Hi there! Marci Bailey here.
I love to work with women who are picking out their engagement rings, so I wanted to share my diamond story with you.
When I got engaged to Trey almost 19 years ago, we were fresh out of school at the Gemological Institute of America. I had all this amazing, new knowledge about diamonds, so I wanted a very, very high-quality diamond. It was so important to me that I chose to get a smaller diamond that was colorless and VS1 (Very Slightly Included) in clarity which is very rare. I could have selected a diamond with more color and less clarity to get a larger diamond, but because I was fresh out of school, it was important for me to have a very rare diamond. So that’s what I got. My original engagement ring is a three-stone ring with three princess-cut diamonds. The center diamond is under two carats.
Something I learned from my ring shopping experience and always tell engagement ring shoppers is to think not only about the engagement ring they want but also about the wedding band they will wear with it. Realistically you wear your engagement ring by itself for a very short amount of time. I was not thoughtful in the style of my ring with a band, so I ended up wearing my engagement ring on its own for three years before I found a wedding band I loved.
I approached shopping for my upgrade diamond in a completely different way. Around the time my first daughter was born, it was time to upgrade my ring. At this point, I had spent tons of time around diamonds and helped hundreds of women pick the ring of their dreams. After gaining all of that experience, I completely changed my diamond selection philosophy. Although there is nothing more beautiful than a colorless and flawless diamond, I found that to the naked eye, if a diamond is well cut, I could lower my expectations on color and clarity and still get a phenomenal diamond but in a much larger carat size. While before, my focus was on color and clarity, it really should have been on the cut of the diamond, as this is what affects the light performance of a diamond.
For my upgrade, I chose a triple excellent cut, round brilliant cut diamond. I opted for a round brilliant cut diamond this time because they are cut to exacting standards and scientifically created to have optimal light performance. I went from a colorless diamond in my original ring to an O/P color diamond in my upgrade ring. This is a huge difference in color, but I found it was just as stunning as my original diamond. My new diamond has much more warmth, but because of how well it is cut, it sparkles just as bright as my original diamond. I still opted for a diamond that is high in clarity because I chose a diamond that was drastically more colored. My new diamond is a VSII (Very Slightly Included Two) in clarity which is high on the clarity scale but lower in clarity than my original diamond. These changes in color in clarity created a huge difference in price, so I was able to go from a diamond that was under two carats in size to a diamond that was over five carats in size, and I couldn’t be happier with the decision.
When you start looking at diamonds, you’re going to gather knowledge about diamonds and ideal diamond standards, but I want you to know that the best way to select a diamond is to use your eyes and trust your gut. Every diamond is like a piece of art, every one is different and beautiful in its own way. Your diamond does not need to be colorless and flawless to be beautiful. More color in a diamond gives them a warm glow, and flaws in a diamond make them unique. All that matters is that your diamond is beautiful to you and meets the standards that you are looking for.
I hope my diamond journey gives you confidence when you start your process of looking for either your first ring or your upgrade ring. If you have any diamond questions at all, please reach out, and we will be more than happy to help!
