Trying to help a friend...need to build a 3 stone eRing ASAP!!!

[Buster_DL]

Hey Everyone,
So many here on PS were such a HUGE help when I was searching for my Fiance''s eRing last April-June. Well, one of my best friends has decided to ''take the plunge'' and start looking for a ring. I offered to help him, as I did learn A LOT about diamonds and buying them online during my own hunt. Now, I come to you all again asking for help on behalf of my buddy. I feel a bit bad about asking for help again, but we are on a VERY tight timeframe here...he needs the ring by 12/16 (I know, nothing like last minute shopping here!). Here is what I know so far:

"I know that she wants a three-stone arrangement, platinum band, round cut stones, nothing big or gawdy (phew ), so I’m thinking if I can stay around 1 carat total weight with a decent cut and overall quality, hopefully that stays in my price range."

He hasn''t given me what his price range is yet, so unfortunately I can''t tell you that. Once I know I''ll be sure to post, but I wanted to get this post out ASAP to get the wheels rolling! BUT, I know nothing about the best way to shop for and build a 3 stone eRing. I''m assuming the center stone is the largest, and the side stones are smaller yet similar characteristics, but I truly have NO IDEA! I bought a solitaire and never looked into a 3 stone, so I''m almost a noobie again! Any advice, ideas, hints, help and overall wisdom you could provide us would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks so much in advance!

Buster

 

[bar01]

Some things to play with - where you can build your own 3 stone ring.


Blue Nile Build Your Own Ring


Debeers Build Your Own

 

[Buster_DL]

Thanks Bar01. That''ll help give us an idea of what options there are hopefully, but I''m not sold on Blue Nile or Debeers as far as actually purchasing stones/rings from them. I prefer some of the more common vendors you see people around here using. I know more about them and feel they offer the best diamonds/prices. Thanks again for the links!

Buster

 

[bar01]

Date: 12/1/2004 3:37:48 PM
Author: Buster_DL
Thanks Bar01. That''ll help give us an idea of what options there are hopefully, but I''m not sold on Blue Nile or Debeers as far as actually purchasing stones/rings from them. I prefer some of the more common vendors you see people around here using. I know more about them and feel they offer the best diamonds/prices. Thanks again for the links!

Buster

No - I was not recommending these sites -they just fun to play with when you are starting your search. They give you their own recommmended styles and size of side stones - but there are lots of other combinations and styles out there.

I used one of the well known vendors here for my three stone.


Here is another link to look at that shows some different ratios (%) from center to sides. Of course these are rounds and all diamonds - there are other good combinations.

Thee stone proportions

 

[Buster_DL]

Thanks again...that discussion is a great help!

Budget for this is $3-$4 thousand. Definately doable if we stick around that 1 ct. total weight (maybe even up to 1.2 CT or so). Do most people buy a setting with the side stones already mounted and then just buy the center? What is the smallest size that would fit in the side and center setting? Thanks in advance...

Buster

 

[Hest88]

MOST people buy with the sidestones already mounted but we''re not most people!

If I were buying a 3-stone I''d want to chose the sidestones so that all the stones match as closely in appearance as possible. Any of the trusted PS vendors should be able to help your friend do that.

 

[perry]

Buster:

Your freind has limited time so I will give you some straight advice on how to pull this off:

First, you need to know about what the budget is - or your freind better have an idea. When I first started looking at Diamonds I was blown away with the cost of them. Does he understand that he is talking 5000 - 10000 or more....

Second, there are really three choices to make on diamond cut quality - and due to the time involved you do not have a lot of time to shop. Thus I am going to recommend that you work directly with some specific vendors based on what he wants.

The following ratings are based on my personal experience gleaned from the site and studying many sites (and from my recent experience with searching for specific diamonds).

A) Super super ideal - the best light performance from the diamonds and certification of that performance. This is the provadance of Good Old Gold and NiceIce. Not saying that you cannot find such diamonds elsewhere on some of the other sites; just that these two Vendors focus on stocking only the best of the best and won''t stock many of the diamonds listed on the other sites. Just tell them that you want a best of the best stones and they can advise you from their.

B) Super ideal - very good cut diamonds with great to the best light performance. Superbcert and Whiteflash have a large selection of these diamonds ready to go.

C) Ordinary diamonds where you do your best to sort based on HCA to get the better performing diamonds, but where you can also get diamonds that have no life at all. DirtCheap diamonds, Engagement Rings Direct, Union Diamonds, USA Certed, etc.

