Engagement Rings 101

Welcome to our guide on engagement rings. We designed this guide to help educate our visitors and hopefully future husband or wives on engagement rings. We also recommend that you take a peek at our history of engagement rings article and learn more about the history behind engagement rings. You’ll find some pretty interesting stuff on its history and might even be able to use some of it for your proposal! You might also benefit from reviewing our diamond grading guide which can help you learn how to value diamonds.

We also have a great guide on the different types of engagement rings which can help you review and learn about each different type. There are quite a few different diamond cuts and you’ll soon learn they are very different from one another. After reading this basic guide on engagement rings you should really head over to our different types of engagement rings guide. Enough of the intro, you can now start below learning about the basics of the engagement ring.

The Basics of the Engagement Ring

The history of engagement rings goes back to the dawn of human civilization. While back then they used ropes, today in modern cultures they use rings. The engagement ring is a symbol worn by someone to indicate that they are engaged to be married. Engagement rings can be worn by both women and men, however in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada & Ireland only women wear an engagement ring.

The original concept of the engagement ring was to have it be a betrothal gift by a male to a female he was trying to court for marriage. The ring was meant to be a formal agreement for marriage in the future. In regards to arranged marriages the female would wear the ring while families negotiated the marriage. In the majority of Western cultures the engagement ring is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand, also known as the ring finger.

It’s becoming more popular that couples will buy and wear pre-engagement rings; also known as promise rings. The promise ring is designed to indicate the future promise of marriage without an actual proposal. Someone women after marriage will wear both their wedding ring and engagement ring on the same finger. The tradition is first put on the wedding band, followed by the engagement ring. This is to keep the wedding band as close as possible to your heart. Someone women even have the engagement ring soldered to their wedding band.

Types of Engagement Rings

• Asscher Cut Engagement Ring – This type of diamond cut originally designed by Joseph Asscher in 1902. This wonderful diamond engagement ring style is nearly identical to the emerald diamond cut, expect for the fact that it’s square.
  
  
• Baguette Cut Diamond Engagement Ring – This type of diamond cut came out around the 1920-30s. This elegant diamond engagement ring style is shaped more like a rectangle and is usually sought after by people who want a long diamond.
  
  
• Emerald Cut Diamond Engagement Ring – This type of diamond cut has a long history. This excellent diamond engagement ring style is in a square to rectangular shape. This type of diamond has step cut facets due to the step-like look of the facet cuts.
  
  
• Heart Cut Diamond Engagement Ring – This type of diamond cut is one of the most romantic of all the diamond cuts. This romantic engagement ring style is very similar to a pear diamond cut which is altered to appear as a heart.
  
  
• Lucida Cut Diamond Engagement Ring – This type of diamond cut is actual new and came out in 1999 exclusively and patented by Tiffany & Co. This unique diamond engagement ring style is square with 50 facets.
  
  
• Marquise Cut Diamond Engagement Ring – This type of diamond cut is designed to maximize carat weight while giving you a wonderful, brilliant cut. This lovely diamond engagement ring style is designed to give you a much larger looking diamond and is shaped like a true diamond.
  
  
• Pear Cut Diamond Engagement Ring – This type of diamond cut is shaped like a pear and a true pear cut diamond has 58 facets. This grand diamond engagement ring style is also popular in pendants and teardrop earrings.
  
  
• Princess Cut Diamond Engagement Ring – This type of diamond cut was created by Israel Itzkowitz and Betzalel Ambar around the early 1980s in Los Angeles, California. The princess cut is shaped like square or rectangle. This is one of the most popular diamond engagement rings.
  
  
• Radiant Cut Diamond Engagement Ring – This type of diamond cut is either rectangular or square shaped. The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) calls radiant cut diamonds a “modified brilliant diamond” in their diamond grading reports. This type of diamond gives the wearer the illusion of smaller fingers.
  
  
• Round Cut Diamond Engagement Ring – This type of diamond cut actual refers to the shape of diamond’s crown and table. This end product should be a round appearance when looking down through the table. This is the most popular diamond engagement ring and accounts for more than 70% of all diamond cuts.
  
  
• Trillion Cut Diamond Engagement Ring – This type of diamond cut was developed in 1978 in Amsterdam by Leon Finker. This type of cut is triangular shape and is cut from a square shaped radiant diamond. Sure to be loved by any woman who loves a sparkling stone.