james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding ban

[babe4]

Hi I am new to pricescope. I thought I posted a question but I must've done something wrong. I have a 1 ct. diamond solitaire in white gold, I also have a 1/2 ct. half eternity diamond prong set wedding band. I am allergic to the alloys mixed with the white gold. I now will be switching to platinum.

I have been looking at james allen, white flash, and ewedding bands. My current rings were preset. My husband nor myself had a cIue about purchasing a ring otherwise (I know sad). I will be purchasing a new setting or if I have to a whole new engagement ring or the diamond and setting. What would be the best route to go? I plan on getting a plain platinum band for now, i think, and definitely a diamond band later. I need help with my options. Should I try and have my current stone set in a different setting? If so, should I go with james allen or white flash and why? I know e wedding bands only sells bands, are they any good?

If I do have to purchase a new diamond, who should I purchase from with a budget of $3000? I know that I may have to sacrifice size, which is a little bothersome. At the same time, my current rings are from Zales, so maybe it's really not a sacrifice. Pricescope seems to be the best place anywhere for advice and suggestions. Forgive me for all of the advice that I need and my true lack of knowledge. Please help! Thank you!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

Welcome! It is a shame that you developed an allergy to the white gold. I will say that unless the diamond turns out to be exceptionally good (does it have GIA grading?), I would probably just reset it in a pendant and start over with a high quality diamond in a platinum setting. The hard part is that not only is platinum high priced right now, so are diamonds.

If you were going to just reset the current stone, I would just recommend doing that locally. All jewelers can get most styles of settings unless you are wanting a designer setting. I wouldn't send a diamond to one of these vendors just for a basic setting.

I really recommend starting over with a new, excellent cut diamond, but it would be very wise to go with a vendor with a good upgrade policy such as WhiteFlash or Good Old Gold, because you may decide to upgrade in a couple of years, and you will be glad you can trade in the new diamond for another with full credit for what you paid for the first stone.

I'd probably just go with the least expensive solitaire setting for now, and spend most of the money on the diamond. I would wait and do the wedding band AFTER you determine the engagement ring because it will need to look right with it.

 

[babe4]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

Thanks for the welcome and reply! No, I do not believe that the diamond is GIA certified. Deep down I agree that starting over is the best thing to do. Also, having a band fit right with my engagement ring is very important to me.

I will look around locally just to outweigh all of my options. As far as maybe having to possibly downsize because of budget, what would be the lowest diamond carat size that you would recommend for a size 5 3/4 finger? I still want decent finger coverage, but a higher quality diamond is more important to me now.

As far as White Flash and Good Old Gold, do you have to pay double of original purchase price to upgrade?

Thank you so much for your suggestions, I felt somewhat lost before, but I feel like I am pointed in the right direction now.

 

[HopeDream]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

For plain bands without diamonds, eweddingbands has pretty good prices and customer service. I bought FI's weding band there. For anything that had diamond melee I'd go whiteflash for theur precicion cut ACA melee - have studs from there that I love. Brian Gavin also has precision cut melee, if you like any of his stuf. Many PSers are also happy with eternity bands from the facets collection, if you want some thing of reasonable quality and price (I think their stones aren't quite precision cut though).

 

[babe4]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

Thank you. ewedding bands are definitely inexpensive. I never would have imagined platinum bands being so, even without diamonds. I think my only real concern would be how it would set with an engagement ring that was never tried on together. But I guess if I go that route, it's a risk worth taking. This is alot to think about but pricescope is definitely making it easier to go into my search with my eyes and mind wide open.

 

[babe4]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

Welcome! It is a shame that you developed an allergy to the white gold. I will say that unless the diamond turns out to be exceptionally good (does it have GIA grading?), I would probably just reset it in a pendant and start over with a high quality diamond in a platinum setting. The hard part is that not only is platinum high priced right now, so are diamonds.

If you were going to just reset the current stone, I would just recommend doing that locally. All jewelers can get most styles of settings unless you are wanting a designer setting. I wouldn't send a diamond to one of these vendors just for a basic setting.

I really recommend starting over with a new, excellent cut diamond, but it would be very wise to go with a vendor with a good upgrade policy such as WhiteFlash or Good Old Gold, because you may decide to upgrade in a couple of years, and you will be glad you can trade in the new diamond for another with full credit for what you paid for the first stone.

I'd probably just go with the least expensive solitaire setting for now, and spend most of the money on the diamond. I would wait and do the wedding band AFTER you determine the engagement ring because it will need to look right with it.

I did post a reply, but I did not do something right, so it is posted under topic but not dircetly to you. But thank you for the info. It's very helpful. I am going to start a new topic asking for local jeweler recommendations in my area. Thanks again.

 

[babe4]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

For plain bands without diamonds, eweddingbands has pretty good prices and customer service. I bought FI's weding band there. For anything that had diamond melee I'd go whiteflash for theur precicion cut ACA melee - have studs from there that I love. Brian Gavin also has precision cut melee, if you like any of his stuf. Many PSers are also happy with eternity bands from the facets collection, if you want some thing of reasonable quality and price (I think their stones aren't quite precision cut though).

Thanks for the advice.I did post a reply but did not qoute it. I am learning slowly but surely how to post on pricescope.

 

[tyty333]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

Hold off on buying a wedding band until you can replace your whole set at the same time. Else you could end up with
a wedding band that wont set nice with any of the engagment rings that you like.

There is really no minimum size of stone for a given finger size. Its usually based on what your budget can handle (decent coverage is
relative). What is your current stone size?

With a budget of $3k (assuming you have another budget for your wedding band) you can get a plain plat. band for $1k
(probably less) and a stone for $2k.

