Engagement Rings.... (1 Viewer)

[Mike Voigt]

I suggest going for another gemstone. Personally, I got my wife a sapphire, incidentally I traded my parents my stereo in Germany for the price of the ring (I had bought all the components there, on summer work, and the pricing was more than equivalent).

I don't buy into the "it's diamonds or nothing" stuff - to me, they are way too expensive and a colored gemstone is a lot more fun and far more distinctive. Instead of comparing rings "ooh, mine is 1.3 carats but mine is much clearer" they get into "that's interesting, what's the story behind that?"

Moreover, I proposed to her on a day when a lot of friends were getting together for breakfast. Initially standing up for the proposal, and telling her plainly I wanted to marry her (which she knew anyway, plsu she had picked out that and a few others tones herself, amking her all excited!), I got whacked in the head and told that I really should kneel, made a somewhat more gushing proposal, which embarrased my fiancee, then got whacked in the head when I sat down to eat after proposing. It was totaly worth it, and all quite intentional - it again gives everyone something to talk about, to reminisce. Far more fun that way!

And, I would do it all over again... except I am married to the most wonderful person in the world, and have absolutely no intention of relinquishing her...

Mike

 

[DaveF]

Alas, you're not the object of my affection, Mike...

To my frustration, I don't particularly care for jewelry, and find diamond rings unattractive. But it's not about what I want in this one case. (In all other respects, though it's all about me )

 

[Philip Hamm]

I personally don't buy into the whole "diamond racket" conspiracy nonsense. They really are rare and valuable gemstones. And created by DeBeers or not, the tradition is real and it is very ingrained in our culture. If you complain about it you might as well be complaining about driving on the right hand side of the road. It means something to buy and to wear this rock, and unless the two of you talk about it specifically in depth before the engagement, don't even think about an alternate gemstone.

Dave, I'll hold my congratulations for later, but good luck. I've already made my advice post and you've probably already read it. Size is everything. Find out the lowest grade color and clarity you care about for people looking at the diamond with the naked eye, and go for size and cut. Clarity and color above a certain point is a moot point to anyone but a jeweler with a loop.

 

[Craig]

Dave, a round cut or a marquise or oval cut diamond will look bigger than a princess cut of the same weight. The princess cut results in a diamond that is deeper and has less surface area on top. However all diamonds look bigger when they're mounted, and anything you end up with no doubt be appreciated.

I think you're on the right track shopping online. I actually bought a GIA certified diamond off ebay and had it mounted locally. My wife gets compliments all the time and the appraiser I used was impressed with the quality.

 

[DaveF]

She prefers the square Princess to the more traditional round. Go figure.

While I like browsing Blue Nile, I'm concerned I can't find any guarantee information. Stores I've visited have lifetime guarantees on the diamond, including loss, and on the ring. I need to figure out how valuable such a garantee really is, and understand the issues if I buy from one place and have another retailer mount it for me. Who's liable if the setting fails and the diamond is lost? Or just file an insurance claim?

 

[Philip Hamm]

Have you considered a cut-corner square cut like a Tiffany Lucida or clone thereof?

Mounted rounds tend to stick up bigtime off the finger. They look like they'll get caught on everything. Princess and Lucida-style rings seem to be more utilitarian.

 

[Kevin T]

that's all fine and good and even better if your future wife agrees. but all her friends and family will call you a cheap bastard (mostly behind your back) and do you really need to give them another reason to dislike you?

 

[Philip Hamm]

Keep in mind that comparing one against another in a jewelry store under jeweler's lights is not the same as how they will be percieved in the real world. And fluorescence is another thing to be careful of.

When I got my wife's engagement ring we picked a jeweler which has (fairly stringent) specific minimum requirements for any diamond they sell, so my decision was very easy, I simply said I want the worst color and clarity and biggest size you have in the whole chain for less than x dollars. They overnighted the requisite rings from other stores and I picked the one I liked the best. It was so easy. We could have gotten way more ring for the dollar elsewhere, but we're happy with the ring she got.

There's a lot of fraud in the industry, be careful! (Not worrying about that was a significant advantage of buying where I did)

 

[Kevin T]

so so so true. flouresence makes the stone look almost milky. if the jeweler says it has no flourescence, ask him to show you the stone under a black light.

kevin t

 

[DaveF]

This was looking at the stones side by side over white paper, under the store lights -- no special lighting for the purpose. It seemed like something that could be seen if two rings were compared side by side at home or outdoors.

