Women's Diamond Rings Buying Guide

Hey guys, choosing your engagement ring is one of the biggest decisions of your life! It definitely pays to make an informed decision because this ring will last a lifetime. I created this guide to cover every factor you need to know about while you are looking for women’s diamond rings. If you follow this guide, you will end up with a beautiful ring with a beautiful diamond that will impress people for years!

Of all jewelry pieces, a diamond ring is perhaps the most symbolic and is imbued with personal significance and sentiment. The diamond rings are meant to be a symbol for eternity, wholeness, perfection, and bonding. Historically speaking, the most common use for rings was to indicate marital status. Consequently, it is no wonder that women’s diamond rings, engagement rings, and women’s wedding rings are in such high demand.

When it comes to expressing your deep, adulating love for a certain special someone, there is no better gift than a beautiful, personalized ring. The ring is meant to serve as a constant reminder of a unique bond, a momentous occasion, or a sentimental union. Consider, for example, a stunning diamond eternity ring, which is designed to symbolize everlasting love and an unwavering bond.

Today there is an amazing variety of ring designs and styles available to the everyday consumer. Fashion rings, for example, can be encrusted with diamonds and other precious gemstones, have become increasingly popular, and are commonly worn as trendy accessories.

Browse BijouQ’s online jewelry store’s amazing selection of exquisitely designed gold, silver, and women’s diamond rings for all of your shopping needs.

Women’s Diamond Rings Buying Guide

Considering buying women’s diamond rings and confused about where to begin? This article aims to provide buyers with sufficient knowledge about women’s diamond rings to purchase with confidence. Here is all the information you’ll need, including most common metals, choosing your style, the most durable gemstones, and the 4 c’s of diamond buying.

Ready? Let’s begin:

More Rings Buying Advice

Ready to read more? You’ll find additional women’s diamond ring advice in this Rings Buying Guide. An illustrated guide to buying diamond rings, including a comparison of different styles, costs, metals, and sizes. The rings buying guide explains the steps you need to take when buying women’s diamond rings.

Rings buying guide provides easy-to-understand information on diamonds, including:

Diamond ring types and metals (engagement, wedding, eternity)
Popular diamond ring designs (solitaire, princess-cut, 3-stone)
Diamond grading – the four ‘C’s – diamond carat, color, clarity, cut
Diamond certification

Help with Buying Diamond Rings

Looking for a wonderful diamond ring, engagement ring, or certified diamond? Read this helpful page to get an authoritative insight into buying a diamond ring.

Women’s Diamond Rings Buying Guide

Engagement Ring Guide Contents

Topic #1: Diamond specifications: how to pick an awesome diamond (4 C’s and more).

Here’s how to select an awesome looking diamond and save money at the same time. Follow these guidelines for diamond characteristics, and you’ll avoid paying extra for features you won’t even notice.

Let’s start with the Four C’s. The 4 C’s stands for cut, clarity, color, and carat, and they describe the diamond’s basic characteristics. You’ll find these characteristics on the diamond grading report, detailed in Topic 4.

Here are the guidelines for the Four C’s. Follow these guidelines, and you’ll get the best diamond for your money:

Cut: This is the most important of the Four C’s. Make sure your diamond’s cut is graded “TrueHearts (or Hearts and Arrows),” “Ideal,” or “Premium.” Note: TrueHearts/Hearts and Arrows diamonds are the top 1% (or less) of diamonds that are cut so perfectly with great internal symmetry that they can receive the name TrueHearts/Hearts and Arrows. They’re awesome diamonds!
Clarity: The clarity should be F, IF, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, or VS2. Here’s a money-saving tip: Don’t spend the extra money for a super-clear diamond (like an IF or VVS1). The most important thing is that the diamond is eye-clean (no matter what the rating is), so judge it for yourself. Inspect the picture of the diamond to see if you can see any inclusions.
Color: The color can be D, E, F, G, H, or I. Here’s another big money-saving tip: don’t spend the extra money on a D color diamond. The difference is barely visible, but they cost a lot more!
Carat: This one is pretty simple: buy the biggest carat you can, according to your budget! However, I have a money-saving tip for this one too: Diamonds with a carat just under these round weights (sometimes called magic weights) are usually sold at a discount: .5 ct, .75 ct, .9 ct, 1 ct, 1.5 ct, 2 ct, and so on. Diamonds that are slightly less than these carat weights are usually less expensive.

