Let's talk about diamonds....

Hey,
I've been putting off an engagement ring for a few years now but sometime during the next year, I gotta buy one .

It seems to be a confusing purchase but I;m looking for maximum value. I'm thinking blue nile. Any of you got any tips on buying a diamond.

I know that generally, it isn't a positive but whatever diamond I buy must fluoresce (blue). That is my cpf fascination with light and all. I think it is much cooler for a light to glow in the dark under black light than not.

Buy from a reputable mom and pop jeweler and not one of the mall chain type stores. You get more for your money and better service, IMO.

And get to know the 4 Cs. Cut, carat, color, and clarity. link

Don't assume you know what cut chickipoo prefers unless she has told you.

Bigger is better than smaller.

I've never heard of this blue stuff you are talking about.

I have spoken. :nana:

I'm going to preface this with the honest admission that I HATE the whole wedding racket so pardon any cynicism that leaks through.

That whole "three months salary" guideline was fabricated by someone in the diamond industry who wants to bilk you out of $$$. I love my wife but there was no way I was going to have her walking around with the equivilant of a very nice used car hanging off her finger! I'm a lucky man because my wife honestly feels the same way and told me (after we were married) that she initially felt I had overdone it and could have gone with a more modest ring than the one I gave her.

People worry about looking "cheap" but good God, you're about to give the woman pretty much everything you have AND nearly everything you will EVER have for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. How cheap could you really be??? <grin>

Know what you can really spend in advance and don't go over it no matter what the salesperson tries! Starting a relationship in financial ruin is no way to start. Start out lowballing price and let the salesperson work you up to what you were going to spend. They'll feel like they got more money out of you and you may actually get more of a deal than you anticipated.

Buy the diamond by itself, un-mounted. The right mounting can hide an awful lot of flaws so it's much easier to get a good stone when you can see the whole thing. Also you'll be astounded at how much more stone you can buy when you buy it alone and then get it mounted later.

Consider where it's going. My wife has very long, thin, fingers. An oval cut looks so much better on her than a standard solitare.

Powernoodle gives good advice, get to know and understand the 4 C's

Finally, if you give someone a diamond and they react in any way like it's not good enough you should do an immediate re-evaluation of the stiuation. The damn diamond is just a recognized symbol and shouldn't matter one whit compared to the value of YOU!

I just realized how grumpy I sound so I'm going to shut up now.

Oh, and good luck, best wishes!

zespectre is a wise man
(don't let my wife read this)

.

I went with BlueNile.com and was VERY impressed with the quality of the ring, as well as the customer service throughout the entire purchase process. I shopped around at many brick-and-mortar diamond/jewelry stores in the area, and found that at BlueNile, I could get MUCH more ring for the same amount of money as the local shops. They have a 30-day money back guarantee, so that took some of my skepticism out of the equation of making such a big purchase "online" without being able to see or hold it in person.

As powernoodle said, take the time to learn all about the 4 C's. I did, and I narrowed down the criteria of the ring I wanted to VERY SMALL ranges. To be honest, I checked BlueNile's inventory every day for weeks, and weeks, and they didn't have ONE stone that met all of my criteria. Until, one day... I bought it immediately, along with two perfectly matched side-stones. (She wanted a 3-stone diamond ring...) BlueNile assembled the ring (mated the stones to the platinum setting) and had it appraised for insurance purposes. (The finished product was WAY more valuable than the individual pieces... I was tempted to sell it on e-bay and make a sizable profit on the deal, but I couldn't do it... haha) Then they shipped it insured/overnight via FedEx.

Now all I have to do is finish planning my trip up to New York to give it to her. Good Luck.

-Allen

Ok, surprise has a kewl factor, BUT, if you give your bride to be something she does not like, you WILL be replacing it in a few years, I have known many who have had to do this. And it is not the woman being greedy, it is one simple fact. THEY HAVE TO WEAR IT DAY IN AND DAY OUT and need to like it, you like your watch? Flashlight? whatever you carry daily? Ok she needs to like th ring, and the "oh I love it cause you bought it" lasts a while but not if she hates the design, eventually the truth will come out.

Bigger is better than smaller (to a point, there is such a thing as guady), sorry guys but it won't even be her, but other women do judge the ring by size and she CONSTANTLY hears it, believe me. Sorry if this insults anyones sensiblities but it is real life and eventually she will cave and desire something larger to show off to the ladies, it is something that occurs constantly, its the reality of the game, take it from someone who has been married for 27 years in a couple weeks. Men judge things by the car you drive, or your watch, women use the wedding ring. I have heard more women say oh lets see YOUR wedding ring...

Almost always, eventually you will replace the original ring for some reason, loss, theft, damage, or just a special anniversary present, and whatever it is, the new ring wont be smaller... A Justine Morgan always said I GAR ROON TEE.

I eventually bought a second wedding ring for my wife when we renewed our vows for our 20th wedding anniversary and it was considerably larger than the first, the first was used by the niece we raised as her first wedding ring, my wife is more her mother than her mother was.

But overall, the MOST important thing, big, small, is she needs to like it, so take her with you and pick it out together.