Given the time your setting selection will be limited. You will probably not get Vatche settings in time as they like to set your stone in their settings in their factory. However, any of the vendors will have either basic 3 stone settings in house, or even have, or can get on a few days notice, some of the standard settings available from companies like Scott Kay or others that already have sidestones set in them.

My advice is, given the time at hand, for you and your freind to determine what quality of diamonds you are looking for (A,B,C). Then contact one or more of the vendors in that group and ask what can be done for the budget, and to e-mail you picutes of possible settings. My guess is that your freind will have a great ring within 10 - 14 days, which includes the time necessary to have it independently appraised by one of the PriceScope appraisers.

You can alternately research things for days, and debate, and push things to the end - or you can choose to trust the jeweler to help with your selection. None of the vendors in the A & B catagory will stear you wrong, and several in the C cantagory here have equally great reputations (DirtCheap, Engagement Rings Direct). I cannot speak to some of the others in the C catagory.

Hope this helps. my $0.04 worth (inflation, you know).

Perry

 

[Buster_DL]

Thanks Perry for all your help! His budget is around $3-4 thousand (a bit less than you said we should expect!). I''ve done enough looking around though i''m positive we can stay within that budget if we stick to the 1 CT total weight goal. Whiteflash has a bunch of diamonds in the range he''d need (.25-.6) so we may start there. Thanks!

Buster

 

[bar01]

Whiteflash is a good place to go.

May I go out on a limb with a suggestion? With your bugdet and wanting a three stone ring - maybe a 0.5ct center stone and two 0.25ct sides? G or H color, SI-1's, ACA (or superideal cuts) and a simple but nice setting?

The ratio is up to you, but the 2-1 ratio is often mentioned. Of couse if you down size the sides you can up size the center.

Problem I had was finding two nicely matched side stones.

Good luck.

 

[valeria101]

Just a thought

 

[Mara]

I recently tried on a 3 stone ring that was center stone of .80c and sides of .40c each. The stones were about I SI.

I know from past research that you can build something similar to that with a plain 3 stone setting for around $4-5k...so your friend should be able to get something a bit smaller...maybe .70c and sides of .30c each or similar, and be over that 1c mark and stay within budget.

I would highly recommend well-cut I SI stones or similar to maximize the budget, the ones I tried on were SOOOO sparkly and beautiful and complimented each other, the cut was probably part of it....and the 3 stone in that size looked huge on my finger because of the spread of the stones across the finger.

Hope this helps!

 

[Mara]

Ooooh I found the stones! Better yet they are H SI. As long as they are eye clean! Add about $500 for a basic 3 stone setting in white gold and you are done for $4k.

http://www.pricescope.com/origin.asp?id=772&sh=88&prc=2227
.73 H SI2 $2227 AGS0 HCA

http://www.pricescope.com/origin.asp?id=1710&sh=88&prc=616
.35 H SI1 H&A AGS0 $616 1.4 EX HCA

http://www.pricescope.com/origin.asp?id=1709&sh=88&prc=625
.35 H SI1 H&A AGS0 $625 1.3 EX HCA

*I* want this ring!!

Oh and yes the big stone is from one vendor and the other 2 from another, but that isn't a problem at all. Find out which of the 2 vendors has the best low-cost settings and go from there in terms of who sets what!

 

[Buster_DL]

Thanks Mara! I really appreciate you digging those up! I think his girl prefers platinum, which would put him over $4k with those stones, but your advice is well taken.

Buster

 

[fortheloveofdiamonds]

If he is on a budget, he needs to give somewhere, either size of the diamonds, or the setting. IMO, many people can''t tell the difference between plat and white gold. I am sure a lot of people around here who have rings in white gold can''t even count the times that they have been asked "is that platinum?" Anyways, I know if you gave me a choice between bigger rocks and platinum? i''d go with bigger rocks...

 

[perry]

Does Buster have time to get diamonds from different vendors for this situation? I think not which is why I recommeded that he chose a single vendor to assemble the entire thing.

Perry

 

[Mara]

Perry, it doesn''t take any longer to purchase from 2 vendors than it does to purchase from 1. You call one and have them ship the diamonds to the other vendor, then 2nd vendor sets all 3 into setting. Done!

Buster, on the platinum...I would agree with FLOD...I''d go with bigger stones than a platinum setting anyday. Sometimes also they can do temporary settings which may be the white gold and then they can upgrade to a platinum setting later?

 

[valeria101]

H-SI2.... the center. I would likely be fine with this, but there weren''t too much PS folk willing to reconsider the "mineral" origin of diamonds this closely.