wackjum

Hey guys,

I am looking to buy a ring sometime in November or December of this year.

But, you can never have enough time to plan.

I tried searching and did not find anything on point.

Do you guys have any tips? What to look for, where to go, etc?

I've weaseled out all of the necessary info: style, size, ring size, etc.


P.S. Is bluenile.com a good place to start?

moeronn

My younger bro bought his wife's stone from bluenile and they were happy with them. They would be a good place to start - especially just to read up on diamonds and what factors affect price.

As for planning, it really comes down to what you want/can afford to spend and what is most important to your future fiancee regarding size, cut, clarity, color. One thing I noticed when shopping a few years ago was that there is a huge jump in price from 0.95 ct to 1.01 ct. only because you are breaking the 1 carat barrier.

Yumcha

Congrats wackjum...

The first thing is to establish your budget IMO. Otherwise, you're talking about differences in the thousands of $$$. After you have a budget, you just need to remember the big C's:

- carat
- cut
- color
- clarity

Those 4 are all important. But, ultimately, remember...if the woman loves you, she'll wear whatever the heck you buy her. That being said, what you buy for her is also a way of showing how much she means to you. Yeah, I guess you could say $$ talks in some ways here (some may disagree)...

And yes, I heard great things about bluenile.com; you may also want to have a look at Tiffanys.

G'luck!

Yumcha

And also, if BoostedJack posts in here about what sort of ring to buy, don't listen to him cuz he got ripped off...big-time.


That is all.

wackjum

Yeah I noticed the .9 thing too. And there is no visual size difference.

We're not having a wedding. Only a small official ceremony. Normally both of us are pretty cheap. But this is her one little luxury so I think I'm going to spend a bit.

How noticeable is it as you go down the color grades? Especially if you're mounting it onto a platinum or white gold setting?

Yumcha

Well, to me, the yellowing (as you go down color grades) can be obvious. As a rule, I'd recommend you to stick with a color in the E-F range (let's be honest here, a color D is going to be stupidly $$$$).

As for clarity, VVS1 is something you can use as a benchmark. And size and cut...well, those are entirely your calls and on your budget.

moeronn

The color grades can get notcible, but usually only if you are comparing them. My wife's is H and looks pretty nice. Of course, if you put it against a D color(less) stone, you will see a difference.

My only hesitation with shopping for diamonds online is that you really need to see them to see how the inclusions affect the sparkle. A VS could look just as good as a VVS if the inclusions are in certain areas.

sasha

I think D-F is perfectly safe, but H starts to look a bit yellowish to the untrained eye. My ring is E and I now wish I told my husband it's fine to get a F or G. In any case, spend more money on cut (ideal or very good) and clarity (at least VVS2 or VS1) than color.

wackjum

Good lord these diamonds are expensive.

Ok so now a personal question, and so you don't have to answer...

How much is a fair budget to spend? I was thinking 6-8k before I had priced a single diamond. Now I am thinking I have to do twice this

And FWIW, I have 10k worth of guns... So maybe to preclude future arguments, it should at least be this much.

moeronn

I think around 8k is a fair budget, but considering your hobby's expense, maybe a touch more. Or maybe 8k for the (main) stone and then add on for the setting and any side stones.

Yumcha

Well, the rule is 3-4 months salary, right? So, it's all relative dude. My recommendation to you is that, as much as you love her, you don't need to break your back to buy her this ring.

But, IMO $10K is a nice amount and you can probably find something. But, if you want something that meets all of the specs: VVS1, F, 1C, Excellent cut (as an example), be ready to throw in about $15K or above.

moeronn

3-4 months salaray?!?!?! Are you f-ing kidding me? Even when the CN$ was at it's lowest that is i high amount. The "rule" that was common was 2-months salary. Whether you take that as pre- or after taxes is up to you.

Regardless, I found the stone for wakjum:
http://www.bluenile.com/round-diamon...=i&filter_id=0

/thread

wackjum

Damn that is a really nice diamond you found there.

Why is it so cheap? I was looking at .9 that was that much and weren't "perfect"

sasha

Hmm... tricky.

I think that's fine. It really depends on how much savings you currently have and how long you want to continue paying for it. I remember telling my husband to keep the price tag below 10k. I'd rather save the money for a house with a nice kitchen.

bgsm1th

I spent less than $10k on a 1.3 ct. set in white gold and it was of great quality (don't know the specifics off the top of my head...)
You should be able to stick to your budget and find something more than sufficient.

sasha

moeronn, that stone emits blue fluorescence which can make it look cloudy!

ccarbajal08

All of my engagement ring shopping research led me to one website: www.BlueNile.com.

moeronn

I realized that after posting. The strong flourescence may be a negative. Again, this is where it's important to actually see the stone.

wackjum

Yet another variable to keep track off...

ccarbajal08

I heard that the 3-month salary rule was created by the retail diamond industry.

sasha

How about this? 1 carat, ideal cut, F, VVS2, no fluorescence, excellent polish, VG symmetry

http://www.bluenile.com/round-diamon...=i&filter_id=1

wackjum

Yes. Without going into the specifics because I will just get more amused at spending this,

The concept of a diamond engagement ring was created by DeBeers to create demand for diamonds. 2 months salary was a marketing campaign.

moeronn

The whole idea of diamonds for engagement rings was created by the diamond industry. Engagement rings used to be a symbol of love, not a status symbol.

wackjum

Thanks Sasha. I was thinking of bumping cut to the best and backing the carat down to under 1k.