One interesting point, An oval diamond looks much bigger per carat.

Nothing else to add, except that an engagement ring is a gift that will not return if you decide against the wedding. On the other hand, it's a gift she will have forever and will forever be a reminder of a point in time.

My wife and I shopped for the rings together. We chose a wedding set that nests nicely to make a wider band. The engagement ring has several smaller side diamonds with a central oval stone.

After we finally set the date, I joked that I should have a diamond engagement ring too. Instead, I got the simple band with channel set diamonds. It looks almost like a matched set, don't you think?






I see it's time to clean the rings *LOL*

Daniel

the advice here is very good, but I'll just second the recomendation to stay away from the mall stores. (though a standard jeweler or mall store is find for a regular gold band when you reach that point, they are all mostly the same anyway)

Dont buy something that a chain of stores has ordered 10 million of exactly the same so that you can go in and buy something out of the catalog. Buy something special. If that means that the ring costs more and you have to go with a slightly smaller stone then so be it.

And really have a look at the different cuts. Some of the most popular cuts at the moment dont maximize the sparkle at all, so check out some different ones and have a real jeweler put it together for you. That will mean more.

Good Luck!

PS, if different stones are possible, one of my favorites is opal. A friend of mine cuts stones and has some wonderful pieces on sale here we're not in business together and I wouldn't see anything if you bought one (and they are just slightly more expensive than a small diamond... ) but that site also has some really beautiful pictures so it's worth looking at.

If you purchase a diamond ring, make sure that you get the large diamond(s) laser etched with a S/N or some other proof that the diamond that you purchased is in the ring setting that can be reference later (if needed).

And once you do this, make sure that the stones never leave you or your wife's sight. There are many places that when you take a ring for cleaning or service will pop out the high quality diamond and replace it with a lesser quality one.

Once that happens, try and prove that in court and get the original stone back--ain't going to happen (your word against their's).

Possibly, if you get an expensive ring and stone (not me...), you may wish to get a second (nice) copy set with Zircons or something similar for daily wear. Nobody (other than your wife) will know the difference--and if it gets lost, it is no big deal since you still have the originals.

Wearing $1,000 to $10,000 (or more) on your hand for daily life is just asking for disappointments down the road.

My wife would freak-out if I carried $10,000 cash in my wallet every day (that is what checks and plastic cards are for). I do not understand the justification for a wife to wear expensive jewelry to work.

Having this discussion with your future wife will also help you make sure that you both have the same outlook on life--helpful for a long and happy marriage.

-Bill

I'm not married, nor will I be, so take this for what it's worth.

When I bought my g/f a ring, I had her pick it out. No way was I gonna expect her to wear anything based on *my* fashion sense! She wound up with a large blue sapphire with twin diamonds on a platinum band, AND a plain white gold band. She wears the white gold band most of the time. However, Lee is quite correct, she likes having something nice to show her friends. I've bought her matching earrings, hair clips, and a pendant in the years since. Good luck to ya!

Cheers! :buddies:

Heck, just go with a Moissanite.

Most jewelers can't tell the difference anyways. They are way cheaper (thousands less). They satisfy all the annoying cultural needs. You can use the extra money to buy yourself a Rolex

If you tell her, just give her the choice between plain gold band, or a Moissanite

Or you can go with a pave style/setting. Looks good, sparkles and all. Put it in platinum and you'll still some out ahead of a regular setting in gold. It's a little non-traditonal, but nothing wrong with that.

As already stated, the whole thing's a scam anyways.

My personal ranking for stones are Cut, Color, Carat, Clarity. All four have large ranges onthe value. As far as cut I prefer the classic round brilliant cut, this one ends up being more expensive than most cuts because more of the stone has to be cut away to make the briliant cut. then within the cut you have to make sure it is cut right. You can check this under natural lighting conditions for diamonds to see if the light being refracted through the diamond has the rainbow colors when it comes out, if it dous then you have a pretty good cut on the stone. For Color I would prefer G-H or slightly better. the problem with going with a D color is that under certain lighting conditions the diamond will look milky, they tend cost much more than a G color and it is hard to find suitable matches. Carat, well size dictates price. Some people insist on having a 1 carat or larger and cut corners on everthing else so you have to balance it well. Clarity, going with a SI clarity will be perfectly fine, sometimes you can get by with a I clarity depending on the size of the feathers and/or their locations. I have seen some impressive stones with pretty noticable defects that happen to be on the edge of the diamond that could be hidden by the mounting.


Good luck and take your time.

you may want to look at a a local pawn shop as well.. We have a local pawn shop (L Opleman - the oldest pawn shop in america) that was a diamond broker.. When i went in I had an idea what I wanted (ie afford) - SI-1 or 2 clarity, E/F or better color, .75 to +1 carat, unknown cut - he had hundreds of small envelopes that contained diamonds of all types/sizes/quality.. We were quickly able to narrow it down to what I bought - 1.15 carat Radiant cut, very solid SI-1 (no visable inclusions even with loop), but more like an F/G color in though..

