Planning for Wedding Part 2 – Ring Selection

Enagagement Ring Selection

Planning to get a proposal ring? Look out the 5 Cs for selecting diamond.

Ring Selection on Diamond – Certification, Carat, Cut, Colour, Clarity and Setting.

Certification means that the diamond comes with a GIA report. Thus, go to a reputable jewellery store to get your diamond.

Carat refers to the weight of the diamond, one carat is equivalent to 1/5 gram. Carat size depending on individual preference and budget. The bigger the carat, the higher the cost of the diamond. Most common carat size chosen between 0.5 – 0.75.

Cut refers to the way the diamond has been crafted. There are heart & arrows cut, excellent cut usually seen in the GIA report. If the cut is too shallow: Light escapes from the sides causing the diamond to lose brilliance. Or the cut is too deep: Light escapes from the bottom causing the diamond to appear dull and lifeless. Ideal cut will maximise the brilliance and light return.

Colour refers to the presence or absence of inherent coloration of white diamond. The whiter the diamond the higher the value as a colourless diamond allow more light to pass through which allow the diamond to emit greater brilliance. There is a scale of colour grading range from D – Z. Grade D, E and F consider as colourless, while Grade G, and H consider near colourless and I and J consider as white. Recommended to go for colourless. It does make a significant difference when comparing the different grade under naked eyes.

Colour D – absolutely colourless, and are extremely rare, the price will be more expensive

Colour E – colourless with minute traces of color which can be detected by an expert gemmologist and considered very rare.

Colour F – colourless with slight colour detected by an expert gemmologists the slightly cheaper under the colourless grade.

Clarity refers to the visual impact of these characteristics or lack thereof, as viewed under 10X loupe magnification. The grades are as follows: Flawless & Internally flawless – The highest clarity grade, the diamonds have no inclusions and is extremely rare, and of course, the price will be highest.

Very Very slightly included, (VVS1 & VVS2) – These inclusions are extremely difficult to detect at 10X magnification. VVS1 is better than VVS2

Very slight included, (VS1 & VS2) – These small inclusions are invisible to the naked eye and are seen with difficulty at 10X magnification.

Slightly included (SI1 & SI2) – These inclusions are visible at 10X magnification and can be seen by naked eye.

Personal Diamond Ring 6 Cs

Certification: GIA Report

Carat: 0.52 carat size

Cut: Excellent

Colour: E Grade (colourless)

Clarity: VS2

Cost: $2,880 nett SGD inclusive of ring setting customisation from Poh Kim Jewellery own by Kim Seng the boss who is my aunt friend.

Where to buy Proposal Ring

Popular brand such as tiffany & co, 0.42 – 0.45 cost almost 8k to 10k sgd, while love & co, 0.5-0.7 cost between 5k plus to 6k plus. Celestial starbust ring that also cost 10k for 0.5 carat. Personally, I don’t feel that the brand matters but the quality of ring matters the most since the brand was not written on the ring nobody knows but you.

Where Poh Kim Jewellery are diamond wholesaler located at Blk 1092, Lower Delta Road, #06-01. HP: 9720 9994.

Kim Seng attended to me upon my visit since he was my aunt friend, and he is being very patience and nice with me. He showed me most of the diamonds after checking with me the carat size I am looking at which is 0.5. By looking at the diamond, I totally have no feeling, so he took out the rings he had done for his customer to show me. He actually recommended me the design from chanel, ribbon shape and the diamond at the centre, which I find it too loud. The first one he took out, I told him I wanted the same. Tiffany & Co classic design at 0.72 carat, color F, which cost about 5k. So after me knobbing my head with the setting, he get his staff to do the mould for me base on my ring size as 6. He go through the diamond with us, and we shortlist the 0.52. He suggested me to get 0.7 which I find it too big, and he told me, when you grow older you won’t think so. He was absolutely right. I bought the ring back in 2013 by now, I thought 0.7 would be a perfect size. Initially we thought over color D, where we compare the color E 0.52 against 0.72 color F we see a difference. But Kim Seng suggested us that the difference wouldn’t be much for D and E but the price differs more.

The ring was ready in 2 weeks’ time and my aunt collected for me where I have not paid a single cent. I later found out that the ring was a little tight and I requested them to re-adjust ½ size bigger for me. We than paid him through bank transfer.

If only that you are going for the grade of the diamond rather than the branding, I recommend you to contact Kim Seng, and show him some of the design you would like and he will customise accordingly to your needs. You can quote my name, shuxian if he doesn’t remember please pardon as we only met once in 2013, collection of ring and re-adjustment was with the help of my aunt.

Wedding Band

The design series in Love & co noeud where most are in ribbon shape.

I have choosen the one with one side ribbon and filled with mini diamonds that cost us $1.8k while huband chosen a simple cross design ring with small little diamond across the centre that cost about $788.

We regretted to not request for comofrt fit for the wedding band, this is to prevent any ring marking lines appear on finger when the ring has been removed.

Moving forward, check out next post:

Planning for Wedding Part 3 – Date Selection, Banquet Booking and Bridal Boutique