Here are some more optional criteria if you want to go more in-depth with your diamond. These aren’t huge factors, and the 4 C’s above should be enough to select a great diamond. However, here they are:

Polish: This should be Excellent, Ideal, or Very Good.
Symmetry: This should also be Excellent, Ideal, or Very Good.
Table: Don’t go above 64%.
Depth: Don’t go above 64%.

Topic #2: Buying online vs. offline

Here’s a concern that many people have: should I buy my ring online or offline? Many people feel like buying from a brick-and-mortar store is a more trustworthy and safer option than buying online. However, once you make a true comparison between buying online (from a trusted store) and buying offline, the online option starts to stand out as the best way to purchase your engagement ring.

Here’s the rundown:

Brick-and-mortar stores use tricks to make their diamonds look better. One thing they do is they put their diamonds under perfect light that makes them look a lot better than they do in regular lighting conditions. Basically, their diamonds look better in the store than they do anywhere else.
The number one advantage to buying in a brick-and-mortar store is that you can see the diamond in person. However, since they use special lighting that makes their diamonds look better, is it really a good thing that you can see the diamonds in their store? Really, looking at diamonds in physical stores is misleading because of this reason.
I recommend BijouQ because they have real pictures of every diamond that they sell. This eliminates the problem with not being able to see which diamond you’re buying online. Also, their pictures don’t have any kind of misleading lighting, and they have a virtual loupe that allows you to see their diamonds under magnification.
One of the biggest problems with buying in a physical store is the pushy salespeople. Being rushed to make a purchase is neither comfortable nor a good way to get a great quality engagement ring without getting ripped off.
Brick-and-mortar stores are also notorious for charging way too much for their diamonds. If you compare two diamonds with the exact same characteristics, but one being sold online and one sold in a physical store, the one sold online can easily go for $1,000 less or even more.
What about safety? A lot of people aren’t sure if buying engagement rings online is safe. This is definitely understandable since it’s a big purchase. However, this factor depends on the store where you buy your ring. Almost all online stores are safe to buy, but still, it might pay to be a little cautious. Make sure you buy from a trusted online store!

Topic #3: Make sure you can see a picture of your diamond.

Like I mentioned above in the online vs. offline section, one of the biggest problems with most online stores is that you can’t see pictures of the diamonds they sell. However, Dubai-based jewelry brand Bijouq has real pictures of every diamond that they carry. Not only that, they have a virtual loupe so you can see their diamonds under magnification, too.

Topic #4: Diamond Certificates

Diamond certificates are reports (also called diamond grading reports) from a lab that specializes in inspecting and evaluating the characteristics of diamonds.

Diamond sellers send off their diamonds to a lab that grades diamonds for their characteristics and flaws (which are covered in section 1). The lab sends the diamond back along with a document stating what they found about the diamond.

One thing to keep in mind is that dealers can charge more if a diamond receives a higher grade on a critical characteristic, such as clarity, and that some labs are more liberal with their grading than others. So, a diamond might receive a VS2 rating from one lab and an SI1 from another. The dealer will only show you the certificate from the lab that gave the diamond a VS2 rating because VS2 is better than SI1, and they can charge more for that rating.

What you need to know is which labs tend to be stricter with their gradings, and which labs tend to give out better grades for diamonds which might not necessarily deserve them. Basically, certificates from some labs are more trustworthy than others.

The best labs are the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) and the AGS (American Gem Society). Reports coming from these labs are very trustworthy and contain accurate information about a diamond.

