Can''''t decide between Jared or Blue Nile to buy a diamond engagement ring...? Someone please help

[danmohiuddin]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site and wanted to get some information on the best place to buy a diamond engagement ring. I have done extensive research and reading about diamonds, the industry and consider myself pretty educated on the subject. Don''t get me wrong, I still have a lot to learn but I am at the point where I need to buy an engagement ring soon and am considering Jared, the Gallery of Jewelery or Blue Nile.com. Does anyone have any suggestions? Also, the type of stone I am looking at is pretty high quality. To give you an idea I am looking at a:

.91 carat
E in color
IF in clarity
ex- polish
vg-symmetry

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[1stdiamondbuy]

I personally have found both of those places to be considerably higher priced than what is available by searching from pricescope''s homepage. You didn''t list a price range for the one you found or the cut quality, but here is an ideal cut that is comparable for $8059 ...

0.94ct
E
IF
ex
ex

 

[lmurden]

What about CUT!

Have you gotten a price quote from Jarad''s? If so is it cheaper than Blue Nile?
I got my ring from Blue Nile and I was extremely pleased with them. The only thing is that Blue Nile does not have a trade in policy so take that into consideration if it''s important to you.

 

[moremoremore]

Or you could just do what I did- find the stone I want on Blue Nile and call Mark T who gave it to me for a better price

 

[MissAva]

Date: 7/7/2005 2:14:38 PM
Author:danmohiuddin
Hi Everyone,

I am new to this site and wanted to get some information on the best place to buy a diamond engagement ring. I have done extensive research and reading about diamonds, the industry and consider myself pretty educated on the subject. Don''t get me wrong, I still have a lot to learn but I am at the point where I need to buy an engagement ring soon and am considering Jared, the Gallery of Jewelery or Blue Nile.com. Does anyone have any suggestions? Also, the type of stone I am looking at is pretty high quality. To give you an idea I am looking at a:

.91 carat
E in color
IF in clarity
ex- polish
vg-symmetry

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

What kind of setting are you looking at? Why do you feel such a need for high IF clarity? What sort of budget do you have? You could get a much larger stone if you were willing to look at stone such as VS2 vs IF. JMO. But more info will help people answer your questions, I am assuming you was a RB but what shape are you looking at?

 

[GemGal]

I used Chidex told them what I wanted and got a great price. Try them.

 

[danmohiuddin]

the price I got from Jared is $7750.00. Once again, this is for the following stone:

Round GIA certified
.91 carat
E in color
IF in clarity
excellent in polish
very good in symetry (sp)
med blue flouresence which has me a little scared...
I have the table and depth % at home, not with me.

what do you think? Also, I love buying things online. Let me clarify, I like the ease of buying online so I am apt to go with Blue Nile...any comments, thoughts...

 

[1stdiamondbuy]

Cut is everything, even depth and table won''t totally clear that up. If what you have presented is ideal cut, I''d say it''s a good deal. Don''t forget sales tax ... you''ll pay it at Jared, not online. Just about every stone I''ve seen on bluenile I''ve seen at other websites for about 10% less.

 

[danmohiuddin]

what other websites? please list them...I don''t know other reputable online dealers? please advise!!!

 

[belle]

hey danmohiuddin,

here is a list of vendors

 

[1stdiamondbuy]

This one sounds exactly like the stone you have found....

0.91
E
IF
vg - sym
ex - pol
mb - flr
depth 58.5
table 62

it is $6615 ... not quite ideal cut though.
The tax on your $7750 probably puts it at $8150 - $8300 depending on tax rate.

If you search from pricescope''s homepage, it will give you prices for several vendors at the same time. By the way, I agree with Matadora that you could go down to VS1 or VS2 (no visible inclusions) and get a much bigger stone. Just my opinion.

 

[antimatter]

Are you sure you want Internally Flawless? I got a good SI1. I couldn''t see anything face up without a loupe

 

[1stdiamondbuy]

Not to bombard you (but I am bored at work) or try to change your mind, but here is an example of a bigger stone for less $ that is a VS2.

1.03 ct
Ideal cut
D color
VS2 clarity
Ex - symmetry
Vg - polish
No - flr
Depth - 61.2
Table - 55
6.51x6.53x3.99

The dimensions on the 0.91 I posted above were 6.3x6.34x3.7, so this one would be noticeably bigger, but still not show any inclusions. You get a bigger stone, go up to D color, get rid of the flourescence, get an ideal cut, and spend less than the $7750 (~$8200 w/ tax) you were going to spend at Jared.

The pricescope price on this one is $7034. USA Certed is reputable and pretty easy to deal with. I just bought from them.

 

[lmurden]

What about these

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond_search.asp?track=dsb

 

[1stdiamondbuy]

I''ve never tried Security Jewelers (found them after I bought), but here''s an interesting link. They say find a diamond on pricescope and then call them and they can usually beat the price by 5 - 15%. If they could take that $7034 stone I posted and knock 5% off the price, you could get it for around $6700. Or if they could take 5% off the $8059 stone I posted, that would put it under $7700 (with no tax).

 

[Drewgasm]

I just want to say that I bought a Signature Princess....G color......IF clairty.......1.32 carat......from Blue Nile and my fiance LOVED it........I will be posting pictures of it on here next week.....I had to send it back to get resized.....but they were a pleasure to deal with and like I said, the stone looks gorgeous.....I was stubborn and had to have Internally Flawless....I didnt want ANY inclusions visible....I have seen VS1''s that had inclusions.....like I said in posts before, I know Im in the minority about making clarity a priority.....I guess I just wanted to be different......Internally Flawless stones are rare......however I didnt make it a priority over cut.......its gotta have sparkle and brilliance......I was shocked when I recieved the ring to see how big 1.32 actually is......there was another stone with E color on BlueNile and Internally Flawless that was 1.23 carats......I maybe should have gotten that one........but I can live with the G color........Im totally happy with my selection....and more important......so is the Mrs...............just my thoughts........


Andrew