Going Ring Shopping.. suggestions?

[tgenius]

Now I don''t want to sound like a newb, but its the reality of the whole thing. Anyways, I''m going to be purchasing my engagement ring for my gf and I wanted some suggestions:

What I *DO* know is the following. A Princess Cut Diamond, G or better color rating, VS1 or better Clarity Rating, and preferable a Very Good or Better Cut with a LxW Ratio of 1.00-1.05 set in a Solitaire Platinum Band. Carat size somewhere between .5-1, depending on cost.

My question is, How much ring given those values can I expect from $3000-3500? I live in Miami, FL and plan on going to the famous Seybold building this weekend, so if anyone has any good honest jewelers there that they recommend and give a good deal, I''d GREATLY appreciate it. I went looking through the forums and all of the posts I saw were very helpful and full of information.

Thanks!

 

[tgenius]

Anyone?

 

[sunkist]

Well, I''m sorry I don''t know a thing about Princess cuts, but doing a search for them above it looks like you could get in the .8-1.0ct range. But I have no idea what the market on stones are at the places you will be visiting. Stones are usually cheaper from these online vendors than at B&M stores. Good luck! I hope you find a stone you love!

 

[firstbase32]

i had a lot of trouble finding people that knew about princess cut diamonds on here man....there were only like 1 or 2 people that knew a great deal about them.

 

[tgenius]

Thank sunkist.. I understand that the Seybold building is one of the best places to get a Diamond (almost on the level of the NY strip that everyone rants about) I just want something nice that my soon to be fiancee will be proud to wear.

 

[froufrou]

from what i''ve found, local stores will try to charge more than double the price of what I can find online. If you search for your preference on here and print out a page with prices of what online stores are charging, you can whip that out when they tell you a price and compare and usually they will go down in price for you., although it wont ever be as cheap as online I don''t think.

a lot of local stores in my area were bogus, like took out this .5 ct stone with no cert and were explaining how its worth 6,000 because of its amazingness...so basically do some research on here to find what prices you want!!!

 

[tgenius]

froufrou-thanks for the quick response. I plan on having printouts of the main diamonds I am looking at online to combat that. The Seybold building houses 270 different jewelers, so the competition is apparently very strong and whatnot. I''m going primarily to a jeweler that my best man to be (and his brother too) used for their purchases, so that should help, but anyone else in the Seybold building I can speak with would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JulieN]

www.ideal-scope.com $25 that makes you an instant expert (well, almost)

 

[Gypsy]

Whiteflash... is it whiteflash?? I think it is... has AGS 0 princesses (well, a lot of people have them) and a good selection of them PLUS they give you as many pictures with different types of scopes and things AND they are very honest about which diamonds they consider the best looking. For your budget I would definitely not look for such high clarity... with a princess you have more leeway a good VS2 or even a great SI1 (eye clean) is going to be your best bet. Even if you don't want to buy from them give them a call. If you do get an AGS 0 you can even consider H's because of the cut and light return you will get the diamond facing up much whiter than it is. Personally Whiteflash and Dimend Scaasi have some of the nicest settings (actually Scaasi has the nicest IMO) and both have great reputations, prices, and selection... and both have very knowledgable staff to help you make a descision.

I know you want to go to local stores.... and you should. But HONESTLY, you are going to get the nicest, brightest diamond for your price range online.

 

[tgenius]

Gypsy-even in light of the fact that Seybold has 270-280 jewelers in it? I''m planning on printing out the diamonds I find online to take to the store to match the price.

Side note, I''ve now decided to drop it down to $2500 for the ring, considering We are going to have to pay for the reception almost completely. It''s a sacrifice I wish I didn''t have to make, but in the long run, there''s always the possibility of upgrading the gem in the future.

 

[Gypsy]

I''ve been to the Diamond district in NY and to the Gift Center in SF. More jewelers in one place does NOT a good deal make. They have LOTS of competition, know it, and know you know it. You''d think this would be a good thing, right? No, frequently (in my experience) that makes most of them use used car salesman tactics to get you to buy, and buy NOW. Leave your wallet in the car... and your credit cards in the house except one (for deposits). Go there... Armed. Find out what the best they have to offer is. Get the numbers for the diamonds (ALL OF THEM)-- stick to GIA and AGS (no matter what they say)... IF you can find one with an AGS "ideal" cut (it will say so on the cert I believe) find out what their BEST deal on that diamond is ( if you put a deposit down GET IT IN WRITING that it is refundable. NEVER put down a cash deposit-- credit cards have protection)-- and come home and look up a similar diamond online at one of the PS vendors. See what you find.

