My niece, Maggie, got a huge case of sticker shock when she spent time online last week investigating top designer engagement rings.

Now she says she’s thinking of designing her own diamond engagement ring.

She started at Blue Nile, where she chose a .23 carat round-cut diamond with a “very good” cut rating, a color rating of “J” (that’s the worst rating) and a clarity rating of VS2 (that’s five notches below the best rating).

That diamond cost $279.

Then she chose the least expensive setting, a plain band in 18 karat gold with a six-prong setting for $360. That brings the total to $639.

With a budget of $1,000, she has room to make adjustments to improve the clarity and cut of the diamond.

For example, she can get a diamond of the same weight (.23 carats) and cut (round), but with a color rating of G (that’s “medium” on the color scale) and a clarity rating of VVS2 (that’s medium on the clarity scale) for $401. And that diamond has a cut rating of “Ideal.”

Switching to the $401 diamond brings her total to $761, which still leaves room to upgrade the setting by $239.

Maggie said the Web site helped her learn about diamonds and how they are rated and a good job of helping her narrow her search for the most affordable, highest quality ring.

But she still hasn’t decided on a ring. Now she thinking of learning how to make jewelry and really design her own engagement and wedding rings and getting get her fiance, Lucas, to take a class at their local community college.

Who knows, maybe Maggie will end up running her own jewelry-making business, all because she wanted to design her own diamond engagement ring.