When to Wear Your Diamond Engagement Ring (and When Not To)

Yes, you love staring at your beautiful diamond engagement ring. It’s gorgeous. You want to wear it all of the time. You want everyone to see it. You want to see it catch the light when you are walking around your house. You want to how it goes with every outfit you have. It’s lovely and it’s yours and it’s great. But what is engagement ring wearing etiquette?

Ideally, you want to wear your engagement ring all of the time. Whenever you go out in public you want to wear your ring. When you go to work. When you go to the store. When you go out. Especially when you go out. Especially if you don’t want any creepers at the bar to talk to you.

If you are home by yourself that doesn’t mean you need to take it off. Wear it. Watch tv with it. Just look at it. It’s beautiful. But anytime you leave the house it would be best to wear your ring. Your partner went through all of that time and money on buying it, planning how to ask you, and not breathing until you said your answer. They want you to wear it all of the time as much as you do.

When Should You Not Wear Your Diamond Engagement Ring?

But there are times when you need to take it off. You should not wear it while you are doing chores, like the dishes. Definitely don’t wear it while doing the dishes. You could cut a glass and shatter it and really hurt yourself. It’s just a matter of scratching dishes to the point of possibly breaking them.

Putting an ugly scratch mark on a dish or pan is a possibility too. You could ding up your band if you like to rage clean every once in a while.

While your actual diamond should be okay, you could loosen the prongs holding it in. You would freak out if your diamond fell down the drain. I know there’s a possibility of getting it out, but I wouldn’t be able to breathe until it was fished out. That’s too great of a risk. Don’t give me a panic attack. Take off your ring before you do the dishes.

You shouldn’t wear it when putting on lotions or creams. You will get it all over your ring. I know you should take your ring in every so often for cleanings, but you don’t want to have a milky, dirty ring in between those times because of the lotion. So take it off when you apply your morning or nighttime cream routine. You want your ring to shine like the star you are.

Other than that, you are good to go. That might sound like a lot of don’ts, but it’s really to make sure you aren’t wearing your ring anytime or for any reason that might damage it. We want your ring to last as long as you do.

Summary

Don’t wear your engagement ring while doing dishes. Don’t wear it when putting on lotions or creams.

 

When Should You Take Off Your Engagement Ring?

You should take off your engagement ring if you are planning on doing any rigorous activities with your hands.

  • Playing a sport
  • Painting a room
  • Any household renovations

If you were feeling adventurous and wanted to play a sport, you should take it off. If you want to do house chores that will require you to use any harsh cleaners, you should take it off.

You should take off your ring when you go to bed. When you are getting ready for bed. When you are doing your mourning routine. Again, it sounds like a lot of times to take off your ring but think about it from another angle. It’s a lot of times you get to slide your ring back onto your finger. And then stare at it.

Summary

Take your engagement ring off if you’re playing a sport, painting a room, doing any household renovations, taking a shower, and going to bed.

Is It Bad Luck to Take Off Your Engagement Ring?

The only time it’s bad luck to take off your engagement ring is when you are leaving the house. There’s nothing worse than being hit on by a guy you don’t want to talk to because you left your engagement ring at home and now every dude thinks you’re single.

It’s really not bad luck to take off your engagement ring unless you are the superstitious kind. Some people say it could be bad luck because it may be harder to find in the morning. But if you keep it in the same spot, a jewelry dish, or a certain spot on your nightstand, then you’ll be fine.

Summary

it’s bad luck to leave your home without wearing your engagement ring.

Should You Take Off Your Engagement Ring to Shower?

Of course you should. Though your ring won’t melt, depending on what metal your band is, water could dull and possibly damage the metal over time. While you would need to have your ring in water a lot, and for long periods of time, if you always wear your ring in the shower you could damage the metal.

You don’t want to do that to your beautiful sparkly friend right? So no, don’t wear the ring in the shower. Also you could really tangle it in your hair. That’s super annoying and could actually hurt if you got it stuck in there. You could also accidentally scratch yourself.

Summary

Take your diamond ring off before showering.

Can You Wash Your Hands with Your Ring On?

You can wash your hands with your diamond engagement ring on. It’s not made of cotton candy. It won’t dissolve down the drain. You do wash your hands all of the time, but your hands are under the water for such a short time that it’s fine.

But you do have to watch out when drying your hands if your ring is on. Catching a prong on a towel is horrible. You could cause a run in the towel and pull a string out. You could get some fibers stuck in the prong and around your diamond. If you use a paper towel you could just shred it up.

Please, wash your hands, but if you are home, take the ring off. Don’t when you’re out in public though, keep the ring on. I would hate for you to walk out of the room and forget your ring in a public bathroom. How horrible would I feel? At home, yes. In public, no.

Summary

You can keep your engagement ring on when you wash your hands

Should you sleep with your engagement ring on?

Nope. Please don’t. For starters, if you have an adult nighttime routine where you put creams and lotions on, you want to take it off anyway. But more importantly, if you move at all while you sleep, you shouldn’t sleep with it on.

You could get it stuck in your hair. You could scratch yourself. If you tend to drop your phone on your face while in bed at night, you’d probably scratch yourself on accident. You might even scratch up your partner on accident too. You don’t want to hurt them. They are the reason you have the ring after all.

You could put a tear in the sheets depending on the material. While there shouldn’t be anything that could bend the prongs or do anything to the metal, for the safety of your skin and sheets, take your ring off at night.

Summary

You should not sleep with your engagement ring on.

When Is the Best Time to Wear Your Engagement Ring?

You should be wearing your ring all of the time. If your job doesn’t require anything too hard with your hands then wear your ring to work every day. If you leave the house for any reason, wear your ring. Especially for family functions. Forget to wear your engagement ring one time and the whole family is going to gossip about made up potential marital problems.

Wear your ring anytime you are with your partner. Every time. If you guys are getting ready to go somewhere and you don’t feel like going back in the house to put it on, but your partner turns to you in the car and asks where your ring is, guess what? You are going back into the house. You are putting the ring on.

It’s a symbol. It’s an investment. It’s for both of you. It’s not only a pretty piece of jewelry. It’s a commitment too. That ring is going to be on your finger for hopefully your whole life. With the only exception of maybe one day getting a bigger diamond for a milestone anniversary.

The size or cost of the engagement ring isn’t what matters. It’s the reason behind it. It’s why your partner asked. It’s why you said yes. Wearing your engagement ring shows everyone that you found and chose your person.

The bottom line

You should wear it as much as you can. You should wear it all of the time. You should definitely get distracted for 10 minutes because you were lost in the brilliant shine of your ring. The only time I can think of that might be inappropriate to wear your engagement ring is if you were going to console a friend who just ended a relationship. Otherwise, wear that bling.

Carl A. Jones, GIA GG

Carl A. Jones is a GIA Graduate Gemologist with over 20 years of experience in the diamond industry. He is an independent jewelry appraiser. He specializes in determining the value of diamonds and advising consumers on how to buy quality diamond jewelry.

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