Also, I was going to buy this around Nov or Dec.

wackjum

How obvious can inclusions be?

Are we talking about need a loupe to see?

JediMindTricks

there are several good threads on engagement rings that can be very useful.

and as yummy said, ignore posts from boostedjack.

sasha

This one is similar to the first one I posted, just a bit smaller (0.94 carat, ideal cut, F, VVS2, no fluorescence, VG polish, VG symmetry) and $1000 cheaper!

http://www.bluenile.com/round-diamon...=i&filter_id=1

Anyway, good luck!

Whiskers

Noooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wackjum

How can you say this? It was your deep post in the "fat girl" thread that inspired me.

Yumcha

I dunno!

I didn't go with that measurement...just looked at what I could afford, set my budget and went from there.

moeronn

Some inclusions can be visible to the naked eye, but the main thing is that they affect the brilliance of the diamond because they can prevent light from bouncing around inside the diamond.

svtmike

22 years ago when I went through this, I went to a the brother-in-law of my best friend who was in the jewelry manufacturing business. He custom-made my wife's set and our wedding bands for us for a lot less than a retail jewelry store. We were able to pick the stones, design the setting, and it didn't break me financially.

The stone isn't huge but it still works for her today.

If you can find a way to get it pre-retail the cost will be a lot less.

ViperrepiV

I just went through the whole process. There are so many different aspects of the diamond that will determine its value, so you can play with all the different parameters to get something you like in the price range you want.

A few tips:
-- Princess cut is cheaper than the round cut (and nicer in my opinion) on a carat per carat basis

-- Color is more important than clarity, because it is visible to the naked eye. As long as you are VS2 and above you are fine. But I guess you can dip into SI1 if you want a certain size and are limited by your budget

-- Going up a grade in color is less expensive than going up a grade in calrity - the premium is placed on clarity, even though not visible to the naked eye (in VS2 and up)

-- Each diamond is unique. Different aspects of the dimensions will have unintended effects. For example, if you are looking at a 1.7 carat diamond with a thin girdle, it may appear to be the same size on the face as a 2.0 carat diamond with a thick girdle. This is because the 2.0 carat diamond will be "deeper." The downside is it doens't look bigger, but it will sparkle more and generally look more substantial since it will look deeper.



-- You won't be able to tell the difference between most of these factors unless you look at two diamonds side by side

-- Diamonds are price on a per carat basis. For example, lets say a 1.7 princess cut is priced at 7,500 per carat, making the total price 1.7 x $7,500 = $12,750. Larger carat diamonds have a higher per carat price, since they are rarer, so they are disproportionally more expensive. For example, a 2.0 carat diamond will be priced at lets say $8,500/ct, so the total price would be $17,000. a 1.99 carat diamond will be priced at a lower per carat price than a 2.0 carat diamond.

-- blue nile is a good place to get an idea of pricing on the diamond itself. If you shop around other places, keep the pricing in mind. Write stuff down to compare. And remember you can negotiate.

JediMindTricks

there's a blue nile ad at the top of the page.

Yumcha

^ Sears Outlet ad for me!

wackjum

You won't believe the amount of targeted ads I've been seeing in the past hour.

Here and in Gmail as my lady friends are abuzz with excitement.


Thanks Viperr

Whiskers

Oh yeah? Um, pics of the lucky woman??

wackjum

I can't seem to post any pictures because Imageshack isn't working

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

no offense yummy but if that isn't what you went with either, don't keep feeding the OP the same marketing BS that is already out there...

u should have just stuck to your guns above about setting the budget and going from there...

OP - it looks like you also have some time on your side too so that will help you in saving up more money if you need to... does your lady know that you plan on popping the question? or is this a surprise? if she does know, does she want to be involved in the selection???

for what you already have saved up, you should be able to get a really decent size ring with really good specs... at .8-.9 CT with Very Good Clarity and decent color should easily be in your price range since it was my same situation last june... i posted pics of the ring up here somewhere...

i also think sasha has already given you some good links...

best of luck...

EDIT:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...2&postcount=53

here are some pics... i paid just a bit higher than what your price range currently is... but like i said, you have time on your side to save up if needed...

Whiskers

www.tinypic.com