I will point out to you that there are MANY MANY people on PS who live near diamond mega clusters (like NY and SF and LA) and still have bought online.

ALSO... PS vendors (most of them) have upgrade policies. You dropped your budget down... fine. But if you get your diamond from a place that offers you 100% buy back pricing for the diamond for upgrades you never have to worry about losing money on a diamond because your lady and you are in a better financial position in a couple of years and she would like a bigger diamond. And please understand PS vendors don''t just exist on the web... most of them have WELL established jewelry store in real life that you can go to. They just also happen to sell online.

Just giving you food for thought.

 

[tgenius]

Gypsy-Thank you for your opinions, it''s GREATLY appreciated.I plan on searching around, and if I''m not given the best deal, then no, I won''t do it. I wish some of the PS vendors were in Miami so I could see them in person. Sigh, what a pain to get this ring.. Hopefully it will all be over soon.

In a princess cut, isn''t the cut (PRemium or Ideal) almost as important (if not moreso) then the clarity and color? My understanding is in a smaller stone, the clarity and color don''t have as much weight as the cut due to the size?

 

[JulieN]

Yes, in a smaller size, you can go down farther in color and clarity. Cut is very important in small stones; a .5 princess underperforms a .5 round

 

[Gypsy]

Okay. In ANY diamond the QUALITY OF THE CUT IS THE SINGLE most important thing.

The clarity and the color first depend on what shape/ type of cut you are getting. If you are getting a step cut (emerald, asscher...) those cuts tend to show more inclusions and more color. If you are getting something else... then as long as it is eye clean and it is the BEST possible cut quality the fire and sparkle of the cut will hide inclusions. I have seen HOF Dream cut SI1 where I could NOT, under 10x magnification spot the inclusion. Even when the jeweler pointed it out to me. Also with non-step cuts they will face up, when exceptionally cut, whiter than they are. That same Dream cut was an H and honestly... I couldn''t tell the difference in color-- face up-- between that and my F side by side (not against a white background).

That is why cut quality is paramount. You can compromise of the other things... clarity, color. But do NOT compromise on cut quality.

 

[tgenius]

JulieN-What do you think I can get with a Platinum Setting around $2000-2500 in Princess Cut? .6 or .7? Any input is greatly appreciated. She wants the princess, not the round cut, but it seems to be the "in" cut right now.

 

[tgenius]

So either Ideal or Premium cut, No Very Good cuts correct?

 

[spyder16]

tgenius it looks like were on the same boat. i also live in miami and i''m also a newbie. i went this weekend over to downtown and spent like 4 hrs in one store looking at different rings/setting and then went to check out 2 others. so far Freddy''s been the best place with the nicest diamonds and very helpful staff, there not to pushy. Do you know if ur gf. likes princess or round? i know round tends to be a little more $ but it looks the best in my opinion.

 

[Gypsy]

Either AGS Ideal, IMO or the best GIA (GIA doesn''t give ratings for princesses yet) you can find.

BUT word of caution-- I''ve had jewelers tell me all kinds of (pardon the language) crap was ''ideal cut''. They get away with that by claiming ''ideal'' is subective. It''s not. Either its an ideal or it''s a very good... or it''s something else. So like I said becareful.

And no matter WHAT those jewelers say... please post specs for us before buying.

Not just clarity and color and carat weight. MM size, table, depth, girdle, culet, if you can get them pavilion... etc.. symmetry, polish. ALL of that information is crucial.

And if they will give you a photocopy of the cert so we can see the inclusion plotting even better... if they won''t make a note of the type of inclusions and where they are located.

If you see a feather make sure it doesn''t break the surface or the girdle.

 

[JulieN]

For price comparison purposes:
.72 G SI1 http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?pid=LD00488640
.72 H VS2 http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?pid=LD00488637
.62 H VS1 http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?pid=LD00315768

A simple plat setting will be about 500.

 

[tgenius]

She wants princess cut, in platinum solitaire setting. Very simple. I''m heading to Seybold''s this weekend with a friend who bought,his brother,and his best friend all bought their rings.. I don''t want to blow the bank, but I''d like something nice. What did you see over at Seybold.. is it more hype or is it really as good as I hear?

