A COMPLETE GUIDE TO
Buying an Engagement Ring Online
Buying an engagement ring or wedding band online sight-unseen can be daunting. The more research you do beforehand, the more confident you’ll feel about purchasing such a symbolic piece online. Below are some simple ways to gather additional info and insight before making the big purchase.
VISIT A LOCAL JEWELRY STORE
Narrow Down Your Preferences
Even if you’re not in love with the ring offerings at stores in your area, scoping out local stores is still helpful for narrowing down your preferences. It allows you to try on various center stone sizes, stone shapes, stone colors, metal colors, and ring styles. You'll have a better idea of whether you prefer a halo vs. a solitaire, what overall proportion you like, whether you prefer a gemstone or a white stone, etc. Many stores even carry a set of loose CZ's (cubic zirconia) in all shapes/sizes, for the sole purpose of being able to see stone sizes/cuts in person. For example, if you're debating between an 8x6mm or 9x7mm oval cut, you can likely compare a CZ of each oval size in person at a local store.
Trying on sizing bands in-person is also the best way to get your finger properly sized. Just be sure to try on rings that are the same millimeter width as the ring you have your eye on. For example, the majority of our rings have a 2mm wide band. Learn more about finger sizing here.
UTILIZE SOCIAL MEDIA
Peruse Pinterest
Another resource is Pinterest. Whereas Instagram is great for viewing a single designer's ring collection, the advantage to Pinterest is that it has a powerful search engine that allows you to view rings from multiple designers at once. For example, if you search "Oval Moissanite Halo Ring", it will pull up page after page of oval moissanite halo rings from various designers. Click on a ring you love, and usually you can trace the origin back to the original designer. If you already have a designer you're interested in, Pinterest is another place to see the designer's rings displayed in a way different from the website.
Communicate Directly
Reach Out to the Designer
How often does a customer have the opportunity to work directly with the designer of their engagement ring? Unfortunately, buying an engagement ring or wedding band in a brick + mortar retail store often means a less personal experience. Whereas buying online directly from the designer means you get to interact with the actual designer of your ring! Selling online allows Kristin to keep her business small and personal, and enables her to provide one-on-one customer service, directly with every client. She even has additional resources that can help from afar, such as a printable PDF document that contains all of my halo rings to-scale, so you can "try on" paper ring cutouts! Just shoot Kristin an email, and she'll send it your way!
RESEARCH
Verify the Designer’s Reputation
We live an age when customers are eager to review practically anything bought online, rings included. A quick Google search will give you an overall idea of how past customers have enjoyed working with a particular designer. We also recommend visiting the "Press" or "Featured In" page on a designer's website. It's a great way to see how other publications have recognized them. For example, our Press Page lists dozens of publications, ranging from Glamour, Brides, and Harper's Bazaar, to Style Me Pretty and Ruffled blogs.
BENEFITS TO BUYING ONLINE:
Better Selection
Work
with the Designer
Pressure-Free Shopping
The New Norm
A More Comfortable Experience
We're in a time where even the most intimate or high-end items can be found online, and typically there's a much better selection than you'd find locally. It's definitely a generational shift: older generations only purchased jewelry in stores, but our generation just isn't buying in stores at the same rate our parents or grandparents did. Because of that, brick & mortar jewelry stores are closing worldwide, whereas online jewelry stores are thriving. That certainly doesn't mean you have to follow the trend of the jewelry industry, but perhaps it's nice knowing that you're in good company with other engaged couples.
Shopping online also allows you the time and space you need to make such a big decision. You won't have the pressure of a salesperson looming over you, so you can weigh the decision without the stress of being put on the spot. Buying online allows you to comfortably shop within your budget, look at thousands of designers online, and even interact directly with the designer.
Plus, there's nothing sweeter than shopping in your pj's, while eating snacks, with Netflix on in the background...