Some other common labs that you might see a report from are the IGI (International Gemological Institute) and EGL (European Gemological Laboratory). Their reports aren’t as accurate as reports from the GIA or AGS, but they are still good. An IGI or EGL report doesn’t mean that you should disregard its grading, but just know that the diamond may have been graded a little more liberally than the GIA or AGS would have graded it.

In summary, stick to diamonds graded by the GIA or AGS if you can.

Topic #5: Choosing your setting

If you’re unsure about what kind of diamond ring setting you should choose, then here are a few tips for picking a great setting that she’ll love:

Make sure you consider her style. She has probably dropped a few hints about engagement rings she likes while the two of you have been out shopping or walking past a ring store or something like that. Pay attention to the style of the rings that she says she likes, and try to get one with a similar look to it.
Look at the jewelry she already has. This is a good clue to the type of rings that she likes. Pay attention to the type of metal she prefers (yellow gold, white gold, or platinum) and the style of her jewelry (is it simple, antique-looking, modern-looking, or other?). Then try to find a setting that’s similar to the jewelry that she already has and likes.
Pay attention to the type of metal that she likes the most. Does she have more platinum, white gold, or yellow gold? Which one does she like the most? This will help you choose the metal for the setting- go with the one that she prefers.

What about the type of metal for your setting? Here’s what you need to know about the metal for your setting:

Platinum – More durable than gold and will last longer, good for people with sensitive skin, and it doesn’t fade or tarnish. However, platinum is the most expensive metal for setting.
White Gold – Resists scratches better than platinum. However, it will require re-plating after a long period of time will wear down after a long period of time.
Yellow Gold– Resists scratches better than platinum, rarely causes skin irritation, and does not require plating. However, it will wear down over a long period of time.

If you’re still not sure what diamond ring setting to go with, check out BijouQ’s women’s diamond rings. This is a great way to start thinking about which ring to choose.

Topic #6: Important Terms

The Four C’s:

Cut – The quality of the angles and proportions in the diamond. This is the most important of the 4 C’s because it tells you how brilliantly the diamond reflects light.
Clarity – This is the inclusions or flaws in the diamond.
Color – How colorless the diamond is. Most diamonds have a slight tint to them, and the less tint, the better.
Carat – The weight of the diamond. Higher carat means bigger diamond!
Diamond Grading Report (or lab report) – A document from a laboratory containing an assessment of the Four C’s of a diamond, along with a plotted diagram showing where the inclusions are.
Diamond Dossier – Same as a diamond grading report but without a plotted diagram showing the inclusions.
Fluorescence – Some diamonds have a natural fluorescence (usually blue) under ultraviolet light. The fluorescence can range from very strong to none, and unless the fluorescence is very strong, it usually isn’t an issue to worry about.
Depth % – The ratio of the total depth of the diamond (the distance from top to bottom, or table to culet) to the diamond’s diameter.
Table % – The ratio of the diameter of the table (top face of the diamond) to the total diameter of the diamond.
Polish – The quality of the polish on the diamond. This does not make a huge difference in the diamond’s quality- if you buy a diamond with a lower polish grade, you might feel like you need to clean the stone.
Symmetry – This measures how well the facets of the diamonds meet. Sometimes a diamond is purposely cut slightly asymmetrical in order to avoid inclusions or to achieve a certain carat weight (like 1.00 or 1.50 carats exactly).

Topic #7: The Ring Finder

Use a ring finder to browse through some women’s diamond rings, choose the one (or ones) that you like the best, and proceed!

This is the end of the rings buying guide… ready to purchase your diamond rings?

More coming soon…. we’re in the process of writing more guides for the rest of the women’s diamond ring styles! Check back for more!

Iskra Banović( Editor-in-Chief )

Iskra Banović is our seasoned Editor-in-Chief at Blufashion. She has been steering the website’s content and editorial direction since 2018. With a rich background in fashion design, Iskra’s expertise spans across fashion, interior design, beauty, lifestyle, travel, and culture.