Andrew, I just went through this and popped the question in July. I had the luck of having a family friend in the business, and went to his guy who does repairs and custom work.
What I went through though was:
- Picking the stone, did she want diamond, sapphire, etc? I went with a diamond (white, although a friend recently picked a black diamond set in White gold), but mine was a normal diamond.
- Color and clarity are the things to look for (you can look on the internet for diamond gradings and examples)
- Then I had to decide on the setting and the gold. My fiancee is a Nurse, so a strong setting, but still nice and shows off the diamond well.
- I went with White gold (14 carat) and added 2 small blue sapphires on either side...they sparkle but set off the diamond!
Anyway you choose - the important part is it is something she will want. I know someone who goes to the big box stores because she likes to upgrade - which works for them, but not for me. I wanted something that would be nice, and I dont do the trade up thing.
Good luck - PM me if you want the name and number of my guy
