wedding ring

“My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.” Winston Churchill Once you have decided to take the plunge and propose, the first formality towards securing your bride to be’s hand in marriage will be to acquire a ring for the job. By acquire, we don’t encourage you to pull off your own Hatton Garden robbery (the last one didn’t work out that well), but instead to choose the perfect engagement ring that will be a great fit for your future beau in a style and shape he/she’ll enjoy, and at a price that won’t break the bank. If you’re lucky there may be a family heirloom you/she has lined up for the job.  If so, the chances are you’ve probably spoken about this and your first steps will be to work out if any adjustments need to be made to the size of the band, settings of the stone and so forth. If not, then you are now in the market for an engagement ring and it is down to you to choose and buy the perfect engagement ring for your bride to be.  And if you are anything like most men, your knowledge regarding materials, ‘cuts’ of diamonds and what you are likely to get for your money will be sketchy at best. Don’t let that worry you, as we’re here to help with the following guide. Budget First things first, what is your budget? It’s best to determine this before you go haring off like a bull in and china shop or make outlandish claims of buying a 2-carat diamond for the good lady. Some sources suggest three months wages, some suggest one.  We would advise you not to break yourself financially and buy the best ring that you can afford, without throwing yourself into debt.   The ring should be a symbol of your love and it’s the thought that counts. However, bear in mind if you do the deed with a £500 ring under the guise that it’s the best you can afford, and then turn up shortly after with a brand new £5k motorcycle, car or other significant boy toy – get ready for the proverbial to hit the fan. She is likely to be unimpressed and this will be used against you until your dying day.   A months gross wages seem like a good place to start and tweak up or down as you see best. Style  What style of ring would your wife to be like?  You want to pick a ring that fits her preferences and gets the engagement off to a winning start!  This is the time to go secret agent on the good lady and cast your mind back to any conversations you may have had where she mentioned cut or styles she did or didn’t like.  Have any of her friends recently got engaged and what did she say about their rings? Look at her current jewellery – is it chunky or traditional, does she wear lots of white or yellow gold? Does she like simple, understated designs or is she a big bling kind of girl that wants the sparkliest number in the room?  If big and bold, you will want to get the largest diamond you can afford.  Alternatively, if her style is more understated or earthy, you may look to go for a more traditional sleek design or something completely different like an ‘ecoring’ styled from wood.  Is there a particular stone such as an emerald, ruby or birthstone she has mentioned previously? If so, you may want to look for a ring that incorporates these or if going off piste, have one of these stones instead of the traditional diamond for a different look altogether (carefully consider first if she’ll be okay with this and not just to save you a few pennies!)  In the lead up, it may be worth taking a subtle trip to a jeweller and gaging her response to different rings as you eye up the gents watches.  Take a minute away from drooling over the Breitlings and Omegas and prime her with a couple of comments such as ‘that’s a nice one’. Make note of her feedback and move on. Putting in the hard yards now will reap dividends later on. Band size Again, you may have to inject a bit of subterfuge into this one. Either have a look at one of her existing rings (or ask her friend or mum to) and take this to a jeweller to be sized or ask her ring size to buy her a test ring as a birthday or Christmas present. With a wide selection of rings that won’t break the bank, the online retailer Argento can be a great option for this with lots of reasonably priced rings from brands such as Pandora, Lilly and Rose and more.  When purchasing the engagement ring, one of the questions you should ask is if they will resize this for free if it doesn’t fit properly. This should however be considered as a last resort to save yourself any embarrassment of the ring being too loose – or too tight –on the day of the proposal. Material There are a variety of metals to choose from for the wedding band including rose gold, white gold, silver, platinum and palladium (and metals made up of a combination of these).  Each has their own advantages and disadvantages and they will also vary in cost (which could mean compromises elsewhere.) Platinum for example is the purest and most durable of these and is also the most expensive.  Yellow gold in contrast is up to 75% pure gold and is much softer which, after many years of wear may need to be re-plated.  For a girl who loves a bit of pink, rose gold is also a very popular choice. Yellow gold is very traditional but may be perceived to be old fashioned by some (most of our mum’s will probably have