Your engagement ring can be incredibly beautiful, and is an important part of your life. However, there are lots of rings out there and a lot of terms that you might not be familiar with. That makes picking your engagement ring rather tricky.

There are three main components to any engagement ring – stone, metal, and design. The stone is usually a diamond, and the metal is traditionally gold, but there are also other options.

Choosing A Stone

You may already be aware of the diamond grading system. It’s based on what are called the four Cs – Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat.

Pay close attention to the quality of your diamond when you buy, but don’t necessarily insist on the best. Buying a somewhat lower quality diamond can save you money, even though the stone looks the same to the naked eye.

Choosing Metals

Most engagement rings have bands and settings in either gold or platinum. You can get gold in levels of quality from ten to twenty-four karats, and in many colors, ranging from yellow to white to rose.

Eighteen karat gold is the most popular choice for many people, though some choose lower grades like ten or fourteen for their higher durability. These less pure types of gold are less likely to dent or scratch.

Platinum is an intriguing, though more expensive, alternative to gold. It looks similar to white gold, but it’s much harder, and if you learn to look, you can tell the difference between the two metals.

Engagement Ring Design

Your engagement ring design is a very personal choice. It doesn’t matter whether you pick an existing ring or have a custom piece created to your specifications. Semi-custom rings are also available – you pick the band size and stone, as well as other design elements, to create your perfect ring.

Remember that there are four basic elements to a good engagement ring design. These are practicality and comfort, strength, and appearance. Without these four elements, your ring just won’t live up to its potential.

Likewise, if you’re a mechanic, you’re going to be putting your engagement ring through more rough wear than if you’re an office assistant. Think hard about how and wear you’ll be wearing your ring when you choose its design.

That means that if you’re a mechanic, you’ll be putting your engagement ring through a lot more than you would if you worked in an office. Think about how and where your ring will be worn when you pick out the design. This is the reason that some people pick a less pure alloy when they decide on gold for their rings. This is a stronger material. Sturdier ring designs and the choice of platinum for the metal can also help.

The setting determines how secure the stones are, with prong settings being less secure. More prongs makes a stronger setting, and a bezel type is even stronger. Look for low, heavy settings if you’re looking for strength, and light, high settings for appearance.

If you have designer jewelry tastes without the budget to match, you can still enjoy the styles of your favorite designers at a price you can afford. The answer for you is designer replica jewelry. Designer jewelry is replicated by many other jewelry companies, and some of these replicas look so real and convincing that only you will know that it is not really the real thing.

However, before you buy the jewelry, it is helpful to understand how you can tell a real piece of jewelry from a fake piece of designer jewelry and how to shop for the best piece of replica jewelry you can find.

The Hallmarks of a Great Product

Most high quality replica jewelry makers mimic the designer brands exactly in the product design but keep the costs down by using cheaper materials. That is why a replica ring that looks like a Tiffany diamond ring can be a quarter of the price or less – it looks the same, but the diamond is not real and instead of platinum, the ring setting may be sterling silver or some other less expensive material.

If you want to spot the real thing however, all you have to do is look for the hallmark. When a jewelry designer uses a so called precious metal when creating their piece of jewelry, they are required by federal law in the UK to mark their jewelry with a hallmark – a company logo or insignia that shows where that piece of jewelry came from. When a hallmark has to be used is dictated by how much of the metal is used in the setting. Replica makers do not use enough of the metal to require a hallmark, while high end jewelry designers always do.

One thing to watch out for, however – some replica jewelry makers try to convince their customers that they are using precious metals, so they can try to charge a higher price. Simply look for the hallmark on the product. If you don’t see one, the jewelry maker is trying to scam you.

Let the Experts Weigh In

Many replica jewelry makers do things like replacing precious stones with semi precious stones in their jewelry designs to cut down on production costs. However, semi precious stones are not necessarily cheap, and there is another level of stones – imitations made from plastics – that some replica designers use instead. These are used on necklaces, earrings and even celtic engagement rings.

Whereas jewelry made with semi precious stones may cost a few hundred dollars, jewelry made from plastics can cost less than $10. However, some replica jewelry makers attempt to sell plastics at semi precious prices. Get your jewelry checked out by an appraiser even when buying semi precious stones to make sure you are not getting taken to the cleaners.