The Joseph Jewelry Gentleman's Guide

Where Do You Start?

The first thing you should do is set a budget for the engagement ring. By setting a budget you will eliminate a huge portion of rings that are outside of your target. As a general rule, 2-3 months of your income is the standard; some women say two months, some say three – all agree that it must be your gross income.

The next thing you should do is to conduct a little investigating into what she wants in her engagement ring. The best advice you can get on this subject is from her girlfriends, sisters, or mother. Unlike men, women talk and share what they want and what they need. Have your cohorts discreetly investigate her likes and dislikes – you will be surprised with what they can find out for you!

It is critical that you are thinking of her style – what does she like? Contemporary, classic, art deco, Victorian, antique - remember that you are buying a ring for her to wear, so it should reflect her tastes and sensibilities.

Joseph Jewelry has been in the engagement ring business for more than 30 years, and this experience has taught us that women love to be involved in the process of picking an engagement ring or involved in the process of custom designing an engagement ring. After all, she will be looking at her ring every day for the rest of her life. You might want to consider getting her involved in custom designing an engagement ring and her matching wedding band.

The Proposal

Whether you want to surprise her or not, this is an exciting time for you as you plan to orchestrate the proposal after you've purchased that perfect engagement ring.

It's important to know that this is a time that she will remember for the rest of her life - the engagement ring and the proposal will become the story of how you captivated her heart.

If you want the proposal to be a surprise but you also want her to be involved in designing her engagement ring we have an excellent solution. You can purchase the center diamond you intend to give her, and we can set that diamond in a simple solitaire (about $150) so that you can present it to her when you propose. Then the two of you can visit the shop to custom design the perfect engagement ring to match her style using the same diamond in the solitaire you proposed with and we will credit you the cost of the solitaire setting towards your custom design.

This way you surprised her with a memorable proposal and showed her diamond to her while allowing her to design her engagement ring at the same time.

The Commitment

An engagement ring is a symbol of love and your commitment to each other. There is no better reason why you should represent her with an engagement ring.

This purchase will probably be the most significant jewelry purchase you will ever make. In contrast, this is the most important sentiment she will ever have that represents your love for her.

You can be sure she will treasure her engagement ring for the rest of her life.

The Advantage of Custom Designing an Engagement Ring

Custom design jewelry will allow you to tailor every detail in your engagement ring to produce a finished piece that is like no other. A reputable Jewelry store in Seattle should have highly qualified designers and jewelers to design and create the perfect engagement ring. Seattle offers a wide range of Jewelry stores.

What you must ask for is at least 15 years of experience in custom design of fine jewelry. Check if the work is done on site, research and read reviews of the jewelry stores online, ask how long they have been in business, and check with the Better Business Bureau about any complaints against the jewelry store.

Ask if they create their jewelry on site in Seattle or do they subcontract the work to another jeweler. When you work directly with the artisan and jeweler who is creating your piece you not only save money by cutting out the middle man, but you ensure that you have absolute control over every detail of the design, and can bounce ideas and design decisions back and forth between you until you think everything's perfect.

Make the symbol of your love and commitment to your wife a unique and beautiful expression of your love and not just another mass-produced factory-made ring and, in the process, build a story about the most significant object she will ever own.

How Long Does it Take to Create an Engagement Ring?

So far we have not turned down any required delivery date; you can say we are one of the fastest jewelers in Seattle. Under normal circumstances we ask for 3-6 weeks in order to finish an engagement ring, during the process you or your fiancée to be might delay the process according to how many times you might make changes to the original design.

In general, Seattle jewelers ask for 3 weeks-3 months to finish a custom designed engagement ring, if a ring is being created on site in Seattle, it might take less time than an engagement ring subcontracted to another jeweler in a different city.

That said if you want to custom design an engagement ring, to be safe you should plan for a two month period to complete the process. However, if you must have your ring in few days call the shop with your timeline and we will do whatever it takes to finish your ring on time.

How to Pick a Diamond For Her
Engagement Ring

So many articles have been written about diamonds. The reason we buy an engagement ring with a diamond in the center because it's elegant, timeless, and classic. As one of the rarest materials on earth, it took diamonds billions of years to transform from elements of carbon into a diamond, with characteristics of unparalleled strength, durability and beauty. With these characteristics that reflect the quality of your love, a diamond is often considered to be the perfect symbol of commitment.

