Some prep questions before buying marquise ER

[CirqueDuMort]

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And somehow I wasn't clear, but I'm willing to go out on a limb and take a risk buying something unusual, and have her return it. That's preferable to something safer. It's just the way we are.
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Are you sure you both are on that same page? You don't have to answer here, but how long has she been single? The reason I say that is I'm in roughly the same age group, and I've been single almost 10 years. And I would not want a man choosing an engagement ring totally as a unilateral decision, because I'm an independent adult and that approach smacks of authoritarian husband, and I'd find it offensive. I'd also find it MIGHTY AWKWARD to be presented with an e-ring that I hate, by the man that I love. That's like putting someone in a no-win situation. "Hey honey, I hate that ring, but yes, I'll marry you!" I mean, just think that through, put yourself in that situation of she gives you a watch that you HATE, and you don't want to wear it every day, but exactly what do you say to her to avoid hurting her feelings.

One of the huge problems I had with recently divorced and widowed men is that they are still in the long-term married-mindset, and don't seem to grasp the fact that a new marriage doesn't pick up where the first left off, and a woman who has been single a long time isn't necessarily going to accept a subordinate role. It's one reason why I quit dating those guys, actually. They never quite seemed to get a clue that I wasn't just going to mold myself to their every whim or edict.

You could propose with a placeholder ring, like a good cz ring or a birthstone ring or just some kind of pretty ring, and then pick the real e-ring together. That's what I recommend, actually. Then you are not wasting time and money on a ring she may hate, and she won't be in the awkward position of not being pleased with the ring style that you chose. Just my $0.02. ymmv

Thanks, but yes I'm confident. We are both very fashion oriented, and I buy her stuff all the time: jewelry, clothes, shoes, bags lingerie and art. Most of the time she loves the stuff and wears it. Sometimes she doesn't and we return it. She brags to her friends about my ability to pick stuff out. (I'm not bragging, just saying for this purpose.)

I know she would prefer one I picked out if I can get it right. But there will be no disappointment on either side if it's returned and she picks a new one.

 

[CirqueDuMort]

Your story is heartbreaking and heartwarming. You sound very passionate about your future fiancé and wife- great start to a new beginning. I do have a question- when you say that she wears a lot of black and loves red (including lipstick)- I am seeing a very sophisticated and/or artsy type woman. What type of work does she do? I say this (while echoing what others have said) because a vintage (I mean 30s 40s 50s) marquise sounds cool and sophisticated. I am not sure I see the same thing when I picture the ring you mention. To me, it sounds very 90s (just my personal opinion) and not the cool/artsy/playful/unique vibe that you describe.

Also, this is not at all like you said, but this ring is very cool and very unique. What about something like this with rubies instead of onyx if you don't like the black?

http://www.singlestone.com/index.php?page=collections&catID=14&pID=1744&startRow=14

Thanks. She's not exactly artsy. She's educated, funny, urban and a little sassy. She does non-profit work and is in her mid-thirties, never married. She's an amazing catch, I'm incredibly lucky.

I'd love a vintage one and looked. But I just don't think she would like pave, bezel or halo settings at all and so many of them are like that. And a lot of the antique ring places have very short return periods, which makes the timing a little more difficult but not impossible if I found the perfect thing.

* I am also considering OEC rounds, maybe with the sidestones.
* Or a marquise solitaire (maybe with rosegold which is trendy but she does like to wear both yellow and silver gold) and forgo the ruby sidestones.
* I really like this too, no ruby.[/list]

http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/ind...ue-fluorescence-e-vs1-perfect-shape-gia-r4573

And I personally LOVE this, but it's not her. She doesn't do brown.

http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/index.php/jewelry/three-stone-diamond-broewn-diamond-GIA-yellow-Ring

 

[Niel]

Can I ask one thing?

Does it have to have rubies? This is personal preference and lord knows this isn't my ring, but what would you think of keeping the ring all diamonds, then the wedding band all rubies? A good ruby is notoriously hard to find! ( just ask the colored stones side of this forum) and can be expensive. BUT, a classic marquise paired with a French cut sapphire band could get the same effect (diamonds and rubies) without mixing things too much.



Here's an example of what I'm talking about.
http://www.rubylane.com/item/1035398-1851/Wedding-Band-Ring-Platinum-French-cut

And if she wants "unique", I'd be willing to bet her friends don't have a wedding band like that! Plus the vintage band will lend itself to the vintage 40s vibe and away from the 80s vibe. Pair that with a marquise in a baguette setting, to die for.

Just an idea, again, don't want to discourage you at all because you sound like you know her style well, i just think the most classic rings have one element, and save the second element for the w band.

Eta: I've even seen black ones, so maybe you could even mix and match a stack with red and black and white diamond e ring.

 

[CirqueDuMort]

I love marquise. And they are coming back! If you think she will like them, you know her better than any of us, so don't let us talk you out of one.

James Allen had 3 great marquise in your price range, but DRK currently has them all reserved.

I should be making a decision (I don't wanna step on his toes, but i cant imagine he needs all three) and I might contact JA after he makes his decision and pick one of those. All the asets are actually really nice.

Thanks, I'm not being talked out of one at all. But I am thinking hard about alternatives.

Yes, I saw those others and will keep a look-out, although, I'll have to wait a bit. I can't really buy for a few more months. So it's good they are reserved.

I like this one too, what do you think? (I'm testing my ability to spot good ones.)

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/marquise-cut/1.25-carat-g-color-vs1-clarity-sku-291101

Can I ask one thing?

