eye, but these minute differences make a very big difference in terms of quality and price.

CLARITY

Formed deep within the earth under extreme pressure and heat, diamonds often contain unique birthmarks - either internal (inclusions) or external (blemishes) – that can usually only be seen under professional magnification.

A diamond’s clarity refers to the absence of these inclusions and blemishes, with diamonds without these birthmarks being extremely rare and therefore the most valuable.

Diamonds are assigned a clarity grade that ranges from FL (flawless) to I3 (a diamond with obvious inclusions. Most diamonds being graded as category VS (very slightly included) or SI (slightly included). The clarity takes into consideration the size, nature, position, colour and quantity of the characteristics that are visible under 10 x magnification, to determine the grade of a diamond.

CONFIDENCE

Equally important to the cut, colour, clarity and carat weight of a diamond is the 5^th C – Confidence, confidence is key when making any significant purchase.

To make you feel confident in your purchase it is important that you feel comfortable and in control throughout the process. All our staff are professional jewellers, they have the experience and expertise to answer your questions and offer helpful advice.

When choosing diamonds we only select those that we would be happy to own ourselves, taking care to look at every aspect of a stone’s quality. We have a wide selection of diamonds available to view in our showroom, of assorted sizes and grades, with something to suit every budget