"Create an Engagement Ring with the Perfect Diamond!" --or the best one you can afford, anyway.

Cut, Color, Clarity, Carat and Cost. The 5 Cs. Make sure you know about the 5 Cs before you shop for your diamond. Let's look at each of the 5 Cs.

Create Engagement Ring Brilliance: CUT

Let's look at each of these meanings of 'cut'.

a. "CUT" as Shape: A good diamond dealer will carry all of the following shapes: round, princess (square), emerald (rectangular), radiant, oval, pear (or teardrop), marquise (football shaped) and heart shaped.

You will have a chance to see each of these shapes when we finally get to the ring-building tutorial on the next page.

Round is safe. If you don't know what your girlfriend would like, and you'd like to surprise her, get a round cut diamond. Even if she'd like another shape, you can exchange it. And if you don't want to exchange it, you can always find a way to use a round diamond (e.g. in a pendant, in a second ring, etc).

On the other hand, if you know that she'd like a heart-shaped stone, go for it. I can't really tell you which shape is best. I'll leave that to your own discretion. What's more important is that you understand the second meaning for "cut".

b "CUT" as Quality and Depth. Some diamonds are cut so poorly that nearly all the light that strikes them goes straight through the diamond. Others are cut so well, that almost every photon comes right back at you. (CAUTION: If you are an evil genius, don't shoot laser beams at someone with a large, well-cut diamond!).

Poorly cut diamonds are very dull looking. Very well cut diamonds shine like the sun. Of course the more brilliant the diamond is, the more you will pay for it. But cut is not a place to compromise.

You will usually be given a choice of cut qualities, ranging from poor to ideal. (Actually the better stores won't even sell you a poorly cut diamond. They usually offer you a range from good to ideal.)

I would recommend getting nothing less than a GOOD cut. I know that some of you are on a budget (as I was when I bought my wife's engagement ring), but if you have to compromise, compromise on clarity, color and size (carat) before you compromise too much on the cut. A brilliant half carat diamond is much better than a super-dull one carat diamond.

Create a Clean Engagement Ring: COLOR

Most of the quality merchants will not sell diamonds with inferior color.

Color ratings usually range from D to X, with D being a very clear diamond, and X being a very discolored diamond.

A discolored diamond will absorb light, and this means that less light will reflect back to your eye.

Any diamond rated L or better will look perfectly clear to the untrained naked eye -- if it is isolated. But you will notice some difference between a D and an L if they are side by side. The D will be more brilliant, and you may actually detect a slight degree of discoloration in the L. But this is difficult to detect without a perfect prototype to compare it to.

If you must compromise in order to afford a decent diamond, it is better to compromise some on color than to compromise on cut. But only compromise up to a point. I wouldn't recommend you go below L.

Create a Pure Engagement Ring: CLARITY

A diamond is perfectly clear if it has no impurities in it. Now impurities come in two important kinds. Those that can be seen with the naked eye, and those that can't.

Here is how experts rate the clarity of a diamond:

FL - flawless: There are no flaws inside the diamond (such as specks), and the diamond has been finished perfectly, so that there are no flaws on the exterior of the diamond either.

IF --Internally Flawless: There are no flaws on the inside of the diamond. However, the diamond has been left with a rough finish. This can usually be fixed, leaving you with a perfect diamond. But there is some cost involved, and some risk of workmanship error if you choose to pursue this.

VVS (1 & 2) -- Very, Very Slightly flawed (or "included"): Some specks can just barely be made out under 10x magnification.

VS (1 & 2) -- Very Slightly flawed: Cannot see inclusions (flaws) without magnification.

SI (1 & 2) -- Slightly Included (flawed): Easy to see inclusions with magnification. Still very difficult to see with unaided eye.

Now here is where I can save you a ton of money! Unless your girlfriend has a bunch of friends who go around with eyepieces with 10X magnification, go with a VS diamond. A flawless diamond will usually run right around 30% more, and you can't tell the difference!

All else equal, a well-cut VS diamond will sparkle just as much as a well-cut FL diamond--at least you probably can't tell the difference.

That's why I say, if you have to compromise, compromise on color and clarity before you compromise on cut.

Create Engagement Ring Magnificence: CARAT

"So how big is yours?" Guys aren't the only ones who ask this question.

OK, I've never actually had a guy ask me this question, and I'd probably deck him if he did.

The point is that girls do ask this question. OK, girls don't actually ask this question either. But they do look and try to figure out how big it is (I'd probably deck a guy for that, too).

Girls have all kinds of ways of trying to figure out how big a friend's new diamond is. For instance, they can ask sneaky questions. Or they can tell a story about their friend who got a 0.6 carat stone, which causes your girlfriend to offer a comparison. And so on.

Here's the bottom line: Size Matters! Don't let her tell you otherwise. Her friends will ask or otherwise pry. And her self-esteem when she is with them will be affected by how big that rock is on her finger-- more than you (or even she) would like to think. Get the biggest stone you can afford (but not over 2 carats if you expect her to wear it every day).

But, again, don't go for size at the expense of cut. A well cut half-carat diamond is better--much better--than an poorly cut one carat diamond.

But a well cut one carat diamond is even better!

Create Engagement Ring Value: COST

You've heard the rule of thumb--you should spend 2 months pay for the diamond. That is very cheesy advice in my book.

What if you make $1,000 a month? Well, you'd better hope she has an income, too, in that case. Could you afford a $2000 ring? Probably not. (But you probably should be asking yourself if you're really ready to get married in this case, too. Maybe you should wait until you get a better job. But then again, who am I to interfere with true love?).

What if you make $30,000 a month. Do you need to spend $60,000 on a ring? Will she be able to lift her hand if you do?

I can't really say. So much depends on what your lady is like, AND, even more importantly, on what her friends are like. If she's in the jet set, you'd better spend at least ten grand, or she'll be embarrassed. If you are both from lower-middle class backgrounds, she might be the envy of her friends with a $1,500 ring.

You don't have to make her the envy of her friends. But you'd better not embarrass her either.

Well, that's all for this lesson. Just remember the 5 Cs of diamonds: Cut, Color, Clarity, Carat, and Cost. And if you don't have these down just yet, don't worry. I have prepared for you a step-by-step tutorial on the next page.

Now let's put all of this knowledge into action and go build an engagement ring with a great ring building tool.

But wait! There is one other C you should know about--Cubic Zirconium. Cubic zirconium is a synthetic material that looks very very much like diamond. In fact, if the CZ is made well, you shouldn't be able to tell the difference.

I'm sure you would never buy CZ on purpose (if you're at all tempted, please read the P.S.), but you should know that diamond fraud is possible--especially if you deal with someone without an established reputation. That's why some dealers offer a Certificate to indicate an expert appraisal of quality. These are definitely reassuring. However, ...

...after you buy your diamond, it is always a good idea to get your diamond looked at by an independent professional appraiser. She can help you make sure you don't get sold a piece of junk for a pretty penny.

...just remember the 5 Cs of diamonds: Cut, Color, Clarity, Carat, and Cost.

Now let's put all of this knowledge into action and go build an engagement ring with a great ring building tool.