4 Things to Know Before You Go Engagement-Ring Shopping

Almost all shapes are priced equally by carat weight with the exception of Round Brilliants, which will cost you about 25 percent more than any other shape of the same carat weight as they are in the highest demand. What's more, the cutting and polishing in the manufacturing process causes the stone to loose significantly more of the "rough" diamond.

If you're trying to save money on the setting, the least expensive style is usually a solitaire with a simple metal band. You can also save by opting for a setting in 14K gold or 18K gold rather than in platinum, which is the most expensive metal. Settings with a lot of micro pavé diamonds will cost more. More so than the cost of the diamonds, micro pavé price includes the labor costs since it's an advanced skill that's very time consuming.

Not true! When you design a ring from scratch, you can select the best valued diamond available and then create a setting made specifically for that diamond to best enhance its overall beauty. Additionally, you are much more likely to negotiate a better price when working directly with diamond dealers.

Oval and pear-shaped stones are very elongated and trick the eye into appearing larger than other shapes of the same carat weight. Cushions and ovals are also cut more shallow, approximately at a 50 percent depth (as opposed to the more common 60 percent depth of other stone shapes), since the stone will appear significantly larger. When a stone is cut shallow, the carat weight is spread out so that the top view of the stone has bigger length and width dimensions than a deeper stone. Keep in mind, this trick doesn't work for all shaped diamonds so it's important to view the stone in person to ensure it will sparkle like you want.