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" Buying an engagement ring is a milestone in a young man&amp;#039;s life. And it could not be more intimidating. I&amp;#039;m not planning to get engaged anytime soon, but in the interest of preparedness I set out to conquer my fear by visiting the diamond giants and asking some of the questions dancing around in my head. Is Bigger Better? At Tiffany &amp;amp;amp; Co. an attentive salesman notices my utter confusion and presents me with a manual called &amp;quot;A Tiffany Diamond Ring: The Gemological Standards for Superlative Brilliance,&amp;quot;pointing to page 34: &amp;quot;Color: Less Is More.&amp;quot; Tiffany, it turns out, sells only the top six colors (D, E, F, G, H, and I), so it&amp;#039;s hard to go wrong in that department. The salesman responds to my request for a classic engagement ring by showing me a 1.61-carat I color stone for $24,600\u2014&amp;quot;This is a great for someone who has $25,000 to spend and wants the biggest stone they can get here,&amp;quot; he says, and a 1.53-carat G color ring for $40,000. &amp;quot;If it were a D color,&amp;quot; he says, &amp;quot;it would be $20,000 more.&amp;quot; And not, in his view, necessarily worth the trade-off. &amp;quot;The first thing she notices in the box is how big it is,&amp;quot; he says, &amp;quot;not the grade of the clarity or the color.&amp;quot; It was a clear directive, and I was on my way. Answer: Why, yes, size does matter. Does my girlfriend make the cut? At Harry Winston a salesman immediately directs me to a small case of round solitaires of roughly 1.5 carats. I ask about the four Cs. &amp;quot;The most important is cut,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;We only carry an ideal-cut stone. The proportions and angles of the faceting are perfect.&amp;quot; He tells me that color, clarity, and carat weight come next in order of impor- tance\u2014a marked difference from the advice at Tiffany, and now I&amp;#039;m thoroughly bewildered. I ask what I figure to be a pretty straightforward question: Should I bring my girlfriend in? &amp;quot;We find more and more guys are doing it old-school; they&amp;#039;re talking to a sister, her friends, or her mom and getting an idea of what she wants before coming in alone.&amp;quot; Answer: Sadly, no. Question: What&amp;#039;s in a name? At Cartier I ask for a classic engagement ring, and a saleswoman directs me to the Solitaire 1895, the company&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;most classic setting,&amp;quot; and shows me a .9-carat piece. &amp;quot;Do I need to know the four Cs?&amp;quot; I ask. &amp;quot;You need to know the basics,&amp;quot; she says, &amp;quot;but if you&amp;#039;re coming to Cartier, all of the rings are of exceptional quality.&amp;quot; This gives me some relief\u2014the fewer options I need to choose from, the better\u2014and a bit of confidence. I ask to see larger stones and am escorted to the $100,000-plus room for a 3.14-carat D flawless ring\u2014&amp;quot;perfection,&amp;quot; I&amp;#039;m told\u2014for $560,400. How far did my jaw drop? Enough for a salesman to say, &amp;quot;There are people who need Cartier jewelry. There are people who need to eat at La Grenouille. Other people don&amp;#039;t care. I don&amp;#039;t know where you stand.&amp;quot; Answer: Everything, Romeo. Question: Is 47th Street as scary as it looks? Housed at the back of a showroom on West 47th Street, in the heart of the Diamond District, SH Zell &amp;amp;amp; Sons doesn&amp;#039;t look like much. An assistant offers me a bottle of cold water while I wait for one of the two salesmen (father and son, I presume) to become available. Once one does, I learn that &amp;quot;everything is based off this list,&amp;quot; the Rapa- port Diamond Report, &amp;quot;which calibrates and gives the diamond market a value.&amp;quot; He points out suggested retail prices for round brilliant-cut dia- monds based on color, clarity, and carat weight, which makes me realize that the stone is where nearly all of the money goes when buying a ring. (Platinum bands, he tells me, cost only between $500 and $1,000.) He spends an hour walking me through a Gemological Institute of America report, and he hands me a loupe to see what an SI1 clarity stone looks like up close. He introduces me to his brother and his nephew. I could have bought a ring right then and there. Answer: Not if you know the right people. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/jewelry-and-watches/a1442/engagement-rings/>