Does it have to have rubies? This is personal preference and lord knows this isn't my ring, but what would you think of keeping the ring all diamonds, then the wedding band all rubies? A good ruby is notoriously hard to find! ( just ask the colored stones side of this forum) and can be expensive. BUT, a classic marquise paired with a French cut sapphire band could get the same effect (diamonds and rubies) without mixing things too much.



Here's an example of what I'm talking about.
http://www.rubylane.com/item/1035398-1851/Wedding-Band-Ring-Platinum-French-cut

And if she wants "unique", I'd be willing to bet her friends don't have a wedding band like that! Plus the vintage band will lend itself to the vintage 40s vibe and away from the 80s vibe. Pair that with a marquise in a baguette setting, to die for.

Just an idea, again, don't want to discourage you at all because you sound like you know her style well, i just think the most classic rings have one element, and save the second element for the w band.

Eta: I've even seen black ones, so maybe you could even mix and match a stack with red and black and white diamond e ring.

It doesn't have to be rubies, no. She LOVES red. But I get that about rubies - that they are hard to find. I'd even prefer red garnet but JA doesn't sell them and the ring HAS to be returnable preferably with a long window.

The wedding band idea is a good one though. It would have to be a darker red than that, but very intriguing. Thank you for that idea. If you see anything darker post it please.

 

[Niel]

Yeah that was just an example of the style, I'm sure you could find one with a bit more red, i just wanted to get the idea across.

You can always get a post going to ask people to find you one. People love that on here. Just need her size.

Either way I think that's an easy way to incorporate a lot of red into her wedding set in a classy and probably easier way than finding a pair of really nice pear rubies. Plus it has the added benefit of her input, as she can help pick that out after the initial engagement

 

[Niel]

Also, rubies and rose gold don't really go together,so you might want to avoid that.

 

[drk14]

(I don't wanna step on his toes, but i cant imagine he needs all three)

ALL THE MARQUISE ARE BELONG TO ME!

No, I kid.

CirqueDuMort: Depending on what the JA gemologist says on Monday, I may have two of these marquises shipped to me for a final decision, in which case you will have the benefit of getting opinions from three people who have seen the stones IRL (the gemologist, myself, and David Atlas). Also, I am still working with GOG to search for a candidate marquise from their sources, and if I like their pick the best, then all three JA diamonds that Niel found will be back in play.

Niel: You obviously have a great eye for picking marquise cuts in the JA database. You might want to look through the SI2 options at JA on OP's behalf, since he is open to eye-clean SI2 and colors as low as H (whereas when you were looking for me, my parameters were more restricted, at SI1+ and G+). Thus, there may be a few additional beauties out there, that we missed.

 

[drk14]

I like this one too, what do you think? (I'm testing my ability to spot good ones.)

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/marquise-cut/1.25-carat-g-color-vs1-clarity-sku-291101

OK, even though I'm clearly no expert, I'm going to give my opinion, to see if I'm getting better at this and also to bump your request for feedback so that the real pro(sumer)s will chime in.

- In my opinion, this stone has a lovely shape, and it has a very minimal bowtie, which is good. It also has a fairly uniform distribution of contrast zones (in top-down view), which is also good. The not so good is that it has a lot of indistinct and blurry virtual facets when you go away from the belly region. I'm not sure if this is also an example of "mush" (a phenomenon that has been discussed in my thread and elsewhere on PS), or if it is called something different, but I don't think it's good. I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a speculation that is way beyond my expertise level:
I would guess that the net effect of this type of blurry virtual faceting is that when looking through the diamond, you will see reflections that look kind of like the type of reflections that come off ripples on the surface of water. The marquises in this video show an example of what I'm trying to explain about the water ripple look (especially in the spotlight lighting that starts at 3:05), although I have no idea if those diamonds actually have any blurry virtual facets, so I may be way out of line here.

Hopefully someone here will correct me if the above is completely wrong.

 

[Niel]

(I don't wanna step on his toes, but i cant imagine he needs all three)

ALL THE MARQUISE ARE BELONG TO ME!

No, I kid.

CirqueDuMort: Depending on what the JA gemologist says on Monday, I may have two of these marquises shipped to me for a final decision, in which case you will have the benefit of getting opinions from three people who have seen the stones IRL (the gemologist, myself, and David Atlas). Also, I am still working with GOG to search for a candidate marquise from their sources, and if I like their pick the best, then all three JA diamonds that Niel found will be back in play.

Niel: You obviously have a great eye for picking marquise cuts in the JA database. You might want to look through the SI2 options at JA on OP's behalf, since he is open to eye-clean SI2 and colors as low as H (whereas when you were looking for me, my parameters were more restricted, at SI1+ and G+). Thus, there may be a few additional beauties out there, that we missed.

the ones you've got are pretty special, there aren't a lot out like that.

Of the ones that are left available, here are a few i maybe would consider

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/marquise-cut/1.18-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-sku-355540

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/marquise-cut/1.51-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-sku-347757

 

[petrock<3]

Here are two marquise settings I like that I just posted in the other marquise thread. How fun to have two going at the same time. Although I did jumble you guys up.

Some eye candy for you, I'm not really good at finding diamonds.

Congratulations on finding someone special!

 

[Travelgal]

I ran across this ring today and immediately thought of your quest. This is a little over your budget and not exactly what you are looking for, but the color of the rubies made me think of your original post and I had to share. Hope all is well.
http://www.wannabuyawatch.com/indpages/43525.html

 

[Niel]

I saw this and thought of you too.

http://loupetroop.com/listings/bands/ruby-and-platinum-carre-cut-band;3773