 

[tgenius]

So I should look for a dealer who sells AGS Certified gems as they declare cut as Ideal for Princess Cut stones, correct? How many jewelers actually do AGS certified?

 

[Gypsy]

Julie.. how about this one??

http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?pid=LD00955122&filter_id=0&sec=&query=21&page=&sortby=size-d

 

[tgenius]

Gypsy.. see I don''t entirely get it.. its ideal cut, but the Clarity is SI1, which you can see imperfections with naked eye, correct?

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 6/5/2006 8:38:17 PM
Author: tgenius
Gypsy.. see I don't entirely get it.. its ideal cut, but the Clarity is SI1, which you can see imperfections with naked eye, correct?

Yes, and no. SI1 means you MAY have inclusions you wil be able to see with the naked eye. If it's not an eye clean SI1-- you will. BUT you can get an eye-clean SI1... that means that it has inclusion types, or inclusion locations, or inclusion clusters that make it an SI1. But that DEFINITELY doesn't mean that it's visible to the naked eye. Could be a cluster of small needles or pinpoints-- none of the visible to the eye individually... and just a concentration of them in one particular location on the diamond. Well, they aren't visible when you look it-- so what does it matter if some guy in a lab decided this wasn't a desirable phenomenon. They aren't dangerous... so go for it.

Many savvy pricescopers (I think Mara has that GORGEOUS SI1) will search doggedly for an eyeclean SI1 that doesn't have any dangerous inclusions because you can get a MUCH larger stone without sacrificing anything. And I mean 2 carat PLUS stones where you'd normally be wary of clarity issues. BUT all of them are ideal cut SI's without dangerously located incusions. Because that's the key.

You don't know me from Eve... but I swear to you I have seen SI1's that UNDER 10x MAGNIFICATION I could not find the inclusion on. It's very diamond and cut specific.

But now you are wondering... If I order from an online vendor how will I know it's eyeclean??? I can't see it. WELL. That's why we value our vendors and recommend them... because we call and ask and they tell us the truth. It doesn't benifit them if they don't. We'd get the diamond see the inclusion, return the thing... then post something here on it and they'd lose their reputations. And thier reputations are everything on here. They know that. Plus, they are a genuinely awesome bunch.

That's why I was recommending PS vendors to you. They are used to finding needles in haystacks for us...lol. We put them through hell... and they come through for us. Bang for Buck!

 

[tgenius]

Yeah, I called Blue Nile and they assured me their diamonds were Ideal Cut SI1 that were eye clean. I checked the other guys (that dimend scassi and the other mentioned) but I don''t see smaller ideal cut gems.

 

[Gypsy]

Well. They may not have any in or posted on their site. That doesn't mean they can't get some in for you and tell you which one to buy. BN is a good site and many people have bought from them happily. PSers don't generally tend to go to BN because they don't offer you pictures, ideal scope information, or really... anything else. So it's a bit of a crap shoot... especially when you can call Whiteflash, or GOG and tell them what you want and have them just get the diamonds in for you. BUT, that's what we are comfortable because we know them... Or James Allen. Just call them up tell them what you want... they find it, they a couple that look like the best bets in... they'll photograph it for you send you all kinds of pics and information... AND they'll tell you which one to pick. All these vendors have been known to tell people to go for a less expensive stone than they were leanig toward because the less expensive one was a better performer. These jewelers are diamond brokers... they have access to a large inventory of diamonds and can find diamonds to order given the right information and some time and they won't pressure you to go with a diamond they happen to have in stock... just because they'd make a bigger profit on it.

I'd just start reading posts on here about the vendors and call them tomorrow. Get a feel for who you feel comfortable with... and see what happens... they'll be happy to answer all your questions.

 

[tgenius]

Ok, so James Allen or WhiteFlash...James Allen looks very impressive in regards to the variety, but some of them don''t have the GIA cert pic, does that mean it doesn''t have it, or just doesn''t have it online?

 

[JulieN]

Date: 6/5/2006 8:32:48 PM
Author: Gypsy
Julie.. how about this one??

http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?pid=LD00955122&filter_id=0&sec=&query=21&page=&sortby=size-d

shallow

 

[tgenius]

Julien.. what is your opinion on white flash and james allen diamonds? I found a Princess Cut Ideal with a perfect 1.00 LxW ratio...

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?cid=130&item=823671

 

[Gypsy]

If it says it has the cert... even if it''s not posted... it does and they will get you a picture of it. You''re just going to have to call them and ask them all your questions. They don''t bite!