Doing big ring shopping day tomorrow - wish me luck!

[katrina_33]

We''re going for a pretty long day of ring shopping - starting with XIV Carats in Beverly Hills for settings, moving on to Philip Press in West Hollywood for settings, and then the downtown jewelry district to look at stones.

I visited XIV and Philip Press (along with many other upscale / custom jewelers) to scope out settings over the past week or so, and I''m glad I did. I narrowed it WAY down, and really feel that these are the only 2 I''d need to take him to. They each had about 10 rings that I LOVED, so plenty of options!

I''ve called 4 stone vendors downtown to be sure that they have some stones in that meet my specs, and set up casual appointments with them as well.

I''ll update everyone on how it goes tomorrow!

 

[JCJD]

How exciting! I hope you two have a good time! Definitely let us know how it goes!

 

[Blue824]

Sounds fun! Good luck shopping

 

[MissAva]

Oh this is so exciting! Dont forget to post details about how it all goes!

 

[katrina_33]

Hello all - of course I JUST walked in the door and had to post right away! We only went to two places, but I feel 100% confident that that''s all we need to see together. (I''d done tons of online research and visited a bunch in advance to narrow the field and make it more managable for him). We went to XIV in Beverly Hills for settings. They have so many settings in house, it''s actually overwhelming. They carry Precision Set, Tacori, Jack Kelege, Ritani, Charles Krypell, and tons of other great designers. My BF was very patient and showed genuine interest in learning the details about mountings. Our tastes were in line, he could see when I would think an undercarriage would be "too busy" too high set, too "stuck on top of the band" etc, and which bezels I would think were too bulky or chunky.

He was so cute because he was really struggling with vocabulary - he kept saying we wanted G or H clarity, and calling bezels "bevels". ; ) But, he totally got the idea. There were 2 or 3 in particular that he knows I really liked the best, but there were about 10 others that I would have been perfectly happy with as well. I''m not kidding, we were just looking at pave set "halo" or bezel rings, and these 13 I''m talking about were just the ones I liked best, there were about 20 other halo styles that weren''t quite right for me either because they were fully bezel set and not prong set, or whatever. He knows to look for a sparkly, delicate band and bezel, an interesting undercarriage that''s not too busy, prong set vs bezel set, and something that sits somewhat flush with a wedding band. So we''re good on that front!

Then we went downtown to this GREAT vendor who should totally advertise and post on pricescope. He uses an idealscope himself to buy all of his stones, and sells branded H&A stones along wtih other versions of ideal cut stones at great prices. He was super cool, confirmed everything I''d learned on PS, and lined up 7 different ideal cut stones in our specs for us to compare under the idealscope and side by side. I really hope my BF goes with him for the stone, I know he''ll get a great one that way, and I just think this guy deserves our business for being so cool and honest.

BF was telling one of the vendors that he was taking over from here, but would be ready to buy in the "near future". (But we all know that this doesn''t necessarily mean the same thing to girls as guys!!!) My estimate is not before 1 month from now, but before the summer is over.

I had one clear favorite stone, a 1.59 carat Natalie K brand H&A stone, E SI2 (eye clean). I picked it out over a 1.75 H SI1 GIA ex/ex, and over even a 2 carat G SI2 of the same H&A brand, so maybe I have more of an eye for color than I''d thought (which is strange, because I couldn''t necessarily have said "that one looks whiter" but there was definitely something about it that just appealed to me more.

I expressed my preference for this stone, but of course it won''t necessarily be around when he buys. Still, I kind of hope he''ll get this exact one, with one of the exact mountings we found at XIV. If not though (he has a good friend who has a great "diamond guy" that he initially said he''d be going with) I''m sure he''ll still do great!

Thanks for listening to me blather on, but hopefully because lots of PS''ers live in Los Angeles people can get good vendor recommendations out of this blather at least!!!

 

[katrina_33]

P.S. at XIV carats I tried on a 5 carat cushion cut stone in a pave setting. It was a disco ball, the kind of cushion with really scattered, random sparkles almost more like a radiant (which I love). TO DIE FOR! Holy carp it was amazing. Because of the shape of the stone (gracefull and more rectangular) it didn''t really have that tacky, too huge look, and it was in a really delicate setting. Even my BF flipped for it - he asked them how much it was (that would be 150,000) and said for a second he tried to mentally calculate some way to afford it / justify it because it was just so beautiful. There''s no chance in hell he''s spending over 20k (and probably well under that) but it''s nice that he appreciated the ring and didn''t just say "what''s the big deal," or "why would anyone ever pay so much $ for a stupid rock!" God, I wish I had a picture (didn''t remember to bring the camera.) I have never tried on anything like it, and I''ve been ballsy enough to ask to try on some pretty big honking rings by my self before.

 

[Jennifer5973]

Katrina, even though I am an old married lady, I enjoyed reading about your day and I think it''s awesome your BF appreciates fine jewelry.