You can probably slide a little on the clarity with the right cut (to hide the clarity), but the color is more noticable. You are really looking for the right combination of everything.. so dont go in expecting to meet all of your expectations - be willing to let something slide a little.

if you go to some of the discount sellers (think discount mall) and look at their diamonds with a loop you will quickly learn to what a better clarity diamonds look like.. They were so full of inclusions - black coal spots, cracks - when you see a SI or better diamond it is very obvious of the clarity.

good luck

Hey , thanks for some great advice! I'm hoping the engagement will last "till death do us part...:naughty:" as neither of us care wether we marry or not. That being said, it's a gift but if it were really an engagement ring to get married, I'd expect it back if the marriage didn't happen. Saw bits of "The Runaway Bride" were she had 3 engagement rings and thought those are 3 really dumb guys as I'd a tackled her just to get my expensive ring back!

So far , I'm really enjoying looking at diamonds. I saw one fluoresce about half an our ago and I thought it was very cool! I wouldn't mind going with an alternative gem since as many accurately put it "it's a scam" but the GF is pretty firm on the diamond part.

I went to Shane Co yesterday and most of the stones were pretty expensive and not as good quality as I expect for the money. They get bonuses weekly (straight from the salesgirls mouth) and they are based on sales SO THE "NOT ON COMMISION " THING IS TOTALLY BOGUS. They do offer alot of added value interms of upgrading, service , rhodium dipping, etc that are compelling but I believe I'll be happier with a ring from BlueNile. I've looked at other online jewelry places but the only other one that I felt comfortable with was United Diamonds but it turns out they are here in Atlanta so unless I can get them to drop there price by 7% I won't buy from them (sales tax). I also learned that some of the cerification co's don't have such sparkly reputations , namely EGL Israel.

It was funny (to me) but I did some research about a year ago, but had no intention of buying yet and I made the mistake of asking the GF's opinion on some stuff and well, her Birthday rolled around about a month later and boy was she PISSED when I got her a car stereo for her b-day :laughing:. I know , I'm a sick puppy but I was pretty clear that she is NOT getting a ring for her b-day....

Any of you guys look at the diamonds that your women are wearing under UV? They say fluorescence is a minus unless it's a poor color stone. Doesn't make sense to me but if it saves me money,that's a bonus.

Sounds crazy, but if you're into value I would really recommend taking a look at Costco. They have solitaires online for 4k to 54k. They also have them at thier warehouses to check out in person. If you don't see what you are looking for, they also have a special order program where they will find what you want. Costco as a company has great integrity IMHO and I would have no concerns about getting the very best value for your money.

Congratulations on your engagement. :goodjob:

I've heard you can save money by buying a 0.9 carat or 1.9 cart instead of 1 or 2 carat diamond since the price per carat goes up at the round numbers and most people buy at round numbers. So you can get a stone that is visually the same size for less by buying just under the round number.

Greg

WHATEVER you do DO NOT BUY ON THE WEB!

I nearly lost $5,000 last year trying that. The diamond may look good "on paper" but you can't tell much without examining it in person. It's a tremendous hassle to return several times to get one you like, plus the NYC stores online will try anything to shaft you.

I ended up buying locally from Shane Company (and subsequently a pendant) and could not have been happier. I couldn't give a flying handshake whether they are on commission or not: what's important is how the diamond looks and how much you pay. Shane was very competitive. Further, we found an identically rated diamond on BlueNile for almost $500 less than what we paid Shane and they wrote me a check for the difference on the spot! They will honor their price guarantee without a hassle.

By the way, VSx and better are invisible so don't waste your money. Even the SI1 and SI2 inclusions are invisible to the naked eye. Most of the slightly less clear diamonds are cut so the imperfections are oriented on the bottom or can easily be concealed by the mounting prongs.

Then there are the techniques of hiding the imperfections with chemicals or lasers. I can't recall what the techniques are called, but apparently the jury is still out on how permanent they are, whether they structurally weaken the diamond, and how the diamond is graded after the inclusion is 'repaired', as well as the effect on value.

That's my experience...YMMV.

You guys may flame the hell out of me, but I went with Tiffany's. I wanted no doubt that I was getting a good ring for the one I loved. So what if I overpayed, at least I know I got a good diamond. If you havent seen one in person, it Blings!!!

Her center stone is 1.42 Carats, F color, VS1 clarity. Youre talking about a diamond that will last forever, and you can get EVERY penny back you paid for it if you ever want to up/downgrade the rock.

Just in case your wondering, I paid cash in full. :rock:

Watch out, jewelry stares can rook ya big time, thats why i went with the sure thing!

Get to know the four C's, and more. The 4 C's are the tip of the ice berg. Theres Girdle thickness, table size, facets, etc......

Heres a PIC of my fiance's Tiffany's engagement ring:

PoliceScannerMan said:

You guys may flame the hell out of me, but I went with Tiffany's.

Click to expand...

No flame. It's like the old IT addage "No one ever got fired for specifying IBM."

You'll never go wrong with Tiffany's and they sure do sparkle! Price? It's kinda like buying a SureFire instead of a Chinese light. Not everyone understands.