Sorry for the long post...if you have a couple of minutes I would love your input.
I made my first online ring purchase a week ago. After much research I took the engagement ring plunge. Don''t get me wrong, I am definately ready and I know she is as well. She has been asking for a ring for over a year now. Been together 3 1/2 total. Anyways, she fell in love (like a lot of women) with the Ritani Endless Love princess cut at Bailey Banks and Biddle. She tried on the .50 setting and really liked it. Then tried on the 1 carat and liked that too but I definately didn''t like the price tag- 9600.00 + tax. Typical price for a mall jeweler I guess. But after talking about the ring for a couple days and to me the outrageous price of the 1 carat, she felt she would be happy with the .5 carat G IS. She even admitted the 1 carat would look too big for her small hands. Imagine a woman saying that! Figured she just wanted me to feel better. What woman would turn down a 1 carat?
So I went with what she said. 4500 for the .50 I can do. 9600 for the 1 carat is a no no! But then I learned that I could go through an online dealer and pick my diamond and still have it set in Ritani. So that increased the diamond size range for me to choose w/o increasing the price too much and I ended up picking a .71 E VS2 that I am quite happy with. Not a 1 carat but bigger than the 1/2 and the numbers were a better cut, color, and clarity than Ritani would have given me.
So a few days ago we were in the mall again and she wanted to look at the ring. I knew this was gonna happen and it did. She proceeds to tell me she definately wants the 1 carat. I played along with her and told her I would have to save for awhile...a long while if she wanted it and she wouldn''t have it until sometime next year. That depressed her, I know she wants it in time for Xmas. So I kept playing and told her if she wants a ring soon, she will have to agree on the 1/2 carat. I also told her if I got the half she wouldn''t get it until at least February due to Ritani being so far out in making the rings. Gotta keep the surpirse!
So my main concern and question to everyone is: Did I make the right choice in buying what I did and not waiting to give her what she ultimately wants? She is not a diamond fanatic and by no means an expert on them. This will be her first diamond ring. She has the "bigger is better" mentality now though. I felt the same way before coming to this site and learning a lot. Her friend (that she hasn''t seen forever!) just got engaged with a 2 carat. All my GF was talking about was a 2 carat and how she needs a 1 carat for sure now. For all she knows her friends ring could be flawed up the @$$! I just know she is looking forward to people asking the size of her ring and her telling them its a carat. Does this really matter to women or would you be happy with whatever you received. I could have saved for awhile and gotten a 1 carat but I am ready now and know she is too.
If anyone is familiar with the Ritani ring I chose, is what people say true about the setting making the diamond look bigger? Will a .71 look like a 1? It does have a nice spread to it. I know she will be happy in the end. She isn''t that vane...trust me. It just kills me that I can''t get her what she really wants now! For those of you who have been proposed to, with a ring under a carat, were you dissapointed in the size? Or was that the last thing on your mind.
Thanks again for dealing with my ongoing post.