 

[fountainfairfax]

what a great write-up of what sounds like a wonderful day! your bf earns big points for such a concentrated effort to find out what is important to you and what your tastes are. millions of e-rings ring have been purchased because of a casual comment on a friend''s ring or a passing "that''s pretty" while window shopping, only to find out it was not what the lady had in mind at for her ring!

can''t wait to see what he eventually picks! and thanks for sharing your adventure!

 

[diamondlil]

Katrina, that is so exciting. It''s been 20 years since my now-husband and I went looking for my engagement ring, but I can still remember the excitement I felt. Reading your words brings back some fond memories. Keep us posted on all the details.

DiamondLil

 

[gingerBcookie]

Yay!!! I''m so happy you had such a fun a productive trip!

Thanks for sharing your day with us!

 

[MissAva]

Sounds like ya''ll had a great time looking about and that it was really productive. How wonderful! Congrats!

 

[katrina_33]

So, we''re sharing a computer right now because our office is under construction - of course, my post was still minimized but right there on his computer when he got home, I must have just forgotten to close out of it. So, he read the whole thing and has been teasing me about it ever since (mostly saying "you''re getting nothing now that you''ve been talking crap about me on the internet" - totally kidding of course, but still - and teasing my about saying "BF" which is admittedly kind of high school, but also a time saver when you''re typing it over and over again). Anyhow, I''m slightly embarassed, but oh well!

I was saying, "all of the girls keep each other updated during the process, and then post pitcures of their rings when they get them"...and he''s like "so basically, there''s a group of you that bonds through sitting around lamenting that their boyfriends haven''t proposed yet, and brainstorming about how they can speed the process along"

Well, it doesn''t sound very good when you say it like that, but yeah, basically there you have it!

All kidding aside though, he''s not pissed and thought it was rather cute. I''m just embarassed because I made fun of him for mixing up his diamond vocabulary words, which sounds a little patronizing.

Oh well!

 

[Buena Girl]

Date: 5/15/2005 10:44:27 AM
Author: katrina_33
...and he''s like ''so basically, there''s a group of you that bonds through sitting around lamenting that their boyfriends haven''t proposed yet, and brainstorming about how they can speed the process along''

Well, it doesn''t sound very good when you say it like that, but yeah, basically there you have it!

Hahahaaaaa...That is too funny!!!

p.s. I hope that gorgeous sounding 1.59 carat Natalie K brand H&A stone, E SI2 finds its way to you!

 

[katrina_33]

Me too, but now I''m starting to worry about the clarity grade. I looked at the stone a lot from a foot or so away, in the line up of 7 stones, and I viewed it under the IS and a H&A viewer, but I never took it up with tweezers and stared intensely at it looking for inclusions / tilted it around, etc, and I also didn''t look at it through a loupe. I didn''t see any inclusions in the "real world" like viewing conditions, but since it''s an SI2 I would definitely want more info about the inclusions. I think he''d probably do this research anyhow and look at it under a loupe before buying, but I expressed a big preference for it kind of in the passion of the moment because it was such a beautiful stone that maybe he thinks since I''m so educated about diamonds and I was like "this one is soooo beautiful" that it''s a go? I don''t know, but I''ll probably start dropping some hints that the inclusions should be checked out really thoroughly in any SI grade stone before theoretical buying!

 

[Buena Girl]

Sounds like a good plan! Maybe your b/f can look at the diamond certificate where they plot out the inclusions and see if he can find them himself in the actual diamond with naked eye, scope, etc. Or do you think it would bother him to know where the inclusions were?

Could you go back to the store and thoroughly check out the diamond?

Good luck! This whole mind clean versus eye clean area can be tough!! The most important thing is that your mind is at ease.

 

[NoonersMom]

Sounds like you had a wonderful shopping experience. *Too* funny that your BF saw the PS thread and gave you grief about it. hehe. Sounds like you have a man with a sense of humor on your hands. Considering you''ve gone shopping together I am sure he will take great care to ensure that at the end of the process you have a diamond & setting that you l

ve.

Keep us posted!

 

[katrina_33]

I''m trying not to control the process from now on... He asked "so, you actually prefer the 1.59 over the bigger stones" and I said "Yes, provided that on closer inspections the inclusions aren''t a detraction." I will leave it up to him to do any further research / evaluation of them. I''m really trying to let go here!

I got kind of worried about it, because I expressed clear preference for this one stone, but then realized that it''s an SI2 and I don''t even know where the inclusions are, and won''t necessarily get a chance to go investigate more. But, I looked right at it from about 6 inches away for long enough that anything obvious or detracting would have jumped out. I definitely looked at it longer, closer, and harder than anyone who will ever ask to see the ring on my finger! So even if there is an "eye visible" inclusion under totally analytical circumstances (i.e. examining a stone intent on finding an inclusion you know is there), I noticed nothing after looking at the stone for a while in more than casual but less than totally analytical circumstances. I''m not a person who struggles with "mind clarity" anyhow, I fall into the "gives character and lets me know it''s my stone camp." I just wouldn''t want random people who ask to see to spot an inclusion, but I doubt this, especially given how brilliant and sparkly it was!

I should just shut up about it, the more I fixate on this one stone, the less likely I probably am to get that one!!!