[tsolomon]

I married the jeweler's daughter and my wife and her father picked out her diamond, but I did get to pay for it. Since my father in-law and brother in-law were jewelers, here’s what I have picked up over the years. Cut, color and clarity is what we always hear is important when picking out a diamond. My wife says that the cut is what makes a diamond sparkle by catching the light. If it doesn’t sparkle and reflect the light, keep looking. Diamonds should be colorless or clear, but you will need to compare them side by side to see the difference. Clarity is based on the natural inclusions or defects in the stone that can be seen with a 10X loupe. If you can't see the defects without a loupe, then cut and color should come first.

If you go with a yellow gold band, consider a white gold mounting so that it doesn't impact the color. An oval cut will look bigger than a round cut of the same carat weight. Picking out a diamond from loose diamonds will allow you to evaluate the actual diamonds; preset stones are much harder to judge. Normal markup on most jewelry is 3 to 4 times the cost.

The bottom line is to figure out what you want to spend and start looking. Make sure that you view the diamond under different lighting conditions so you can see how it sparkles because this is what everyone will notice when it’s on her finger.