I don't mind sacrificing clarity, so long as there are no visible flaws.

Regardless, as carat is the largest price driver, I would only gain about 0.15 ct in size by dropping to the worst color and clarify available. My opinion may change as I spend more time looking. But my limited experience currently suggests I'll be happier sacrificing a little size for improved internal traits.

Thursday I intend to visit a well-regarded jeweler and I'll be better prepared to ask about these trades.

 

[SethH]

BlueNile provides great service. The problem with most of the store guarantees is that they require you to have the diamond inspected by the store every 6 months. My mom works with a lady whose diamond fell out of the setting when she had had it for only 9 months. The jeweler would do nothing because it hadn't been inspected at 6 months.

I ordered two diamonds for my wife's engagement ring. One from BlueNile and another from a friend who owns a jewelry store. I had them both appraised and chose to return the BlueNile diamond (although it was a great stone for the price).

I insured the ring through Jeweler's Mutual. It costs me about $45/year and the only requirement is that it is inspected every 3 years (and they send reminders to do this). I prefer this over putting a rider on my home owner's insurance because I wouldn't want to put a claim on my home owner's for something this small. Also, the Jeweler's Mutual policy does not have a deductible.

 

[DaveF]

Seth - thanks for the info. I'll be sure to ask more questions about the warranties. That insurance tip is handy too.

 

[DaveF]

Anyone have experience ordering a loose diamond and having it set by another jeweler? Advice?

BlueNile is about 30% cheaper than a local jewelry stores for loose diamonds. However, I've read horror stories about how jewelers can (and will) damage a stone when setting if you didn't buy it from them. I find this nearly incomprehensible, but it's a chance I'm loathe to take, if this how people are.

I'm befuddled. I would like to shop at a local jeweler, for various reasons. But this isn't an extra five bucks by not buying from Amazon. Buying a diamond online appears to save me $500 to $800!

 

[SethH]

I don't have experience with that, but I'm wondering why you don't want BlueNile to set the stone. Do you not like their settings?

 

[Kevin T]

seth:

do you have any contact info for jeweler's mutual? there website appears to be down and i'd like to talk with somebody about insurance for my girlfriend's engagement ring. thanks.

kevin t

 

[DaveF]

I can't shop online for a ring. Need to see it in person.

 

[DonRoeber]

I didn't order a diamond from Blue Nile, but when I got engaged, I used a diamond from a family engagment ring. I brought the existing ring with the diamond still in it to my jeweler, picked out a new setting, and he did all the work for me. I still have the old setting that I'll get something placed in someday. All in all it was a very easy, and inexpensive, process.

 

[SethH]

Their phone number is 888-884-2424, but the website appears to be up now.

 

[Marc_Sulinski]

I agree, though you would have to be sure the recipient of the ring feels the same way. Sapphires and Rubys (which are essentially just red sapphires) actually can be a good bit more valuable, as their value is not held artifically high like it is for diamonds.

Regarding advice for buying a diamond, here it is:

For the shape, you should buy whatever the woman wants. For many, it is a very personal decision. I would prefer round myself, only because there are established rules for grading the cut quality of a round diamond. This is not true of other shapes. In the end, however, I went with a princess, since that is what my wife wanted. End of story.

For the color, the main consideration here is the setting. If you are setting the diamond in white gold or platinum, the color can be important due to the lightness of the metal. You may be able to visibly see the yellowness of the diamond. If you are setting it in yellow gold, color is less of an issue, since the gold will be so much more yellow than the diamond, that even a really yellow diamond will still look colorless. The best way to tell is to see the diamond (or at least one of the same color you want to buy) already in the setting of the proper metal. You should see if you can tell if the diamond looks yellow.

Regarding clarity, if you are trying to maximize your size, you may want to skimp here. If you go SI1 or 2, you are probably going to get the best value. SI, by definition, should have no inclusions that are visible to the naked eye. Who cares if you can see the inclusions through 10x magnification?

 

[ChrisMatson]

I ran into the same issue. I called the jewelry store I was considering and spoke to the salesperson who had been helping me. She immediately agreed to price-match the Blue Nile price. That means that I probably could have gotten it cheaper if I pushed, but I liked the store and the service. You should have room to negotiate the price. Good luck!