Things to Know About Your Engagement Ring

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Published by
Jimmy at
August 30, 2017

Engagement rings are as personal as your relationship. Some brides want to be surprised, never having imagined the ring until the moment he flips open the ring box to propose, while other women hand their men a thick portfolio of photo research on what constitutes the perfect ring. Some couples discuss budget, and others wear their ring for years without having any clue what it cost. Some brides dream about a splashy, eye-catching hunk of diamond, while others prefer a vintage, retro style.

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1. There's a long tradition of diamond engagement rings

The first known diamond engagement ring was in 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave Mary of Burgundy a gold ring with an "M" of diamonds.
2. Engagement rings have roots in Egypt
The custom of giving engagement rings began as early as the Ancient Egyptian period. We still typically wear an engagement ring on the fourth finger of the left hand because the Ancient Egyptian people believed that it contained a vein which led to the heart.
3. Price is personal

What you spend depends on a lot of factors and is different for everyone. That said, the cost of the average engagement ring is $5,229.

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4. Diamonds are ancient, formed deep inside the earth
Diamonds are made of pure carbon that formed millions of years ago in the Earth's mantle, 100 miles below the surface, when the conditions were right — crushing pressure and intense heat. Basically, enough pressure is exerted on the carbon that to us, it would feel like holding the entire Eiffel Tower on a fingertip.
5. There's a long process from the earth to your finger
Diamonds are brought up from the mantle during violent volcanic eruptions, cooling into carrot-shaped cones of rock called Kimberlite that contain the raw diamonds. They're then mined, with a ton of rock being hauled out for every carat of diamonds found. Botswana is the world's biggest producer of diamonds, generating 30 percent of all diamonds; there are also major mining operations in Russia, Angola, and Canada.
6. Thankfully, there isn't much risk of "blood diamonds" anymore

Conflict diamonds are when rough diamonds are used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. The good news is a UN resolution in 2003 created The Kimberly Process Certification, setting the requirements for conflict-free rough diamond production and trade since 2003. Now they're far more rare; by some estimates now only one percent of the world's supply are conflict diamonds.

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7. Your diamond has likely been to Belgium
No matter where it was mined, a whopping 80 percent of the world's rough diamonds pass through Antwerp, Belgium to be sorted and sold at auction. The bidders are basically buying potential, as the quality are only estimates (for example, the color rating the diamond will have once it's polished or the carat weight they'll be able to use from the rough stone).
8. It may have also been to India
Many factories where diamonds are cut and polished are moving to India and Asia. Each diamond spends 60 to 70 days in the factory being cut and polished by hand before it can it be turned into jewelry.
9. Diamonds are measured by the four C's
That's cut (sparkle), clarity (how many natural imperfections it has and how visible they are), color (how perfectly colorless it is), and carat (how much it weighs).
10. Two carats is not always equal to two carats
Diamonds are not just sold by total carat weight. For example, two one-carat diamonds are far less expensive than a single two-carat diamond. Also, it would seem like cutting carat size is the best way to impact price, but actually, two diamonds with equal carat weight can have greatly different prices depending on their cut, color, and clarity.