If you’re shopping for a diamond engagement ring, a proposal to your special someone must be on the horizon. First off - Congrats! Getting engaged is an exciting time in anyone’s live and is something that every girl has dreamed of since she was a young girl.

Most guys get nervous about one thing - hunting for an engagement ring! Many guys think that this is the hardest part of proposing. We all know that women love their diamonds! Unfortunately, most men have never shopped for a diamond so they have no idea what to look for.

It’s easy to get a little intimidated when you first walk into a jewelry store. You see all these shiny diamonds and some very big pricetags! And as you can probably guess, the jewelry store employee is going to show you the most expensive ones first!

Don’t panic! With a little research, you will find a fantastic diamond ring at a fantastic price. Don’t pay attention to the first prices that you see in the stores - the costs are NOT set in stone. There’s a lot of wiggle room and more importantly, there are ways to look for a diamond with particular characteristics so you get the most bang for your buck.

One of the most important parts of hunting for an engagement ring is to be educated about how diamonds are graded. Find a good diamond buying guide to help you out here. Understand the “4 C’s” and how the labs grade diamonds.

Once you understand the 4 C’s, you will also know what goes into pricing a diamond. With this knowledge, it’s up to you to select which grading characteristics are important to you and your special someone in purchasing a diamond.

It’s important to decide how much you are willing to spend, and try to stay in that pricerange. The size of the diamond you choose can go up simply by going down a notch in one of the . As an example, by going from a “F” color diamond down to an “I”, you will conserve lots of cash or be able to bump up the size of the rock significantly.

Best of luck during this exciting time!