Last updated on November 29, 2020
There are many reasons for upgrading your engagement ring. You might want a new setting for your gems, a band made of another metal with a new trending design or you may wish to upgrade the quality of your diamonds. Whatever the reason for upgrading, let’s find out how to upgrade an engagement ring.
Upgrading the Setting of Your Engagement Ring
Changing the setting is one of the most common requests when upgrading a diamond engagement ring. One of the reasons is getting the setting type or metal that holds the diamonds more securely. Alternatively, people want to switch to the setting that leaves more of the stone visible.
Whatever the reason to change the setting, make sure you go over all the possible options with your jeweller. Often changing the entire setting is not necessary. Your current setting can be adapted or it may be possible to upgrade only some parts of it.
Make sure to compare the price of a new setting and the fee for upgrading your current one. Depending on the design of the current setting upgrading may be so expensive that it would be better to just buy a new one and reset your diamond in it.
Upgrading the Band of Your Engagement Ring
There are many reasons to upgrade the band of your engagement ring: a new design, more durable metal, a band of different size, or maybe something else.
Depending on the new design of your ring band, it may be possible to keep the old setting and have it mounted on the new piece. However, in most cases, you will need to get an entirely new ring.
It is really common to buy a new band made of more durable metal. People often choose to upgrade from gold to platinum. Of course, the latter is more expensive, but it wears down more slowly.
If you want a new metal for your band, make sure you understand how the diamonds will look with it. For example, if your diamonds have yellowish tints, white metal will make the yellow even more visible. In this case, yellow or rose gold would be a better choice.
If the reason for upgrading the band is its size, ask the jeweller if it can be resized before you buy a new one. Whether resizing is possible fully depends on the design and metal of the ring. Some metals are very hard to work with and resizing is a pain. And some bands have such a design that resizing will simply distort the alignment of the stones.
Upgrading the Diamond of Your Engagement Ring
In case you want to replace the centre stone of your ring with a better diamond, you need to consider how the new stone will look when set in the ring.
For example, setting a new diamond with a higher colour grade in a ring made of yellow or rose gold doesn’t make much sense. The colour of the setting will make the stone look yellowish anyway. In general, there is no need to pay extra money for a better colour if you won’t see visible improvements.
If you want to upgrade your diamond because of its clarity grade, you should compare the new stones with your current one and see if they really look noticeably cleaner with the naked eye.
Getting a bigger diamond is very exciting but you should remember that a larger stone may look worse than your current diamond because of its flaws and visible tints. In general, imperfections in bigger stones are more noticeable simply because of the stones’ size. That’s why make sure that you are comfortable with the quality and the appearance of the new stone.
Upgrading your diamond to the one with a better cut is always a good idea. Stones that have better proportions return more light and have greater brilliance and sparkle as a result.
Adding Accent Stones to Your Engagement Ring
To enhance the brilliance of your ring you may add accent stones. If this is the case, make sure that the new diamonds are uniform in colour and clarity. They should also match the centre stone, meaning there should not be any significant difference between the colour and clarity grades.
It is worth mentioning that not all designs allow the addition of new stones. In some cases, you might need an entirely new setting.
What to Do with the Unused Ring Parts?
When you are upgrading your engagement ring, don’t forget to ask the jeweller if there are any metal parts or small stones left over.
The metal parts and small diamonds can be used for repairs and resizing in future or even for making a new piece of jewellery. Or you may ask the jeweller if they buy such pieces to reuse them.
Cover image credit: Long’s Jewelers