$2k would get you something like this
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2772493.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2724640.htm
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1473288.asp

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

If you need something to wear temporarily, I'd either get a sterling silver band or a tungsten band. I really wouldn't spend a lot on a plain platinum band when your goal is to get a diamond band. The good thing about having an inexpensive band would be that you could wear it places that you wouldn't want to take a chance of damaging your wedding set (sports, yard work, etc.).

You can get this classic 4mm tungsten band for $149 minus $35 spring sale so only $114:

http://www.tungstenworld.com/4mm-6mm-Womens-Mens-Domed-Tungsten-Wedding-Band/

I wear a 5.5 and I do think a carat looks nice, and if you are already used to that, you might feel like something smaller is too small. However, a good idea is to look at .90 stones because that can really save money and get you close to the same look! The other option is to get a halo setting that would have little diamonds around the center stone which will make it look much larger.

 

[rubybeth]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

If you need just a band while you shop for the perfect ring, you can get cheap but substantial-looking titanium bands on OverStock.com, like this one:

http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Watches/Domed-Polished-Titanium-Comfort-Fit-Band/3700016/product.html

 

[webdiva]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

Platinum solitaire is $820 on James Allen. Look for the 10% off coupon online that applies to settings.

http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/platinum-solitaire-diamond-rings.html

 

[webdiva]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

Platinum diamond band:
http://www.jamesallen.com/wedding-and-anniversary/Ladies-Diamond-Rings/18k-White-Gold-Thin-French-Cut-Pave-Set-Diamond-Wedding-Ring.html

$775

If you use your own diamond, you can be under budget for the entire thing!

Make sure you click over to JA from Pricescope, there's an additional discount. Plus an additional 1.5% with a wire fee.

Ok - so if you did that solitaire plus this diamond band, you're at $1575-ish (pre-discount). That leaves you about $1500 for a new stone, if you so choose.

I wonder what this .78 True Hearts looks like (no pic yet). It's an I1, but hey - it's gotta be better than a Zales diamond right?
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/K-I1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1479327.asp

.72 G I2 from GOG:
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9161/

 

[webdiva]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

Just got back from Costco - 3 mm platinum band starts at $449! http://www.costco.com/Browse/ProductSet.aspx?Prodid=11529559&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|108|28447|56577&N=4017533&Mo=9&pos=9&No=0&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=56577&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10573-Cat28447&topnav=

However, consider that purchasing online from a vendor in another state saves you tax.

 

[babe4]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

Hold off on buying a wedding band until you can replace your whole set at the same time. Else you could end up with
a wedding band that wont set nice with any of the engagment rings that you like.

There is really no minimum size of stone for a given finger size. Its usually based on what your budget can handle (decent coverage is
relative). What is your current stone size?

With a budget of $3k (assuming you have another budget for your wedding band) you can get a plain plat. band for $1k
(probably less) and a stone for $2k.

$2k would get you something like this
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2772493.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2724640.htm
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1473288.asp

Thanks so much for the links. I will be looking into to these a bit more. I absolutely agree with holding off on the band the more I look around. It would be way more than I want to deal with if both ering and band did not look right to me.

My current stone is 1 ct. But honestly would consider a downgrade in size for quality.

 

[babe4]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

If you need something to wear temporarily, I'd either get a sterling silver band or a tungsten band. I really wouldn't spend a lot on a plain platinum band when your goal is to get a diamond band. The good thing about having an inexpensive band would be that you could wear it places that you wouldn't want to take a chance of damaging your wedding set (sports, yard work, etc.).

You can get this classic 4mm tungsten band for $149 minus $35 spring sale so only $114:

http://www.tungstenworld.com/4mm-6mm-Womens-Mens-Domed-Tungsten-Wedding-Band/

I wear a 5.5 and I do think a carat looks nice, and if you are already used to that, you might feel like something smaller is too small. However, a good idea is to look at .90 stones because that can really save money and get you close to the same look! The other option is to get a halo setting that would have little diamonds around the center stone which will make it look much larger.

Is tungsten hypoallergenic? I am so really nervous about metals now. Tungsten never came to my mind but it is pretty cheap and has a nice shine. I don't mind going down in size, even though I know it would be a thought every now and then. I was going to upgrade in size within the next couple of years anyway, but now I have to make some sort of move.

 

[babe4]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

If you need just a band while you shop for the perfect ring, you can get cheap but substantial-looking titanium bands on OverStock.com, like this one:

http://www.overstock.com/Jewelry-Watches/Domed-Polished-Titanium-Comfort-Fit-Band/3700016/product.html

Thanks. Titanium is also something that I never thought about to hold me over until I get my new rings. Another very cheap but nice looking option.

 

[babe4]

Re: james allen or white flash or ewedding bands for wedding

Just got back from Costco - 3 mm platinum band starts at $449! http://www.costco.com/Browse/ProductSet.aspx?Prodid=11529559&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|108|28447|56577&N=4017533&Mo=9&pos=9&No=0&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=56577&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10573-Cat28447&topnav=

However, consider that purchasing online from a vendor in another state saves you tax.

I have actually been eyeing that solitaire from james allen for the past couple of days. My current ring is four prong, but now since I need a new ring, I am looking at six prongs as well.

The diamond that I have now is actually a beauty, eye clean, and super sparkly. I have no specs on it though and never would've thought about had it not been for pricescope. So I'm sure as far as quality goes I can get better, that's why I would not have a true issue with going a bit smaller (I think). Decisions, decisions.

But thanks so much for the suggestions, I am considering all of them. I love the french cut band. So pretty.