3 Steps To Help You Choose Your Perfect Custom Ring
Engagement ring expert and designer extraordinaire Stephanie Gottlieb’s guide to custom rings.
I’m Stephanie Gottlieb, founder and creative director of my namesake brand, Stephanie Gottlieb Fine Jewelry. I create fashion fine and bespoke jewelry—including custom rings—from ethically sourced natural diamonds and gemstones. With modern twists on classic designs, my playful and timeless pieces celebrate personal style and last a lifetime.
Meet the Expert: Stephanie Gottlieb
- Stephanie Gottlieb is a GIA-certified gemologist and the founder of her namesake NYC-based jewelry brand, launched in 2013.
- Known for her fashion-forward yet timeless designs, she creates fine and bespoke jewelry using ethically sourced materials.
- With over a decade of industry experience, Stephanie has earned a loyal global following and has designed custom pieces for high-profile clients, including Taylor Swift and Justin Theroux.
In my day-to-day, I work with clients who are often making their first important jewelry purchase. I love helping them explore my jewelry collection, where I add modern twists to classic designs for beautiful, wearable fashion. And for more special occasions like an engagement ring purchase, I love the opportunity to custom-create a piece from start to finish that best represents the person who will wear it.
If you’re thinking about designing a custom ring, I’m sharing my expert tips to help guide you through the process, from choosing the right stone to adding personal touches that make it truly one-of-a-kind.
3 Things You’ll Do During the Custom Ring Selection Process:
When you choose to go through the custom ring process, you can be selective about every element of the piece, from the diamonds and metals used to the smallest unique design details that will make the piece feel special to you. If you are considering going the custom diamond engagement ring selection route, there will be several decisions to be made. I break it down below.
- Understand how to evaluate natural diamond quality.
- Choose design details that add meaning and elevate the aesthetic.
- Define your vision, budget, and timeline.
Custom Ring Step 1: Research Information on Diamonds
First, we encourage you to do some homework with your partner. Do some online research to understand diamond quality and assess whether size or quality is a higher priority within your given budget. What’s great about the custom ring process is you get to define your budget, and then play with the different characteristics of the 4C’s of diamonds to figure out where you can make compromises to get what you want within that price point. This decision—quality versus size—may not be finalized until you see diamonds in person, but the custom ring journey begins with understanding your preferences and priorities through thoughtful research.
Custom Ring Step 2: Find Your Engagement Ring Inspiration
Now, it’s time for inspiration! There’s no shortage of great jewelry accounts on Instagram and Pinterest to get ideas. And of course, you can also get more educational and trend-forward information on naturaldiamonds.com.
When you’re ready to do in-person browsing, you and your partner can visit local jewelry stores to try on different stone shapes, carat sizes, metal colors, and ring designs. This way, you can learn your partner’s preferences so that you feel confident when you’re ready to purchase the ring. Sometimes, a “process of elimination” approach can be the best way to narrow down options if your partner is not quite sure what they want.
During this phase, don’t forget this important piece of the puzzle — your partner’s ring size! You can ask a jeweler to measure, or if you’re looking to be more discreet, try having a family or friend “compare” ring sizes or trace one of the rings they already wear. However! Fingers on our dominant hands tend to be bigger than our non-dominant ones, so keep this in mind when choosing a ring to trace, and be mindful of which finger your significant other wears that ring on.
Custom Ring Step 3: Finding the Right Diamond Jeweler
Once you have a basic understanding of what your partner wants, visit a trusted diamond jeweler to begin looking at loose diamonds. We prepare a selection of diamonds for you to consider, based on our discussions about your preferences for diamond shape and size, ring design, overall budget and timeline. We hand-select each and every stone option, talk you through the pros and cons, and then narrow down to a final selection that you feel good about. Together, we then brainstorm beautiful and modern diamond ring designs.
This process can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks, depending on whether the first round stone selection includes “the one”, or if an additional selection is needed. We work endlessly until we find the perfect stone for you.
Did you know? Natural diamonds are one-of-a-kind. Even stones of the exact same carat weight can face up differently and look larger or smaller depending on their cut. So if you find one you love, you should go for it! You may not find anything quite like it again. A natural diamond is a miracle of nature, made over billions of years within the earth; this piece of history ends up in your ring, which is one of the coolest parts about my job.
Custom Rings vs Preset Engagement Rings
Now, if the steps above feel overwhelming for you, there are pre-made options that most jewelry stores and private jewelers offer. In this scenario, you provide your desired budget, possibly a stone shape that you like, and review an inventory of in-stock items. This is a much faster process, with less pre-planning. If you want a ring in a quicker turnaround time, or if you’re not confident in how to differentiate between the qualities, shapes, and designs of a custom ring, this may be the best route for you.
Both paths can lead you to the perfect ring, it’s just a matter of how you want to get there. The biggest benefit to the custom process is that you can be picky with your choices and elect to include personal and sentimental elements into the piece.
Helpful Custom Ring Tips to Consider:
- Do you have a family stone or piece of jewelry? Consider using components from family heirlooms in your new engagement ring.
- Try adding side stones or a halo around your center diamond to make it pop even more.
- Talk to your jeweler about ways to make your band even more special. You can add things like additional jewels or engravings.
Of course, if you need something in a fast timeline, forego the custom engagement ring route and visit a few trusted diamond jewelry stores or websites to make your choice. These rings can still be personal and special to you and your partner. Remember, it’s hard to ‘go wrong’ when selecting a natural diamond.
