Hi Folks,
I''m getting ready to pop the question and am looking at going with a sapphire - the lovely lady is very conflict-conscious, and previously made the point that "conflict free diamonds" and plain old blood diamonds share the same market place and buying one affects demand for the other. Sound logic or not, diamonds are out.
So now I''m getting down to business on the internet trying to put something together with a sapphire. My girl likes blue and apparently sapphires are a somewhat established alternative, so that''s where I am. If someone has other ideas I''m open to suggestion as well.
That said, I''m a standard clueless guy and really don''t know what I should be shopping for. Here are some open questions:
What shape stone should I get?
I''ve been thinking round since that seems to be the standard with diamonds, but I''m not sure if that''s true for sapphires, or if there is any sort of standard. Due to price constraints it will probably be a solitaire setting, so I also like round for being more intrinsically balanced.
What size is reasonable?
It seems like sapphires price significantly cheaper than diamonds, so I can put a bigger rock on her finger. I''m looking to spend $700-$1000 for the ring (I''m a poor student), but I''m leaning towards a relatively simple setting (~$300 18k white gold/plated), which gives me up to ~$700 for the stone. It''s worth mentioning that the lady is petite and has fairly small hands, I don''t want her to look like she''s wearing costume jewelry when she puts the thing on.
Opinions on colors?
I lean towards slightly darker blues, but it seems like the ideal for sapphires is "cornflower," which as I understand it is on the lighter end of blue.
Where should I be shopping?
Given the somewhat tight budget, I''m trying to get the most for my money. It seems like there''s a pretty good consensus on the best places to buy diamonds, but I''m not buying diamonds. Anyone had experiences they want to share?
I was initially leaning towards this stone: http://www.israel-diamonds.com/product/Sapphire/sg/34001.aspx, but it seems like the site (israel-diamonds.com) has gotten some mixed reviews; at the very least they''ve been shilling their site on the boards here posing as customers.
Whew, that''s a lot. Thanks in advance for any help, and let me know if there''s anything else I can provide in terms of information.
I''m getting ready to pop the question and am looking at going with a sapphire - the lovely lady is very conflict-conscious, and previously made the point that "conflict free diamonds" and plain old blood diamonds share the same market place and buying one affects demand for the other. Sound logic or not, diamonds are out.
So now I''m getting down to business on the internet trying to put something together with a sapphire. My girl likes blue and apparently sapphires are a somewhat established alternative, so that''s where I am. If someone has other ideas I''m open to suggestion as well.
That said, I''m a standard clueless guy and really don''t know what I should be shopping for. Here are some open questions:
What shape stone should I get?
I''ve been thinking round since that seems to be the standard with diamonds, but I''m not sure if that''s true for sapphires, or if there is any sort of standard. Due to price constraints it will probably be a solitaire setting, so I also like round for being more intrinsically balanced.
What size is reasonable?
It seems like sapphires price significantly cheaper than diamonds, so I can put a bigger rock on her finger. I''m looking to spend $700-$1000 for the ring (I''m a poor student), but I''m leaning towards a relatively simple setting (~$300 18k white gold/plated), which gives me up to ~$700 for the stone. It''s worth mentioning that the lady is petite and has fairly small hands, I don''t want her to look like she''s wearing costume jewelry when she puts the thing on.
Opinions on colors?
I lean towards slightly darker blues, but it seems like the ideal for sapphires is "cornflower," which as I understand it is on the lighter end of blue.
Where should I be shopping?
Given the somewhat tight budget, I''m trying to get the most for my money. It seems like there''s a pretty good consensus on the best places to buy diamonds, but I''m not buying diamonds. Anyone had experiences they want to share?
I was initially leaning towards this stone: http://www.israel-diamonds.com/product/Sapphire/sg/34001.aspx, but it seems like the site (israel-diamonds.com) has gotten some mixed reviews; at the very least they''ve been shilling their site on the boards here posing as customers.
Whew, that''s a lot. Thanks in advance for any help, and let me know if there''s anything else I can provide in terms of information.