Ordering an engagement ring for a December proposal: what is still possible

Every year from about now, the same question arrives in the boutique: "I want to propose at Christmas — is there still time?" In September the honest answer is yes, comfortably. In late November the honest answer is: for some rings, and we should talk today. Here is how the timing really works.

How long a ring takes

Every ring we make is made to order. From the day you approve the design, it typically takes four to six weeks for the ring to be made, set and hand-finished, and back in our King William Street boutique for collection. Before that point there is the design itself — a first conversation, a drawing, sometimes a second — and choosing the diamond. Those parts can take an afternoon or a few weeks, depending largely on you.

We have written about the whole process in how long it takes to design a custom engagement ring. This piece is only about the calendar.

The dates that matter

• Christmas: order, or approve your design, by Tuesday 1 December. The earlier the better — a design approved in October or early November leaves comfortable room, and means the ring is in your hands, not on its way, in the last week.
• New Year's Eve: the same date is the safe one. A few days after it may still be possible on a named design — ask us and we will tell you straight.
• After 1 December: talk to us before assuming it cannot be done. It is usually one of our named designs with a diamond chosen at the first viewing, and if the timing is not realistic we will say so — and suggest the plan below.

Note the words “design approved”. The clock starts when the drawing is signed off and the diamond is chosen — not when you first write to us. If you book a viewing for late November, part of the margin is already spent.

What shortens the wait

• Starting from a named design. Our engagement collection exists for exactly this. Each ring is a resolved design we know intimately; choose one, decide the metal and the stone, and most of the design stage is done in the first visit.
• Deciding the diamond at the first viewing. We will lay out the stones that suit your budget and design — natural, GIA certified, or lab-grown, IGI certified — and if you choose that day, the wait begins that day. Lab-grown is often available in a wider range of sizes at short notice, which helps when the calendar is tight.
• Knowing the ring size, or at least a close guess. We resize with our compliments afterwards, so a near miss is not a disaster.
• Answering quickly. A drawing that waits a week for a reply costs a week.

What does not

Asking us to hurry the making. We could, and we won't — setting and finishing are where the quality lives, and a rushed ring is the one thing you would regret for longer than a late one. Nor can the diamond be hurried: the more particular the stone you want, the more time it can take to find the right one. And a fully bespoke design with several rounds of drawings is a wonderful thing, but it is not a December-in-a-fortnight thing.

If you are already too late

You are not out of options. You need a different plan, and it is a better one than a ring bought off a shelf in a hurry.

Come in for a private viewing. Choose the diamond with us — together, or alone if it is to be a surprise. We prepare a design drawing of the ring, and you propose with the drawing and the certified diamond itself, in its box, on the day. The ring follows in the new year, made exactly to the design your partner has already seen and, if they wish, had a hand in finishing. We have seen this proposal many times. No one has felt short-changed by it; most couples say the ring meant more for having been chosen together.

What to do now

If a December proposal is in your mind at all, book a private viewing this month or next. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing, and it turns "is there time?" into a date on the calendar. If you would rather talk first, call us on (08) 8231 0700.

Simon Dimasi — diamantaire, designer, and author of A Diamond Truth.