A diamond is a symbol of love and commitment. But one thing it doesn’t symbolize is three months worth of salary.

Butler County jewelers dismiss the notion that there is a mandatory price a buyer should pay for a wedding or engagement ring.

Robert Emigh, owner of Emigh Jewelry Co., 540 Butler Crossing, has been in the jewelry business for 35 years.

He discounts the “conventional wisdom” that says the proper amount to spend on an engagement or wedding ring is the equivalent to three months of salary for the bridegroom.

“It should be what you feel comfortable with,” he said.

Steve Goslaw, owner of Robert Stephens Custom Jewelers at 141 N. Main St., also doesn’t hold with the three months’ salary for a ring rule of thumb.

“You are really paying too much for the ring to get that,” Goslaw said. “It sounds great to me, but I don’t tell everybody how much to spend.”

The best jewelers, he said, will work with a prospective buyer’s budget and find something that fits.

Emigh said he has walked many an inexperienced diamond buyer through the 4 C’s of ring buying: cut, clarity, carat weight and color.

“Every diamond is like a snowflake. It came from nature,” he said.

“Most diamonds are used for industrial purposes but the diamonds that are clear become jewels.”

He added diamonds also come in colors ranging from yellow to blue to brown.

“We talk to the customer about what he wants, what’s important, the size, the shape, the carat weight,” said Emigh. “There’s just a combination of factors to fit into a budget. A diamond has been a symbol of commitment for 600 years now.”

The commitment might be a 600-year tradition, but there have been fads among diamond buyers.

A few years ago, Emigh said, brown diamonds were all the rage.

At present, a popular item is the halo ring, he said, a large diamond with smaller diamonds arrayed around it.

“The halo look is very hot,” he said. “We will keep styles and samples in stock and will do whatever it takes to make them (the customers) happy.”

A jeweler for nearly 20 years, Goslaw also is a goldsmith and makes his own ring settings.

He said he’s also seen jewelry styles change over the years, growing away from cookie-cutter styles.

“People want ring settings,” Goslaw said.

“Wedding bands never match engagement rings anymore, so we make a lot of ring settings.”

Goslaw said people are now favoring white gold or rose gold over yellow gold.

He added chocolate, blue and green diamonds are becoming more popular with customers.

Goslaw said many people eventually upgrade their rings or they trade in their diamonds for larger ones. He said jewelry can be insured under a homeowner’s or renter’s policy. With more expensive jewelry, a rider on the policy may be needed.

Sometimes the fiancé comes in alone in the ring search, and sometimes the fiancée comes along, Emigh said.

He said he’s had customers choose a loose diamond and have their partner chose a setting.

It’s during the ring selection for the second or third wedding, Emigh said, that brides seem to know exactly what they want and may make the selection personally.

And if an engagement is broken off, who keeps the ring?

Neither jeweler felt qualified to field that question, suggesting those types of queries be put to a professional in another field, the legal field.