How to Care for Your Engagement Ring? 4 Tips
Though your actual wedding day should, hopefully, eclipse it, your proposal is one of the most memorable moments of your life. This is usually true when your proposal is an extravagant affair with your significant other executing a huge romantic gesture to declare their love for you.
You usually have pictures to celebrate and commemorate a proposal; even more noticeably, you may have a gorgeous new engagement ring that your partner has bought as a symbol of their adoration.
You get to show it off on social media, of course, and to close friends and family. But we all want to take it beyond our computer screen or house. Such a significant symbol is something you’ll want to wear with pride wherever you go.
The problem can be that you now possess a ring worth thousands or even tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. You need to now learn all about engagement ring care and protection.
So, how to care for your engagement ring is something that you may need to think about. Check out some practical ways that can act as your engagement ring rules for its protection.
4 tips on how to care for your engagement ring
Taking it out of a safe, let alone outside the house, feels wildly irresponsible, especially if you’re living in a less than idyllic neighborhood. You’re wearing it on your finger for everyone to see.
And even if that’s the plan, you presumably want it to be seen by people who aren’t there to rob you, especially at knife or gunpoint.
Even if you are going somewhere safe, like just to a friend’s house or even to the mall in your quiet, almost entirely crime-free small-town, it is always possible for it to fall off.
Losing a ring is especially a problem if you haven’t adjusted it properly to your finger or you’re not adjusted to it and still take it off for a few minutes, even unconsciously. How do you wear it out without risking losing your most precious possession?
Here are some engagement ring rules you should consider before wearing your engagement ring out in public.
1. Get engagement ring insurance
Before you ever take your engagement ring out of the house, you must get the right insurance. You should probably ensure it’s properly insured before even leaving the store – or, if that’s impractical, within a few hours.
Wondering how to ensure your engagement ring? The process is not too complex.
If you already have a renters insurance policy or, if you’re a homeowner, homeowners insurance, it’s pretty much already done for you. Your engagement ring should be covered as part of that policy – but check to make sure.
While your home insurance policy will probably cover you for all of your “household” possessions (even if the possessions aren’t at home), an expensive engagement ring will need to be added as a specific extra.
Especially if your insurance isn’t top of the line or even if your other possessions are valued at a significantly lower amount than your engagement ring, which they could well be. Your contents insurance is almost certainly not enough to include costly jewelry.
Ask your insurer what your policy covers and add your engagement ring.
You will need to provide details of your ring and its valuation.
Without a valuation, an insurer will not simply take your word on its value and even if you are technically “covered” for it, you may end up getting back just a tiny fraction of what it’s actually worth.
2. Know when to leave it at home
The problem with engagement rings is that, by their very nature, they have sentimental as well as monetary value and even if you get every cent needed to buy a new one, you can’t ever really replace the one you got on your special day. Not really.
Even worse, expensive and sentimental jewelry can sometimes attract criminals. Getting your money back is one thing, but overcoming trauma from any mugging can be much more costly than the dollar value of your precious engagement ring.
In learning how to care for your engagement ring, remember that you can take it out into public once you’re properly insured, but you need to know when to leave it at home, too.
It is perfectly fine to take it with you if you drive to a venue and will only be on secure premises with your ring. If, however, you are relying on using a ride-sharing app or public transport, you should probably leave it at home.
The reality is that an engagement ring is first and foremost about you and your loved one, but if we’re being honest, it’s also meant to announce itself. And people will notice it even more if it’s super expensive or flashy.
Theoretically, you can take your engagement ring with you in a pouch in your handbag to put it on when you reach the venue. However, this creates too many chances for you to misplace it or the pouch and for your handbag to go missing or be snatched.
Consider leaving your ring at home, also, if you’re going to be doing activities that require your hands. These may require you to take your ring off, at which point you may misplace it, or it may simply fall off during the activity.
3. Don’t use location tags on social media
It is common for someone to get robbed because they posted a photo on social media with a location tag. This is something that almost no one even begins to think of but it’s a much more common occurrence than you might assume.
A thief may see the expensive engagement ring on their finger and seizes the opportunity to take advantage of the person’s lapse in focus. They arrive at the place and wait for the perfect moment to snatch the ring.
Using location tags on social media, in general, is a dangerous game and should be avoided as a rule. You are telling the world where you are and while you may not think this matters unless you’re rich and famous, it makes you highly vulnerable no matter what.
Choose what you share very carefully and keep what’s private, private.
4. Access things cautiously
In addition to the above steps, use common sense when looking at diamond ring care or wedding ring care, always taking the more cautious approach if you are uncertain.
Don’t walk the streets alone with your expensive engagement ring and if you happen to be wearing gloves during winter, decide whether you need to wear your ring outside, even in a super safe neighborhood.
More than just going out, though, it’s easy to lose your ring or have it stolen even at home.
If you have unknown workers fixing your home, try not to leave your expensive things around. If it is stolen, it’s impossible to prove it unless you have hidden cameras throughout your house.
Most simply, remember that even the biggest ring is small and though it’s probably a good idea to take it off while washing the dishes, be very careful where you put it and make a mental note of its exact location.
A safety security box at the bank, if available, is also a great idea if you’re traveling far from home for a while, especially in less reputable locations.
Final thoughts
Always try and keep in mind that it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
In an ideal world, you could wear your expensive engagement ring wherever you go but the reality is that sometimes it’s simply better to err on the side of caution and keep your ring at home, if not in a safe.
No need to panic, though. Just be careful and use your common sense. Or ask an expert to learn how to get your engagement ring insured.
Most importantly, remember that possessions are just possessions, though. If you’re careful to have the right insurance for your wedding ring, losing it will be sad rather than a major financial catastrophe.