What we recommend is to first identify your budget for the engagement ring. Once that been established ask yourself what shape of diamond she would like, since diamonds come in different shapes. The shape of the stone describes that actual geometrical shape that the diamond is cut into – round, princess, oval, emerald, cushion, and so forth. Overall, the round, or brilliant-cut, shape is the most popular because it is the most brilliant of all the shapes.

Please note the diamond shape is totally different than the diamond cut. The cut of a diamond describes the precision and quality of the actual cutting of the diamond that occurred when it was cut from a rough stone into a polished diamond. Therefore, the cut essentially translates into how good of a job the stone cutter did when he cut that diamond out of a rough stone. This is extremely important to the final beauty of your diamond. Of all the "Five C's" of diamond buying, the cut plays the biggest part in the brilliance and sparkle of your diamond.

Speaking of the "Five C's", they are: Cut, Clarity, Color, Carat Weight, and Certificate. You should never buy a diamond without a certificate. We recommend that you avoid buying a diamond with a clarity rating of less than SI1, and a color rating of less than I. As mentioned above, the cut is where you should focus your attention – always ask for the best cut possible by man, because this is where the beauty of the diamond is.

The carat weight is the size of the diamond – this is the best place to control the price of your stone. Because larger diamonds are more rare than smaller diamonds, the price of a diamond will increase exponentially as the carat weight increases – for example a 1.0 carat diamond is not simply double the price of a .5 carat diamond with the exact same characteristics; it is actually more than double because .5 carat diamonds are much more common than 1.0 carat diamonds.

If you want to have the best value and beauty in a diamond ask for VS1 to VS2 in clarity, F to I in color, get the best cut possible by man and then use the carat weight of the diamond to leverage the price. A 1.5 carat stone that is lifeless because of a poor cut will be much less impressive than a .75 carat stone that has an excellent cut.

A qualified Jeweler will know how to enhance your diamond by designing an engagement ring that compliments it with certain artistic characteristics. Additionally, there is an art to the amount and shape of metal that surrounds the diamond – too much and the diamond will be visually overwhelmed, too little and your diamond won't be secure enough. Smaller side diamonds or trim diamonds also require an experienced eye to look their best and are affected by how the jeweler sets them. That's why finding a jeweler with at least 15 years of experience is truly necessary to create a stunning engagement ring.

The Perfect Metal for an Engagement Ring

If you are looking for the best, platinum is it. Platinum is denser than any other metal used in jewelry so it will last the longest. Platinum is the strongest and will hold your diamonds more securely than any other precious metal. Platinum is naturally pure white, so it requires no plating; it is rare and hypoallergenic; it is tarnish resistant and will endure more than any other metal.

Gold is the second choice for designers. If you want to reduce the cost of an engagement ring you can use 18kt white gold. 18kt white gold is denser than 14kt white gold so it holds your diamonds more securely than 14kt white. 18kt white gold also last longer than 14kt.

When it comes to engagement rings in white gold, most of them are Rhodium plated to make them look white like platinum. The plating typically last about 4-6 months before you start noticing the color change from pure white to the natural yellowish-white color.

We don't recommend re-plating your engagement ring often. This is because the process requires that we prepare the white gold first by buffing out all the scratches and polishing it to a high luster before the rhodium will adhere to the white gold properly.

Every time you buff out scratches and polish the engagement ring or wedding band you are removing a thin top layer of metal away from the ring, making the prongs and beads that hold the diamonds weaker.

Palladium is an alternative to white gold since its white color is closer to platinum and it isn't rhodium plated so it won't change color. It is less expensive than platinum but a bit softer - palladium is becoming more popular than white gold because of its color and price. You might want to consider palladium as an alternative to both platinum and white gold.

Some Ideas Where to Propose

You want to be original and make sure to inject her style into the plot; this is an event that she will remember for the rest of her life and a story she will recount countless times to family and friends.

What does Seattle offer relating to the subject?

Seattle offers a wide range of opportunities to propose here are some ideas.

Seattle offers lots of romantic restaurants, Seattle offers historical land marks which can be used as a reference.

Seattle offer private plane rides to local islands.

Seattle offers boat rides to local islands.

Seattle offers carriage rides around the city.

Seattle offers museums.

Seattle offers local tours.

Seattle offers parks.