How much is your Engagement ring worth?

Some people are “jewelry people” and some aren’t. Some people love all types of jewelry while others tend to stick with a single material or style. Even though we all know and understand this, there tends to be negativity towards a woman who wants to know what the jewelry she is wearing is worth. This negativity gets even more intense if the jewelry in question is a diamond ring.
Here’s the truth: there are a lot of reasons someone might be trying to figure out how to evaluate a diamond ring. Perhaps they are wondering for insurance purposes. Perhaps the wearer and his or her partner (yes, guys can wear diamond rings too) are on a budget and the wearer is worried that the gifter went overboard. Maybe (and we hope this isn’t it!) the engagement didn’t work out and the wearer is thinking of selling the ring to a jeweler.
Whatever your reasons for wanting to evaluate your ring, there are some definite criteria that go into figuring out its value.

Cut Grade
Most of us understand that diamonds can be cut into different shapes: pear cut, princess cut, square cut, etc. The shape of the cut may or may not have an effect on the value of the ring. What will affect the value of the ring, though, is the cut’s grade.
The better the cut, the more sparkle the stone will have. Rings with more sparkle are worth more than rings that have less and look like they are shallow or dim. You want the cut of your diamond to be ideal because that has the most value.
Check out the Front Jewelers site for more diamond cuts info.

Carat Weight
First, diamonds are not always measured in carats. Sometimes they are measured in “points.” It takes one hundred points to achieve a single carat. Your ring will have a number of carats in its makeup but that doesn’t necessarily mean that all carat weights are created equal. The About.com page for carat weight says that a “heavier” single stone is going to automatically be worth more than a group of smaller stones that, when their weights are combined, add up to the same weight as the single stone. This is because larger stones are rarer and, like with most things: scarcity drives up prices.

Diamond Color
The color of your diamond is not actually measured on a scale of “good to bad” says the Diamond Price Guru’s Color Page. The color of the diamond (or diamonds) in your ring is measured on a letter-based scale that ranges, alphabetically, from D to Z. Diamonds that are color-less (letters D-F) and near-colorless (letters G-J) are going to be worth more than diamonds that show signs of color or have definite colors.

The Band
Most engagement ring evaluation centers on the gemstone (or gemstones) that make up the setting. The band is also important. Most bands are made from white or yellow gold which definitely has value. Some rings, though, are set into bands of silver (less valuable than gold) or platinum (more valuable than gold). The band itself will definitely factor into the overall value of the ring and will be an important thing to note on any insurance papers.
These are some of the criteria that go into determining the monetary worth of an engagement ring. Remember, though—monetary worth doesn’t necessarily mean that the ring you were given by your fiancée is actually valuable. The real value of the ring you were given is sentimental and emotional. This is why to many women; simple rings that don’t cost much at all will always matter more to them than rings that cost months’ worth of salaries.