Engagement ring from Laayoune: doing it all at a distance, step by step

From Laayoune, you can choose an Oroma Diamond engagement ring without getting on a plane: advice and orders go through WhatsApp or the contact page. The house's only showroom is in Casablanca, for those who want to see the piece. Here is how it goes, from the first message to the questions to settle before paying.

Casablanca, one flight from Laayoune

By road, Laayoune is a little over 1,000 km from Casablanca, a long day's drive. The train does not go that far south: from Marrakech, the ONCF passes travellers on to Supratours coaches for the South. For a round trip, flying remains the simplest option. Royal Air Maroc links Laayoune's Hassan Ier airport to Casablanca with a direct flight of about two hours. These times are approximate and schedules change: check them with the airline.

The showroom is at Galerie Panorama, Magasin 48, in Sidi Maarouf. If the trip is not on the cards, everything that follows can be done from home.

Step 1: the first message

A “hello, do you have rings?” forces the adviser to ask you everything again. A useful first message contains:

• a budget, or at least a ceiling;
• the style she likes: a single stone, small diamonds around it or on the band, yellow or white gold;
• a photo of a ring she likes, even one found on Instagram;
• her finger size, if you already know it;
• natural or laboratory-grown, if you have already decided.

Before you write, browse the engagement rings and note the designs that catch your eye. Then write on WhatsApp or from the contact page. Keep the whole conversation: it will serve as your written record.

Step 2: the size, without asking her

The European size is the circumference of the finger in millimetres. The most discreet way: borrow a ring she wears on her ring finger, measure its inside diameter, then read it off the Oroma size guide printed at 100%. Other tricks (the candle, the pencil outline, a sister in on the secret) are in our article on measuring your ring size. At a distance, a wrong size is harder to put right: ask whether the chosen design can be resized.

Step 3: seeing the ring without being there

A photo on a white background tells you nothing about the height of the stone or how fine the band is. Ask the adviser for a video filmed in daylight, a side view and a photo of the ring being worn. If the stone has a laboratory report, ask for its number and check it yourself on the laboratory's website, typing the address rather than following a link you were sent. The step-by-step is in buying a diamond with confidence in Morocco.

Step 4: what to settle before paying

At more than 1,000 km, the practical points matter as much as the stone. Ask these questions in writing and wait for written answers:

1. What is the exact price, and what does it include?
2. How is payment made, and at what point?
3. Can the ring be sent to Laayoune? By what means, how long will it take, and who is responsible for the ring in transit?
4. What will the invoice state: the metal and its fineness, the weight and quality of the stone, its origin, the report number?
5. What happens if the size is wrong?

For shipping, the adviser tells you on WhatsApp whether the ring can go to Laayoune, and how. As long as this point remains vague, do not pay. And if an answer leaves you in doubt, the flight to Casablanca becomes a good idea again: a ring held in the hand settles many questions at once.

Elsewhere in Morocco

• Engagement ring from Rabat
• Engagement ring from Marrakech
• Engagement ring from Tangier
• Engagement ring from Agadir
• Engagement ring from Dakhla
• Engagement ring from El Jadida