This post is sponsored by James Allen. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Hey everyone – TJ here! If you caught Brooke’s last post, you’ll know that we’re recently engaged! Today I’m excited to share with you all the details that went into designing her custom engagement ring with James Allen. Brooke mentioned in her last post how we first met in person at a festival. What she doesn’t know is that after she left, I turned to my friend and told him that I had just met my future wife. Needless to say, this proposal has been years in the making.
I’ll admit, when I first started exploring engagement rings, I went in blindly. It didn’t take long before I became overwhelmed and realized that I needed to take a step back to better educate myself before continuing further. After all, an engagement ring is a significant expense, so I wanted to make sure I did things right. During the course of my research, here are the top four things I learned:
What to Know Before Buying an Engagement Ring
1. Have a General Idea of What She Likes
Over the years, Brooke and I casually discussed different ring styles and diamond shapes. I’ve also caught her browsing rings on Instagram every now and then. With that limited information, I stopped by a local jeweler just to get my feet wet. I ended up seeing a couple of rings that I thought were her style. Boy was I wrong..
One day while running errands, I tricked Brooke into visiting that same jeweler. I told her they were running a sale and that I wanted to purchase a new pair of earrings for Nori. While we were there, we naturally drifted towards the engagement rings. As we looked, Brooke started talking about specific things she liked – oval cut diamonds, pave setting, yellow-gold metal, etc. Basically the exact opposite of what I thought she liked. I secretly jotted down this information in my phone so that I could refer back to it in the future.
Later that evening, Brooke had gone down a rabbit-hole of researching engagement ring retailers. She came across James Allen’s website and they immediately caught my attention. The webpage layout was very clean and simple and I noticed that the rings were far less expensive than what we just saw at our local jeweler. I pulled out my phone again and this time jotted down “James Allen”.
2. Set A Budget
When it comes to making such a huge investment like an engagement ring, I highly suggest figuring out a budget that works best for you based on your personal finances. Whether you decide to pay in cash or finance, it’ll be good to know how much you need to save/spend per month in order to make this big purchase. Setting a budget also alleviates a lot of the ring buying stress. Having a general idea of how much you plan to spend allows you to focus only on the rings that fall within your budget.
3. Become Knowledgable of the 4 C’s
Prior to shopping for an engagement ring, I honestly had no idea about “The Four C’s” (Cut, Clarity, Color, and Carat) and the importance they play in finding the perfect diamond. Luckily, JamesAllen.com has an entire section on their website dedicated to educating customer’s on this information. Of the four C’s, clarity was probably the most eye opening for me. I initially thought that I would need to opt for a FL or IF clarity grade, but later realized that a VS2 grade and above are typically “eye-clean”. This makes such a huge difference in the overall price of the ring.
4. Know Her Ring Size
One thing I was worried about was picking Brooke’s correct ring size. It completely slipped my mind to have her finger sized while we were visiting the jewelry store and I didn’t want to run the risk of guessing. I should’ve known that JamesAllen.com would have some kind of technology to overcome this hurdle. They offer a few tools to help you determine the right ring size. I decided to use a ring that Brooke wore regularly to virtually size her finger on their website.
After taking some time to better educate myself, I finally felt comfortable giving the ring buying process another go. Being in the midst of a global pandemic, I no longer felt comfortable visiting stores to shop for rings in person. Luckily, James Allen’s website brought the luxury ring buying experience to my couch. They even offer 24-hour customer support with diamond experts, including text support so that you can have a more discreet conversation if you can’t get away from your significant other. Without a doubt in my mind, I knew I would be purchasing Brooke’s engagement ring from James Allen.
Designing Brooke’s Dream Ring on JamesAllen.com
Using their “Design Your Ring” feature, I first selected the setting. I sifted through the 60+ pave options available and landed on a style that I thought would best accentuate an oval cut diamond. Next, I selected yellow-gold as the metal type.
After the setting and metal type were selected, it was time to choose the diamond shape. I started by selecting an oval. From there, I filtered by the color, clarity, carat, and price. This greatly reduced the number of results and left me with exactly what I was looking for.
I decided to reach out to James Allen for support and worked directly with Lorraine, a certified diamond expert, who helped me better evaluate my top selections. While narrowing down these top choices, I took the diamond’s proportions into consideration. I opted for a length-to-width ratio that wasn’t too round, yet wasn’t too narrow and paid close attention to the diamond’s depth as this can visually impact how large or small the diamond appears. I appreciate how this information was readily available for each diamond on James Allen’s website. Thanks to their massive inventory, I landed on the perfect oval that met the exact proportions and quality that I was looking for.
I used James Allen’s 360° diamond display technology to get one final view of the diamond before pulling the plug. Purchasing something online as important (and expensive) as a diamond can be daunting, but this feature helped alleviate all my concerns as I could see the exact magnified diamond straight from my computer. Once I felt confident in my decision, I reached back out to Lorraine who quickly processed my order. I secretly had the ring shipped to my parents home to avoid the risk of Brooke finding it. When the ring arrived, I headed over to my parents for us to get a first look at it together. As I slowly opened the box, we all audibly gasped. The ring far exceeded my wildest expectations. The look on Brooke’s face during the proposal solidified that I made the right decision. From their amazing customer service to the outstanding craftsmanship, I genuinely cannot recommend James Allen enough for all of your engagement ring needs.
Until next time,
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